It would be preferable if diseases and health conditions came with obvious signs and a set checklist of symptoms, but this is rarely the case — even a common cold can affect people differently.
This is certainly true of one of the more common cardiovascular conditions we see at our practice — peripheral artery disease (PAD), which affects between 8 and 12 million people in the United States.
As the team here at Advanced Cardiovascular Specialists has witnessed over the years, PAD can affect people quite differently. Given that PAD is a big risk factor for more serious heart disease, we want to dive into some of the subtler signs of the disease so that we can take early, sometimes life-saving, action.
Before we get into less obvious warning signs of PAD, let’s first review what we’re up against. With PAD, the arteries that deliver blood to your legs, which are called peripheral arteries, are narrowed due to blockages and atherosclerosis. (Please note that PAD can develop in the arteries that deliver blood to your upper extremities, too, but it’s far more common in the legs.)
PAD can not only lead to symptoms in your legs, which we’ll get to in a minute, but the condition also compromises your cardiovascular health and places you at higher risk for heart attack, stroke, and coronary artery disease. The good news is that if we can diagnose your PAD early on, we can set you on a more heart-healthy path.
The most obvious and common sign of PAD is leg pain, but four out of 10 people with PAD don’t experience this attention-getting symptom.
For those who do experience PAD-related leg pain, which is called claudication, the pain can be felt as a dull ache, cramping, heaviness, or more acute pain that often comes with exercise and goes away with rest.
Now let’s get into some signs of PAD that people can often miss or attribute to other things, such as:
If blood isn’t flowing well into your legs, it can slow or halt the growth of hair on your legs, as well as toenail growth.
If one of your feet is markedly colder than the other, this can be a sign of PAD.
When you have PAD, one of your lower legs or feet can become discolored — they take on a paler, bluish hue — and you might also experience changes in the texture of your skin, even developing shiny patches of skin.
Without a good flow of blood to your lower leg and foot, muscles can weaken and atrophy, which can lead to difficulty with balance and clumsiness.
With advanced PAD, you can develop foot ulcers that don’t heal well. Any injury to your foot, even a minor blister, takes longer to heal, leaving you open to infection.
As you can see, there are plenty of signs of PAD if you know where to look. If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, for no apparent reason, it’s a good idea to come sit down with one of our PAD specialists.
To get started, contact our office in Mountain View, California, to schedule an appointment with one of our heart health experts today.
