• Question: why can we see some veins on our skin but not others?

    Asked by jess10amy to Alan, Damian, Emma, Liam, Luca on 21 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Liam Bagley

      Liam Bagley answered on 21 Jun 2013:


      Hi jess10amy, brilliant question!
      The reason for this is because our blood vessels need to reach all over our bodies. This includes really deep inside our skin and muscle. So muscle can cover a lot of blood vessels as well as fat.
      The ones you do see on our bodies tend to supply the upper most parts of our muscle and skin with blood. However, when you’re next really cold, I bet you struggle to find many! This is because they constrict to bring the blood closer into the centre of your body so as not to lose heat as your blood is really warm. This way you keep your body warm enough to carry out all of its normal processes!

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