Visible blue veins on the backs of your hands might seem harmless—but they could be telling you something important about your health. Here are ten key facts to keep in mind.

The first vein treatment for the hands costs $1,000, and subsequent ones are $500. More from CBS News Video shows home health care aide beating 95-year-old NYC woman ...

Veins carry the blood back from the respiring body tissues to the heart and lungs. The tissues have exhausted much of the oxygen that was carried in the blood, so the blood appears blue.

On the other hand, the peasants would've had darker, tanned skin and it was harder to see the blue blood in their veins. But why do the nobility, the peasantry, anybody, have veins that appear blue?

Blood is always red, and veins look blue or green because the skin filters light wavelengths differently. Skip to main content. Open menu Close menu. Live Science. Search.

There are three reasons why you can see your blue veins from outside your body. One is that the skin and surface tissues can be quite translucent. This depends to a certain extent on the colour of ...