When the arteries in your legs carrying oxygen-rich blood and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body become blocked, preventing your legs from receiving enough blood or oxygen, you may have a condition called peripheral artery disease (PAD), sometimes called leg artery disease.
What are the Symptoms of Peripheral Artery Disease?
In the early stages, you may not feel any symptoms from peripheral artery disease.
The most common early symptom is a feeling of discomfort or pain in your legs that happens when you walk but goes away when you rest. This is also known as intermittent claudication (IC).
Note that this pain does not always occur; you may occasionally feel your leg cramping or stiffing, or even feel heavy after activity. This symptom may occur more frequently if you walk up a flight of stairs or walk up a hill. Eventually, you may begin to experience these sensations during shorter walks.
It is important to note that only about 50% of the people with leg artery disease (PAD) have blockages severe enough to experience IC.
Critical limb ischemia is a symptom that you may experience if you have advanced peripheral artery disease. This occurs when your legs do not get enough oxygen even when you are resting. With critical limb ischemia, you may experience pain in your feet or in your toes even when you are not walking.
In severe peripheral artery disease, you may develop painful sores on your toes or feet. If the circulation in your leg does not improve, these ulcers can start as dry, gray, or black sores, and eventually become dead tissue (called gangrene)
Am I at Risk?
Atherosclerosis causes peripheral artery disease. As you get older, your risk of developing leg artery disease increases. People older than
age 50 have an increased risk of developing the disease, and men have a
greater risk than women.
Factors that contribute to this disease include:
- Smoking;
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol or triglycerides
- High levels of the amino acid homocysteine
- Weighing more than 30% over your ideal weight
If you are concerned that you might suffer from PAD, we recommend that you contact our office to schedule an appointment with one of our vascular specialists. They will review your medical history with you, and if they suspect arterial disease, they may perform a series of tests - usually beginning with a blood test and a blood pressure test for your ankles and legs.
To better understand the extent of your leg artery disease, your
physician may also recommend duplex ultrasound, pulse volume recording,
magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), or angiography.
When the arteries in your legs carrying oxygen-rich blood and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body become blocked, preventing your legs from receiving enough blood or oxygen, you may have a condition called peripheral artery disease (PAD), sometimes called leg artery disease.
What are the Symptoms of Peripheral Artery Disease?
In the early stages, you may not feel any symptoms from peripheral artery disease.
The most common early symptom is a feeling of discomfort or pain in your legs that happens when you walk but goes away when you rest. This is also known as intermittent claudication (IC).
Note that this pain does not always occur; you may occasionally feel your leg cramping or stiffing, or even feel heavy after activity. This symptom may occur more frequently if you walk up a flight of stairs or walk up a hill. Eventually, you may begin to experience these sensations during shorter walks.
It is important to note that only about 50% of the people with leg artery disease (PAD) have blockages severe enough to experience IC.
Critical limb ischemia is a symptom that you may experience if you have advanced peripheral artery disease. This occurs when your legs do not get enough oxygen even when you are resting. With critical limb ischemia, you may experience pain in your feet or in your toes even when you are not walking.
In severe peripheral artery disease, you may develop painful sores on your toes or feet. If the circulation in your leg does not improve, these ulcers can start as dry, gray, or black sores, and eventually become dead tissue (called gangrene)
Am I at Risk?
Atherosclerosis causes peripheral artery disease. As you get older, your risk of developing leg artery disease increases. People older than
age 50 have an increased risk of developing the disease, and men have a
greater risk than women.
Factors that contribute to this disease include:
- Smoking;
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol or triglycerides
- High levels of the amino acid homocysteine
- Weighing more than 30% over your ideal weight
If you are concerned that you might suffer from PAD, we recommend that you contact our office to schedule an appointment with one of our vascular specialists. They will review your medical history with you, and if they suspect arterial disease, they may perform a series of tests - usually beginning with a blood test and a blood pressure test for your ankles and legs.
To better understand the extent of your leg artery disease, your
physician may also recommend duplex ultrasound, pulse volume recording,
magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), or angiography.