Crossing your legs and varicose/spider veins?

I've heard that if you constantly cross your legs, you are more inclined to get varicose/spider veins...is this true or is this just an old wive's tale? I cross my legs constantly!

Wives tale, but with some bit of truth...

With varicose veins, the valves inside the veins are damaged and do not function properly. Gravity can then cause the blood to "pool" in the vein, which means the blood stays in the veins, becoming stagnant there and making them bulge out. Varicose veins can also occur in deeper veins under the skin.

The part about crossing your legs is true but not for the cause. The deep varicose vein, or the deep vein thrombosis can lead to an embolism in people who suffer from the DVT, when those sufferers are on airplane rides. The high altitude, mixed with crossing the legs can push the clots through the DVT and it can lodge itself in the lung, heart or brain and cause death. This is still very rare, but possible.

Cross your legs and look the lady all you like, spider veins wont be the outcome. Source(s): work in the medical field.