away from the high heeled shoes, jamie, another reason why people get them and also, anything that increases the abdominal pressure, obesity, and, as you said, pregnant women, the uterus can block the veins from bringing it back, and, it is cosmetic and it could be painful, so, once you know the physiologist, and marc will talk about this, you can avoid it. by elevation and wearing compression. jamie: is it hereditary. yes, it runs into families and is related to obesity and, the veins break down and, what changed dramatically, patients have been coming to me with the problem for decades and i say, i don t want you to have the surgery but here s what is happening now. the treatments now, it is an office procedure and now you can do it by laser and by radio frequency and break it down, via radio frequency and inject foam and a recent study shows you have less pain with the procedure with the radio frequency method but the which is just breaking it up by using radio waves. the bott