Peripheral Foot Disease Essay

Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD) is a condition of the blood vessels that supply the legs and feet. It leads to narrowing and hardening of the arteries. This causes decreased blood flow, which can injure nerves and other tissues. Diabetes is a leading cause of PVD, as well as other factors such as smoking, high cholesterol, hypertension, and diet and weight. Too much glucose in your blood from diabetes can cause nerve damage and poor blood flow, which can lead to serious foot problems. Nerve damage can cause you to lose feeling in your feet. Therefore, you might not feel pain, heat, or cold in your legs and feet. Sores on your feet can get infected. If your glucose is high, the extra glucose feeds the infection in those sores and it makes the infection get worse. Nerve damage …show more content…
Your physician can also often clear blocked blood vessels to improve your blood flow. If any of these preventions fail, or if you have major pain or infection, your physician may need to perform an amputation. Common foot problems that can lead to pain or infections include corn and calluses, blisters, ingrown toenails, bunions, plantar warts, hammertoes, dry and cracked skin, athlete’s foot, and fungal infections. Signs of infection in your foot include pus, redness, increasing pain, and warm skin. PVD affects 8 to 12 million people in the United States, especially those over the age of 50. Some of the tests for PVD include the Rose Criteria, Ankle/brachial index, and the Treadmill exercise test. Some of the imaging test include the Angiography, Ultrasonography, and MRI. The person you would go to see if you started having symptoms of PVD would be your primary care provider, such as a family practitioner. You may be referred to a vascular medicine specialist who specializes in the circulatory system, or a vascular surgeon if surgery is needed. Depending on the cause of PVD, you may also see a