Superficial vein is a vein that is close to the surface of the body. This differs from deep veins that are far from the surface.
Superficial veins are not paired with an artery, unlike the deep veins, which typically have an artery with the same name close by.
Superficial veins are important physiologically for cooling of the body. When the body is too hot the body shunts blood from the deep veins to the superficial veins, to facilitate heat transfer to the surroundings. Superficial veins can be seen under the skin. Those below the level of the heart tend to bulge out. An immediate way to see this by looking at your hand: raise it above your heart and the blood should drain--lower it below your heart it will fill. Veins become more visually prominent when lifting heavy weight, especially after a period of proper strength training.
Physiologically, the superficial veins are not as important as the deep veins (as they carry less blood) and are sometimes removed in a procedure called vein stripping, which is used to treat varicose veins.
Read more about Superficial Vein: See Also
Famous quotes containing the words superficial and/or vein:
“I am ... willing to admit that some people might live there for years, or even a lifetime, so protected that they never sense the sweet stench of corruption that is all around them—the keen, thin scent of decay that pervades everything and accuses with a terrible accusation the superficial youthfulness, the abounding undergraduate noise, that fills those ancient buildings.”
—Thomas Merton (1915–1968)
“As polishing expresses the vein in marble, and grain in wood, so music brings out what of heroic lurks anywhere. The hero is the sole patron of music.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)