{"id":17,"date":"2015-04-01T18:07:14","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T18:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/?p=17"},"modified":"2015-09-17T15:09:14","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T15:09:14","slug":"your-leg-pain-could-be-peripheral-vascular-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/2015\/04\/your-leg-pain-could-be-peripheral-vascular-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Leg Pain Could Be Peripheral Vascular Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jose L. Trani, MD<\/a>
\nVascular Surgeon, Cooper University Health Care<\/p>\n

Many people assu\"legpain\"<\/a>me sudden or noticeable leg pain is the result of an accidental injury, too much exercise, or the inevitable result of aging. However, not all leg pain is muscular.<\/p>\n

In fact, pain experienced in the legs while walking could be a symptom of a very common circulatory condition that is difficult to diagnose. When plaque builds up in any of the blood vessels outside of the heart, such as in the arteries, veins or lymphatic vessels, the result is peripheral vascular disease (PVD)<\/a>. This condition is also referred to as peripheral arterial disease (PAD)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

PVD slowly and steadily restricts your circulation, and it is dangerous if left untreated.<\/p>\n

The main cause of PVD is plaque buildup (atherosclerosis) in a leg artery. This buildup of cholesterol, calcium and fibrous tissue, either partially or completely, blocks blood flow to parts of the body other than the heart, such as the legs and arms.<\/p>\n

Due to the fact that narrowed blood vessels cannot carry oxygen-rich blood to these other body parts, the circulation stops functioning properly. Additionally, blood clots may form on an artery wall, narrowing the artery even further and making the blockage worse.<\/p>\n

The risk factors for peripheral vascular disease include conditions that cannot be controlled as well as lifestyle habits and health issues that are controllable. Risk factors that cannot be changed are:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Being over age 50.
\n\u2022 History of heart disease.
\n\u2022 Type 1 diabetes.
\n\u2022 Being male (men are at greater risk than women).
\n\u2022 Being postmenopausal.
\n\u2022 Family history of high cholesterol, high blood pressure or peripheral vascular disease.<\/p>\n

Risk factors that can be reduced or controlled include:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Smoking and\/or use of other tobacco products.
\n\u2022 Heart disease.
\n\u2022 High cholesterol.
\n\u2022 High blood pressure.
\n\u2022 Being overweight.
\n\u2022 Lack of exercise.<\/p>\n

The challenge of identifying PVD early is that many individuals who have it do not experience any symptoms. Approximately 50 percent of people correctly diagnosed with peripheral vascular disease are symptom free.<\/p>\n

The most common warning sign of PVD is lower-leg pain when walking, climbing stairs or exercising. Another warning sign instead of feeling pain, is that you may experience heaviness, tightness, weakness or cramping in the legs when walking. This is called intermittent claudication\u2014a painful tightening in the calf muscle. It\u2019s all too easy to assume the pain indicates something other than a circulatory problem. While at rest, the muscles need less blood flow, so the pain goes away. A variety of non-vascular sources of leg pain can make it difficult to determine what the discomfort is telling you, including:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Arthritis <\/a>(pain in the joints).
\n\u2022 Spinal stenosis,<\/a> sciatica (painful back problems).
\n\u2022 Peripheral neuropathy<\/a> (pain as a result of nerve damage).
\n\u2022 Multiple sclerosis<\/a>.
\n\u2022 Osteoarthritis of the hip.<\/p>\n

While not as common as leg pain, these may also be warning signs of peripheral vascular disease:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Changes in skin temperature and appearance (especially brittle, shiny skin on the legs and feet).
\n\u2022 Loss of leg hair.
\n\u2022 Non-healing sores over pressure points (heels, ankles).
\n\u2022 A reddish-blue skin color on the legs.<\/p>\n

To determine if someone has PVD, a doctor will most likely check for a weak or absent leg pulse. This may reveal a blockage in the leg artery. Other non-invasive tests used to confirm blockage and a diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease are checking leg blood pressure, a CT scan or magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), and ultrasound.<\/p>\n

Once the diagnosis is confirmed, your doctor will decide the best treatment based on your symptoms. Severe symptoms can prompt a vascular surgeon to discuss restoring blood flow to the legs. Improved circulation should lessen and eliminate leg pain. However, the majority of patients do not require a procedure to restore flow. Lifestyle changes are typically first suggested as proactive ways to manage PVD\u2019s risk factors. Patients can actually improve their walking with conservative measures.<\/p>\n

Whether suggested proactively or as a treatment plan to reduce the progress of peripheral vascular disease, expect the following recommendations from your doctor:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Quit smoking (also avoid second-hand smoke and use of other tobacco products).
\n\u2022 Eat foods low in saturated fat.
\n\u2022 Lose weight and maintain a healthy body weight.
\n\u2022 Begin or continue with an exercise program that includes walking several times a week.
\n\u2022 Drink less alcohol.
\n\u2022 Control high cholesterol through medication (per doctor\u2019s recommendation).
\n\u2022 Use medication to reduce the risk of blood clots developing (per doctor\u2019s recommendation).
\n\u2022 Monitor and control type 1 diabetes, maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
\n\u2022 Monitor and control high blood pressure.<\/p>\n

If lifestyle changes and\/or medication don\u2019t improve blood flow and leg function, your vascular surgeon may consider other forms of treatment. Minimally invasive procedures include:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Inflating and deflating a special balloon in the leg artery to push the plaque out of the way (angioplasty).
\n\u2022 Inserting a stent to keep the artery open.
\n\u2022 Breaking up and removing plaque from the blood vessels (endarterectomy).<\/p>\n

If peripheral vascular disease is severe enough, creating a detour around the narrowed or blocked artery area with bypass surgery may be necessary.<\/p>\n

Leaving PVD undiagnosed and untreated can lead to serious issues such as constant pain, development of ulcers or dead tissue (gangrene), and possible amputation of toes or a small part of the foot. PVD also increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.<\/p>\n

With early detection and proper treatment of peripheral vascular disease, it\u2019s possible to maintain a good quality of life and long-term good health. If you\u2019re over the age of 50 and have lower-leg pain when walking, climbing stairs or exercising, do not ignore it. Make an appointment to see your doctor and request an evaluation with a vascular surgeon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jose L. Trani, MD Vascular Surgeon, Cooper University Health Care Many people assume sudden or noticeable leg pain is the result of an accidental injury, too much exercise, or the inevitable result of aging. However, not all leg pain is muscular. In fact, pain experienced in the legs while walking could be a symptom … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[279],"tags":[7519,7517,4556],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-mmanibo","4":"post-17","6":"format-standard","7":"category-featured","8":"post_tag-jose-l-trani-md","9":"post_tag-peripheral-arterial-disease-pad","10":"post_tag-peripheral-vascular-disease-pvd"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions\/77"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/vascular\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}