Artery Stenosis in your leg
Blood vessels running from your heart to all parts of your body. For instance, there are arteries to your legs and feet. The blood vessels that supply blood to your legs and feet are called arteries. From your legs and feet the blood must go back to your heart. These are other blood vessels. The blood vessels that ensure we call veins.
The blood in the arteries bring oxygen-rich blood to your legs and feet. In some people, these blood vessels are gradually narrowed. This is too little oxygen in the legs. This can cause pain.
Symptoms in severe arterial narrowing in the leg
At night, you hurt your leg by arterial constriction. You could also call it. Resting pain The symptoms may also occur gradually during the day, for example if you just lying on the sofa.
-The pain is usually in the feet or toes.
-The pain is less if your leg is hanging out of bed.
-The pain is less when you get up.
-You may get cold or 'deaf' feet.
-The skin on your feet and your toenails may change.
-The hair on your leg may decrease.
-You can get poorly healing wounds on your feet.
-Sometimes your feet swollen and red.
-The sores are ulcers.
-Skin, muscles or toes may even die (necrosis or gangrene).
How is a narrowing of the arteries?
Over the years the arteries to become what everyone closer. That's because of hardening of the arteries. In the wall of the arteries accumulate fats, lime and inflammatory cells. The wall of the arteries that in young people is still elastic, is becoming stiffer and thicker and will calcify. The arteries become so increasingly.
Risk of narrowing of the arteries
Factors that indicate risk of narrowing of the arteries are:
-Smoking
-High blood pressure
-High cholesterol
-Diabetes mellitus
-Rheumatoid arthritis
-Stress
-Overweight
-Lack of exercise
How is a narrowing of the artery measured?
The doctor can examine the blood vessels are constricted in your legs. He does this by comparing the blood pressure on your ankles. Blood pressure in your arms that
Note:
-Wear loose clothing for this study to your arms and legs sitting.
-Do not smoke. 2 hours before the examination
The measurement of the blood pressure to your ankle similar to the measurement of the blood pressure to your arm. You get a cuff above your ankle. The cuff is inflated. As the cuff deflates slowly, the doctor listens to the blood flow in the arteries of your ankle. An amplifier ensures that you can hear the blood flow. We call such an amplifier Doppler device.
The ratio of ankle and arm blood pressure is called the ankle-brachial index. Normally, the blood pressure in the arm is approximately equal to the blood pressure in your ankle. When a blood vessel constriction in the leg is the blood pressure in your ankle lower than in your arm.
Some GP do such research in their own practice. Your GP will refer you to a doctor or hospital laboratory.
Treatment of severe arterial narrowing in the leg
In nocturnal pain by narrowing of a leg artery doctor usually refers you to a vascular specialist at the hospital. This investigates whether you really leg artery stenosis, and if so, how severe it is.
Depending on the severity of the stenosis can be angioplasty, a stent placed or will you be operated on.
-To an angioplasty procedure, the stenosis within the blood vessel is pushed open with a kind of balloon.
-A stent is a tube which can be. Are widened from the inside Where a blood vessel is too narrow, a stent is placed. The stent is made wider. The stent thus helps the blood vessel warily.
-When surgery on your leg a detour can be made in addition to the narrowed blood vessel. This is done with a piece of blood vessel from another part of your body.
After treatment of the artery narrowing in the hospital can usually find rapid improvement. Ensure also that you keep your risk of disease, heart disease and kidney disease as low as possible.
What can I do with narrowing of the artery?
You can do a lot to reduce the symptoms and prevent. Worsening of disease
The most important measure in narrowing of the artery is ensuring a better blood circulation in the leg. This can be achieved by:
Not to smoke
More walking
Decrease (by healthy food and medicines) cholesterol
Advice in narrowing of the artery: quit smoking
For some, it is advised to stop sufficient. They never touch a cigarette. Most smokers find it very difficult to quit. So make sure that you are well prepared to stop.
-See your doctor if you are considering stopping. The doctor will discuss with you what the difficulties might be and how you can deal with it there. Best The doctor can also give you advice on aids to quit smoking.
-With tools succeed it is often better to quit. For example, by means that the shortage of nicotine supplement, such as nicotine gum or plasters. So you can first unlearn the habit of smoking while you still ingest nicotine. Then you will only reduce the amount of nicotine.
-Besides nicotine cigarette smoke also contains other addictive substances. This provides you with nicotine gum or plasters often still need to smoke. So you have to really want to quit to persevere and really keep up. Itself
-People who stopped earlier and know that they are really looking smoking continue to require, consider using to reduce the smoke. Need and withdrawal symptoms medication The best known are nortriptyline, bupropion and varenicline.
