Why can I see blue veins under my skin?

Asked by laurenkem (3408

) April 3rd, 2013

I know it’s a somewhat weird question, because we can all see some veins, no? But I just noticed, while drying off after a shower where I had heavily exfoliated, that the blue veins on my chest, breasts and arms were much more evident than usual. They literally look like a road map!

Could it be simply that I’m so pale now? Could the exfoliant have contributed? Granted, I’m not a fan of looking at myself naked, and I used to be extremely skinny, but I no longer am and, in fact, may be slightly over my “normal” weight. I’m a little worried that maybe it’s an indication of my above normal cholesteral or something. Or maybe high blood pressure?

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6 Answers

The warmth of the shower will make the blood vessels near the surface of your skin dilate. When your hot your body moves blood closer to the surface to try and keep you cool. This makes the veins more obvious.

Lightlyseared (34617

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Pale and thin skinned. I’m the same way. Dark skin tends to be thicker and tougher, but it is not always true that pale skin is very thin.

I have very high cholesterol too, but it doesn’t have anything to do with it, except that possibly people who tend to be very fair also have bad genes for cholesterol. Like, many Southern Italians can eat tons of cholesterol and their numbers are fine and they have olive skin. Many Jews from Eastern Europe have cholesterol problems and are also very pale skin, like me. My sister is vegan so her cholesterol numbers are good, and she still has a road map of veins visible,

JLeslie (65412

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