Are you getting unexplained leg pain, tingling sensation or numbness sensation in your feet? While these symptoms, in some cases are caused by sitting for a long time, or by nerve related issues, in some cases it is caused by poor circulation.
When blood flow is not proper to the legs and feet, the muscles and tissues might not receive required oxygen and nutrients, resulting in discomfort and other noticeable symptoms.
How Does Poor Circulation Affect the Legs?
Healthy blood circulation is required for providing oxygen and nutrients all through the body. When blood vessels are barrowed or is damaged or blocked, flow of blood to lower legs and feet decreases.
One of the common vascular condition in association with the decreased blood flow is peripheral artery disease or PAD. It happens when there is narrowing of the arteries supplying to the limbs, mainly because of the buildup of plague. When circulation is restricted, a person might experience pain or cramping specially while exercising or walking.
Poor circulation can also be because of conditions affecting the veins like chronic venous insufficiency or deep vein thrombosis. These conditions can lead to swelling, legs discomfort, heaviness or aching.
Can Poor Circulation Cause Numbness and Tingling?
Yes, decreased flow of blood can sometimes make contribution to numbness or tingling in legs and feet. When tissues does not get the required blood supply, nerves might not do normal function, thereby causing unusual sensation like pins and needles, burning, weakness or numbness.
But, numbness and tingling does not always means you have issues in circulation. Nerve compression, diabetes related nerve damage, vitamin deficiencies, and some neurological conditions can cause same symptoms. This is the reason why repeated symptoms must be evaluated by a good healthcare professional instead of self-diagnosis.
Magnet Health NY Offers Vascular Care in the Bronx
When leg pain, numbness, swelling or cramping keeps coming, getting the correct evaluation can assist in recognizing the underlying cause. Magnet Health NY offers vascular care in the Bronx for conditions that affects arteries, circulation and veins. Its vascular team does evaluation of the conditions like peripheral artery disease, deep vein thrombosis, aneurysms, varicose veins and other such vascular disorders. The clinic provides customized treatment depending on every patient’s health condition and medical history, with proper diagnostic evaluation that might include vascular imaging and other such tests.
If leg pain, numbness, tingling, swelling, or cramping keeps occurring, getting the right evaluation can help identify the underlying cause. Magnet Health NY provides vascular care in the Bronx for conditions affecting arteries, veins, and circulation. Its vascular team evaluates conditions such as peripheral artery disease, varicose veins, deep vein thrombosis, venous insufficiency, aneurysms, and other vascular disorders. The clinic offers personalized treatment based on each patient’s health condition and medical history, with diagnostic evaluation that may include vascular imaging and other tests.
Other Signs of Poor Circulation
Leg pain is not the only symptom you should look for. Some of the other possible warning signs are:
- Cold feet or toes
- Swelling of legs, ankles or feet
- Cramping of legs mainly during physical activity
- Skin that appears pale, bluish or shiny
- Cuts or sores healing slowly
- Feeling of heaviness or weakness in the legs
- Change in skin appearance or the hairs on the legs
Going through one of these symptoms does not means that you have a poor circulation. But many symptoms occurring together or symptoms that continues over time needs medical attention.
Who Is at Higher Risk?
Some factors can increase the risk of getting circulation issues. These includes smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol, physical inactivity and increasing age. People having a family history of vascular disease might also have a great risk.
Managing these risk factors can assist supporting the better vascular health. Physical activity on regular basis, a proper diet, maintaining a proper weight, avoiding tobacco and keeping conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure under control are some of the vital steps.
When Should You See a Doctor?
Occasional tingling after sitting constantly is not a reason to become concerned. But when your leg pain, tingling, cramping or swelling is repeating or occurring since long time or is interfering with your normal day to day activities, it’s time to speak to a healthcare professional.
Look for urgent medical attention, when you develop sudden and severe pain in leg, substantial swelling, a cold or a pale limb or sudden changes in your leg. These symptoms may sometime indicate some serious circulation issues that needs timely evaluation.
The Bottom Line
Poor circulation can lead to leg pain, tingling, cramping and other such uncomfortable symptoms. But as same symptoms can also happen with nerves, muscular or any other health conditions, recognizing the underlying cause is very important.
If you are getting symptoms consistently, a healthcare professional can assess your circulation, go through your medical history and give recommendation for right testing or treatment. Timely evaluation can assist in recognizing vascular issues and find out the correct approach for protecting your long term health.