Advice on narrowing of the leg vein: hiking
You can improve the blood flow to your legs regularly hiking and walking exercises to do.
That will make the blood flow through the smaller vessels increases. Gradual onset there ' shortcuts ' that lead to the narrowed blood vessels. In this way, your legs get better with blood. The muscles get more oxygen and soon you will have less complaints. Over time you can walk a greater distance before the complaints occur.
The walking exercises you do so:
-Stroll repeatedly until you get complaints, and then walk another 10 steps through. Do not worry, it can not hurt.
-Rest until the symptoms have disappeared.
-Repeat this exercise a few times, for 15 to 30 minutes.
It is important that you do this walking exercises three times a week, preferably every day. You keep it at least 6 months full.
After a few weeks or months you find that you still can walk. Bit further Even if it is no longer possible for even a bit further to walk, continue to walk daily. This prevents the symptoms worse again. Give hiking a permanent place in your life.
Advice in narrowing of the artery: eat healthy and watch fat
Eat little saturated fat. Saturated fat raises cholesterol levels in your blood. Saturated fat is found in cream, butter, whole milk, full fat cheese, fatty meats, regular margarine, cakes, biscuits and snacks.
-Eat more vegetables, fruit, potatoes and whole grain products.
-Choose low-fat milk, low-fat cheese, lean meat, chicken or fish.
-Oily fish, diet margarine and vegetable oils contain unsaturated fats that lower cholesterol.
-So replace products with saturated fat products that are rich in unsaturated fat. Often this is indicated on the packaging.
Feet care and check with narrowing of the artery
Check your feet regularly. Check with poorly healing wounds, pressure or calluses to the doctor. If necessary, she / he sends you to the podiatrist for proper foot care. Or a podiatrist for properly fitting shoes.
Medications with narrowing of the artery
There are no drugs to treat narrowing of the femoral artery or cure.
However, there are drugs that reduce the risk of (further) narrowing or blockage of the arteries. As a result, also the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or a stroke, is reduced. Examples include certain drugs for high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
You get blood thinners (called anticoagulants, such as aspirin or Ascal) to decrease. Chance of blood clots forming in the blood vessels
Some medications for other conditions can make the symptoms worse precisely because they constrict blood vessels. Examples include beta-blockers and ergotaminen. These are drugs for high blood pressure and migraines.
Blood vessels running from your heart to all parts of your body. For instance, there are arteries to your legs and feet. The blood vessels that supply blood to your legs and feet are called arteries. From your legs and feet the blood must go back to your heart. These are other blood vessels. The blood vessels that ensure we call veins.
The blood in the arteries bring oxygen-rich blood to your legs and feet. In some people, these blood vessels are gradually narrowed. This is too little oxygen in the legs. This can cause pain.
Symptoms in severe arterial narrowing in the leg
At night, you hurt your leg by arterial constriction. You could also call it. Resting pain The symptoms may also occur gradually during the day, for example if you just lying on the sofa.
-The pain is usually in the feet or toes.
-The pain is less if your leg is hanging out of bed.
-The pain is less when you get up.
-You may get cold or 'deaf' feet.
-The skin on your feet and your toenails may change.
-The hair on your leg may decrease.
-You can get poorly healing wounds on your feet.
-Sometimes your feet swollen and red.
-The sores are ulcers.
-Skin, muscles or toes may even die (necrosis or gangrene).
How is a narrowing of the arteries?
Over the years the arteries to become what everyone closer. That's because of hardening of the arteries. In the wall of the arteries accumulate fats, lime and inflammatory cells. The wall of the arteries that in young people is still elastic, is becoming stiffer and thicker and will calcify. The arteries become so increasingly.
Risk of narrowing of the arteries
Factors that indicate risk of narrowing of the arteries are:
-Smoking
-High blood pressure
-High cholesterol
-Diabetes mellitus
-Rheumatoid arthritis
-Stress
-Overweight
-Lack of exercise
How is a narrowing of the artery measured?
The doctor can examine the blood vessels are constricted in your legs. He does this by comparing the blood pressure on your ankles. Blood pressure in your arms that
Note:
-Wear loose clothing for this study to your arms and legs sitting.
-Do not smoke. 2 hours before the examination
The measurement of the blood pressure to your ankle similar to the measurement of the blood pressure to your arm. You get a cuff above your ankle. The cuff is inflated. As the cuff deflates slowly, the doctor listens to the blood flow in the arteries of your ankle. An amplifier ensures that you can hear the blood flow. We call such an amplifier Doppler device.
