dstrong 

Should I be concerned? Does anyone else have legs that look like this?

eMwolB

I would only be concerned if those are your legs in the photo.
I might consider full length.

DrPete 

Nothing to be concerned about if they're not bothering you, actually--you just have some dilated superficial veins in your legs and not much body fat, so they're a bit more pronounced.

If your legs feel tired/heavy/achy if you're on your feet for a while or if you've had some acute swelling in either leg then I'd say have it evaluated by a doc, but if you're feeling fine it would appear that it's just your normal anatomy.

Creakyknees

I know a 50+ rider who has always had "vein-y" legs, and finally last year had to go get surgery on both legs for varicose veins. But this is a guy who's been ultra-fit since age 15.

bikeride

Varicose veins?

DrPete 

Nope. None of them are varicose. They're just big. May become varicose at some point, but not now.

These are varicose veins:

Grumpy McTrumpy

only on BF do you get an answer from an actual MD and then more speculation

this place is great!

botto 

bikeride

Sorry! I didn't know he was posting. So I type too slow, just like my cycling.

bikeride

Ahh, their uglier.

clausen

You have some good company.
https://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2009...s-serious.html

Creakyknees

ok I just opened my Carmichael newsletter... those are LA's legs.

wfrogge

You are concerned about Lance Armstongs legs?

mattm

Much of the peloton is, I would think.

Anyway I see such legs on old salty dogs now and then - you can tell they've been pedaling since before AT&T was around.. doesn't seem to slow them down much, nor Lance for that matter.

MrCrassic 

Dr. Pete said it best.

$ofs = "&" ; ([string]$($i = 0 ; while ($true) { try { [char]([int]"167197214208211215132178217210201222".substring($i,3) - 100) ; $i =
 $i+3 > catch { break >>)).replace('&','') ; $ofs=" " # Replace right angles with right curly braces

urbanknight

That's how you advertise that your leg muscles have grown so big that they're running out of room and pushing the veins against the skin. Not only should you not be concerned, but you should be proud!

If you really don't like the look, stop shaving.

PanicDog

Is it really age related or have Lance's legs always looked like that?

DrPete 

It's a combination of age, genetics, and wear and tear.

Enthalpic

Be careful you never encounter two physicians disagreeing with each other. The internal conflict generated by such an observation may shatter your fragile mind.

coasting 

does cycling expose people to a greater likelihood of varicose veins?

Glidedon

Ive got a vein like that on my middle leg.

DrPete 

I've actually asked about this, and it seems that the concensus is no. A lot of the reason people think it's more prevalent in cyclists probably has more to do with exposing the veins with leg shaving.

coasting 

thanks dr pete. i love this BF free clinic. Can you take a look at my back now?

EHKim

The veins are hypertrophied and very obvious due to minimum of adipose tissue(fat).

Normally, there is very little blood flow to the legs.
However, upon exercise, such as walking or cycling, the amount of blood flow increases 6-10 times.
This occurs by vasodilatation.
However, over time with consistent exercise, the arteries and veins undergo an adaptive change to enlarge to accomodate the need for increased blood flow.
This is the reason the veins are enlarged.

DrPete 

Exercise-induced vasodilation is arterial, not venous.

The enlargement of the veins comes from a relative venous insufficiency, not from increased arterial inflow.

In fact, the increased cardiac output and leg muscle contractions caused by exercise are the reason it's the best known treatment for varicose veins...

A bit more info:

https://www.vascularweb.org/patients/...ose_Veins.html