Dear user,
Thanks for your query.
The ''long red line'' as you described could be one of the veins inflamed, known as
Thrombophlebitis.
As you haven't mentioned any history of traveling or injection into your veins, there could be a couple of possibilities which caused it.
1 Insect bite
2 Intravenous injections
3 known vascular diseases eg SLE, Buergers disease
4 Infections around the area eg infected toe nail/ ulcers on lower leg
5 states where the tendency of
blood clots increase e.g
smoking,
pregnancy,
contraceptive pills
6 Blood disorders, where blood is naturally thicker and tends to clot within the vessels
7
Varicose veins
8 OR it may arise spontaneously without any underlying cause.
Other signs associated with it is that you can feel a cord like vein, actually under the line which you can see.
This is usually a self limiting condition, but it is worth going to your doctor to get it checked. Because these superficial veins are connected to a set of deeper veins, under the muscles, so you don't see/ feel them. it is important to make sure that this infection/ clot is not extending into that deep vein system, esp if there is any leg swwelling. as that is a more serious condition.
Secondly, you might need some blood tests to make sure that there is no infection in the body that might need antibiotics and then check that clotting/ immune profile is normal as well.
Once anything sinister is ruled out, and checked, you can take pain killers and rest as needed until this goes away, which could be a few days. but in the long run, you might have to avoid long standing to decrease pressure on the veins as this condition tends to recur