The ratio of ankle and arm blood pressure is called the ankle-brachial index. Normally, the blood pressure in the arm is approximately equal to the blood pressure in your ankle. When a blood vessel constriction in the leg is the blood pressure in your ankle lower than in your arm.
Some GP do such research in their own practice. Your GP will refer you to a doctor or hospital laboratory.
Treatment of severe arterial narrowing in the leg
In nocturnal pain by narrowing of a leg artery doctor usually refers you to a vascular specialist at the hospital. This investigates whether you really leg artery stenosis, and if so, how severe it is.
Depending on the severity of the stenosis can be angioplasty, a stent placed or will you be operated on.
-To an angioplasty procedure, the stenosis within the blood vessel is pushed open with a kind of balloon.
-A stent is a tube which can be. Are widened from the inside Where a blood vessel is too narrow, a stent is placed. The stent is made wider. The stent thus helps the blood vessel warily.
-When surgery on your leg a detour can be made in addition to the narrowed blood vessel. This is done with a piece of blood vessel from another part of your body.
After treatment of the artery narrowing in the hospital can usually find rapid improvement. Ensure also that you keep your risk of disease, heart disease and kidney disease as low as possible.
What can I do with narrowing of the artery?
You can do a lot to reduce the symptoms and prevent. Worsening of disease
The most important measure in narrowing of the artery is ensuring a better blood circulation in the leg. This can be achieved by:
Not to smoke
More walking
Decrease (by healthy food and medicines) cholesterol
Advice in narrowing of the artery: quit smoking
For some, it is advised to stop sufficient. They never touch a cigarette. Most smokers find it very difficult to quit. So make sure that you are well prepared to stop.
-See your doctor if you are considering stopping. The doctor will discuss with you what the difficulties might be and how you can deal with it there. Best The doctor can also give you advice on aids to quit smoking.
-With tools succeed it is often better to quit. For example, by means that the shortage of nicotine supplement, such as nicotine gum or plasters. So you can first unlearn the habit of smoking while you still ingest nicotine. Then you will only reduce the amount of nicotine.
-Besides nicotine cigarette smoke also contains other addictive substances. This provides you with nicotine gum or plasters often still need to smoke. So you have to really want to quit to persevere and really keep up. Itself
-People who stopped earlier and know that they are really looking smoking continue to require, consider using to reduce the smoke. Need and withdrawal symptoms medication The best known are nortriptyline, bupropion and varenicline.
Advice on narrowing of the leg vein: hiking
You can improve the blood flow to your legs regularly hiking and walking exercises to do.
That will make the blood flow through the smaller vessels increases. Gradual onset there ' shortcuts ' that lead to the narrowed blood vessels. In this way, your legs get better with blood. The muscles get more oxygen and soon you will have less complaints. Over time you can walk a greater distance before the complaints occur.
The walking exercises you do so:
-Stroll repeatedly until you get complaints, and then walk another 10 steps through. Do not worry, it can not hurt.
-Rest until the symptoms have disappeared.
-Repeat this exercise a few times, for 15 to 30 minutes.
It is important that you do this walking exercises three times a week, preferably every day. You keep it at least 6 months full.
After a few weeks or months you find that you still can walk. Bit further Even if it is no longer possible for even a bit further to walk, continue to walk daily. This prevents the symptoms worse again. Give hiking a permanent place in your life.
Advice in narrowing of the artery: eat healthy and watch fat
Eat little saturated fat. Saturated fat raises cholesterol levels in your blood. Saturated fat is found in cream, butter, whole milk, full fat cheese, fatty meats, regular margarine, cakes, biscuits and snacks.
-Eat more vegetables, fruit, potatoes and whole grain products.
-Choose low-fat milk, low-fat cheese, lean meat, chicken or fish.
-Oily fish, diet margarine and vegetable oils contain unsaturated fats that lower cholesterol.
-So replace products with saturated fat products that are rich in unsaturated fat. Often this is indicated on the packaging.
Feet care and check with narrowing of the artery
Check your feet regularly. Check with poorly healing wounds, pressure or calluses to the doctor. If necessary, she / he sends you to the podiatrist for proper foot care. Or a podiatrist for properly fitting shoes.
Medications with narrowing of the artery
There are no drugs to treat narrowing of the femoral artery or cure.
However, there are drugs that reduce the risk of (further) narrowing or blockage of the arteries. As a result, also the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or a stroke, is reduced. Examples include certain drugs for high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
You get blood thinners (called anticoagulants, such as aspirin or Ascal) to decrease. Chance of blood clots forming in the blood vessels
Some medications for other conditions can make the symptoms worse precisely because they constrict blood vessels. Examples include beta-blockers and ergotaminen. These are drugs for high blood pressure and migraines.