Many drugs can alter vascular tone, or the degree of constriction in blood vessels.
Plaque buildup, blood clots or narrowed blood vessels can lead to poor circulation. When obstacles or narrow paths slow down blood flow, it's difficult for your body to send blood to every part of your body in an efficient way. Exercise and healthy food can help.
Symptoms of poor circulation are often easy to spot. They include muscle cramping, constant foot pain, and pain and throbbing in the arms and legs. As well as fatigue, varicose veins, and digestive issues. Leg cramps while walking and wounds that don't seem to heal in your legs, feet, and toes are also symptoms.
Start doing daily stretching, exercises, or yoga to increase blood flow. Do aerobic or cardio exercises to get your blood moving and your heart rate up. Wear compression stockings to encourage the blood to move from your legs back up to your heart. Eat a healthy diet to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
The test: Turn your palms upwards in front of you and stretch out your fingers, almost as if you're reaching for something just out of touch. If the creases in your palm are pale, regardless of skin tone, this may mean you're suffering from poor circulation in your blood vessels due to low iron levels.
Potassium (Vitamin K)
Potassium is an essential mineral for many important bodily functions, including blood circulation. It keeps the blood vessel walls strong and can even help prevent bulging veins.
It's usually not serious, but symptoms can include pain, leg heaviness, aching, swelling, skin dryness, tightness, itching, irritation, and muscle cramps. Wearing compression stockings can help, but your doctor can recommend other treatment options if you don't like the way your veins look. Muscle cramps.
Tingling, numbness, and discomfort in your hands and feet
One of the signature symptoms of poor circulation is tingling in your hands and feet. As blood struggles to reach your extremities, the sensation of pin pricks are quite common, as are cold hands and feet that never seem to be warm or comfortable.
Risks include cardiovascular failure, stroke, and complications such as infected skin ulcers or blood clots. If you have poor circulation, wounds heal more slowly and it takes longer to recover from illnesses. Elderly people with this condition and who are immobile are at greater risk of stroke and blood clots.
A vascular doctor prevents, diagnoses and treats diseases that happen in your blood vessels. These are the arteries and veins that bring nutrients into and waste out of your body's many cells and tissues. Because your body needs oxygen and nutrients all the time, healthy blood vessels are important.
Not only is poor blood circulation in the legs and feet uncomfortable, but it can cause life-threatening problems if it goes unchecked. Always seek medical assistance if you're suffering from any of the symptoms, especially if you've been diagnosed with one of the known causes of poor blood circulation.
Magnesium plays a role in blood circulation and neurotransmitter function and can help control pain by releasing pain-reducing hormones and constricting blood vessels. Improved digestion.
Swollen ankles and feet, discolored or blue and red toes, hair loss on the legs and thin, dry, or cracked skin can be symptoms that someone with poor circulation can experience. In the end, poor circulation is almost always a sign of another condition or disease.
“Exercise helps circulation as it increases blood flow, gets the heart pumping blood around your body faster and helps flush the blood through your arteries,” explains Physiologist Jemelle. “And it's never too early or too late to start proactively looking after your cardiovascular health.”
On average, it takes about 45 seconds for blood to circulate from the heart, all around the body, and back to the heart again. An average adult's heart beats more than 100,000 times a day.
A simple, painless and noninvasive test called a duplex ultrasound can determine if you have bad circulation and the severity of the condition. Based on the severity of your condition, a vascular specialist doctor will determine the best treatment option for you.
Weakening Circulation
While stress has a number of physical effects, it has a particularly detrimental impact on your circulation. Heightened stress can cause a sudden rise in blood pressure, which places greater strain on the walls of your veins.
Pale or bluish skin. Lack of leg hair or toenail growth. Sores on toes, feet, or legs that heal slowly or not at all. Decreased skin temperature, or thin, brittle, shiny skin on the legs and feet.