Deep leg veins

Looks like

The veins deep within the calf muscles, running in pairs beside the arteries and joining at the knee into the popliteal vein.

What it does

Carry most of the blood from the leg back towards the heart, squeezed along by the calf muscles.

Keeping it well

Clots form here after surgery, long travel, pregnancy or the pill. A swollen, painful calf needs a same-day scan; chest pain or breathlessness is an emergency.

Related conditions

• Achilles tendon rupture
• Chronic venous insufficiency
• Clotting disorders (thrombophilia & APS)
• Compartment syndrome
• Deep vein thrombosis
• Growing pains
• Lymphangitis
• Lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis)
• Lymphoedema
• Restless legs syndrome
• Superficial thrombophlebitis
• Varicose veins
• Venomous snakebite