Ever noticed that your feet get much colder than the rest of your body this time of year? What about when your toes turn blue or purple? Do you smoke?
If you answered yes to the above questions, you might be suffering from peripheral vascular disease or PVD.
PVD is a narrowing or hardening of the arteries that travel down your legs. It is basically the same disease that affects the blood vessels in your heart. More than likely, if you have heart disease you also have PVD. However, most people dismiss the symptoms of PVD and relate them to just getting old.
Getting tested for PVD
However, there is a simple, noninvasive test your doctor can order to determine if you have peripheral vascular disease. In order to get one though, you need to see either your general practitioner, a vascular physician or your local foot & ankle doc in order to get a prescription for one.
Here at Family Foot & Ankle Specialists, we routinely check our patient’s for PVD especially if they are smokers, a diabetic or have known heart disease. Stop by sometime and see if maybe you have PVD today.
