According to the CDC, 8.5 million people throughout the United States suffer from peripheral artery disease. At Vascular Health Center, we offer peripheral artery disease treatments that may help you restore your health and return to a better state of comfort.

What Is Peripheral Artery Disease?

Over time, fatty deposits build up in your arteries. In some cases, they become large enough to restrict blood flow to the legs. When this happens, Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) develops.

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Signs of Peripheral Artery Disease

Many people don’t experience any signs of peripheral artery disease. If they do, the following PAD symptoms are common:

A painful ache in the legs upon walking. This disappears after a few minutes of resting and is called intermittent claudication.
Hair loss on the legs and feet
An increase in diabetic leg ulcers
Numbness and weakness in the legs
The toes on the affected leg become brittle
Ulcers that won’t heal
The skin on the legs turns purple or blue
The skin on the legs becomes shiny
The muscles in the legs start to shrink
Men may experience erectile dysfunction

You may only experience a few of the peripheral artery disease symptoms. Some of them become apparent as the condition worsens. For example, discolored skin and non-healing ulcers are signs of advanced disease.

What Are Your Peripheral Artery Disease Treatment Options?

PAD treatments range between mild medical interventions and surgical approaches. Common medical PAD disease treatments include:

Managing your blood pressure
Managing your diabetes
Losing weight
Taking cholesterol-lowering medications such as statins
Taking medications such as cilostazol to maintain blood flow around the legs

When a conservative approach to peripheral artery disease isn’t working, you can consider PAD surgery. At Vascular Health Center, our peripheral artery disease doctor uses balloon angioplasty and stents.

Dr. Nwobi typically treats PAD with a minimally invasive in-office
procedure, such as atherectomy, angioplasty, and stenting

Balloon Angioplasty

Using an image-guided technique, your peripheral artery disease doctor will place a small catheter inside the affected artery. They’ll then insert a small balloon and inflate it with the aim of promoting better blood flow.

Stent Placements

An alternative to balloon angioplasty is placing a stent. Using the same image-guided technique, your doctor will place a small mesh stent to improve the blood flow in the affected artery.

How Your Peripheral Artery Disease Diagnosis Works

Effective PAD screening involves a combination of asking you about your symptoms, examining your leg(s), and using imaging modalities such as doppler ultrasounds. We’ll spend about 15 minutes asking you about your PAD symptoms. Our team uses industry-renowned classifications to measure how advanced we believe your PAD is based on your mobility and how much pain you’re experiencing when walking.

In addition to asking you about your PAD symptoms, we’ll use the following approaches:

We’ll feel for pulses throughout your legs as a reduced pulse is one of the most common symptoms of PAD in legs.
We’ll also assess the color, temperature, and appearance of your legs and feet.
Your peripheral artery disease doctor will look for ulcers.
We may need to conduct tests such as an ankle-brachial index to further measure blood flow and a Doppler ultrasound.

After your PAD screening, you’ll meet with one of our physicians or a nurse practitioner to discuss the results. From there, we’ll make recommendations regarding your treatment.

The Risks of Not Seeking PAD Treatment

Peripheral artery disease isn’t a condition you should ignore. Some of the risks associated with not seeking treatment include:

Stroke or Heart Attack

As your peripheral artery disease progresses, the blood clots in your legs begin to thicken. While the blood clots can clog your legs, they can also break away. When this happens, there’s a risk that they will travel to one of the arteries serving your brain or heart, resulting in a stroke or heart attack.

Critical Limb Ischemia

Your legs rely on smooth blood flow to serve them with oxygen. Although your tissues can survive for a small amount of time without it, eventually they begin to die off. If a bacterial infection settles in, you may develop critical limb ischemia. In some cases, this results in leg amputation.

PAD Disease Treatment Costs

PAD disease treatment costs vary among patients. By attending your free screening appointment, you can find out how much your treatment will cost. When we’ve decided on your treatment plan, you can meet with one of our insurance specialists to discuss your payment options.

Your Payment Options

At Vascular Health Center, we accept various insurance plans for PAD treatment. You may need to meet certain terms before your insurance company can pay.

If you don’t have insurance or if PAD treatment isn’t covered by your plan, you can discuss self-payment options with our insurance specialists.

Why am I experiencing symptoms of PAD in legs?

You’re likely experiencing your symptoms due to a combination of non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors. This can include previously diagnosed conditions, such as high cholesterol. Additionally, smoking, being overweight, and not exercising contribute to the disease.

Is PAD screening necessary when I don’t have any symptoms?

Vascular Health Center offers free physical exam

In its earliest phases, PAD doesn’t show any symptoms. As such, if you’re aware that you have one or more of the risk factors, we advise attending a screening appointment.

I’m prone to diabetic foot ulcers, is my risk of PAD higher than others?

Having diabetes means the symptoms and risks of PAD may exacerbate faster than when you don’t have it. If you routinely require diabetic foot ulcer treatment, you may find that the reduced blood flow in your legs makes healing harder. To get an accurate picture of your risk factors, request PAD screening from your doctor.

Should I be screened for PAD if I have a history of coronary artery disease?

We recommend attending PAD screening if you have a history of coronary artery disease. Our doctors can perform an ankle-brachial index screening test, which is quick and painless

I’ve been told I need an ultrasound, but I don’t have leg pain. Is it still necessary?

If your doctor is recommending an ultrasound of your legs, following their advice is in your best interests. They may have detected signs of advanced PAD disease, such as reduced or weak pulses. Using an ultrasound makes it easier for them to classify their diagnosis.

At Vascular Health Center, our specialist PAD doctors are here to help you treat your peripheral arterial disease. To make an appointment, call 407 410 3368.

Peripheral Artery Disease

What Is Peripheral Artery Disease?

Signs of Peripheral Artery Disease