The Dangers of Poor Circulation
Do you always complain of cold feet and hands?
Do your hands go numb?
Do you often suffer from muscle cramps or throbbing and tingling in your arms and legs?
These are all symptoms of poor circulation.
Many people just think its something that they must put up with and they go about their daily lives doing just that. The real dangers of poor circulation go way beyond just your extremities. It can affect other organs, especially the heart.
Compromised blood flow is a common complaint from patients, but it is not a disease. It is a symptom of a bigger underlying problem. Usually, the symptoms are felt in the feet or hands, but the real reason for lack of blood circulation is that without the proper blood flow your body parts aren’t getting enough oxygen or nutrients, which is carried through the blood.
Diagnosing Poor Circulation
If you notice that you are having some blood circulation problems, it is wise to see a doctor because of the dangers of poor circulation. Their diagnosis, however, of the underlying cause of your poor blood circulation can be tricky. Paying attention to other signs throughout your body can be helpful to your doctor.
You should tell your doctor if you experience any of these other symptoms:
- Lumps in your blood vessels
- Hair loss
- Varicose veins
- Shortness of breath
- Headaches
- Skin problems such as splotches or itchy dry skin
- Pain during exercise
- Muscle cramps
- Memory problems
- Difficulty with healing wounds
- Irregular heart beat
Your doctor may need to do more tests to determine your problem. Once the cause of your poor circulation is determined, your physician may prescribe medication, compression socks, daily aspirin, or they might decide that surgery is needed.
How Can Poor Circulation Affect You?
The underlying reason for your poor circulation is where the danger comes in. The most common reason for poor circulation includes problems with your blood vessels. They could be narrow or obstructed from plaque around the walls of your arteries. This is caused by bad health choices such as drinking too much, unhealthy eating habits, or smoking.
These habits will undoubtedly lead to diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and thyroid disease. Once you have these diseases it an uphill battle from then on, but you can overcome these by reversing your bad health choices and replacing them with healthy ones.
The absolute best way to improve your health and fight the dangers of poor circulation is exercise. This doesn’t have to be a serious hour a day of hard exercise. It can be as simple as taking a walk during your lunch break and making a habit of doing physical things throughout your week. The more moving you can do, the better but remember to start slow. When you are dealing with poor circulation, pushing yourself too hard can be dangerous.
The next step in helping your poor circulation is to improve your diet. Eating fatty fish, high fiber foods, and plenty of vegetables will help your circulation by helping to clean your arteries.
In the meantime, certainly do all you can to stay warm if your hands and feet are cold but don’t ignore the symptoms. Left unchecked poor circulation can lead to blood clots, peripheral artery disease, stroke, heart attack, scleroderma, and even amputation. With each of these dangers always comes the risk of death. The dangers of poor circulation are real.
