This depends on the type of vascular disease you have whether arterial or venous in origin. Arterial problems normally involve blockage or enlargement of the blood vessel in question. If the blockage is in the leg region, early symptoms could include pain in the foot or leg whilst walking (blood requirements increase on exercise) or at rest especially at night when the leg is up (gravity can’t help here to pull the blood down to the foot). The foot may also feel cold and numb and may look pale or blue especially when the leg is elevated. Another sign of lack of blood flow to the foot is when wounds don’t seem to heal up or take a long time especially when the wound starts to die and turn black (termed gangrene). You should seek a vascular specialist immediately if you have this problem especially if you are also diabetic.
Venous disease includes the presence of dilated veins on your legs and when you notice that the skin around your ankles and feet start to turn brown. Common symptoms of venous disease include:
- Cramps in your legs (especially at night time)
- Leg heaviness especially towards the end of the day
- Swelling around the ankles
- Legs that get tired easily
- Restless legs
- Skin discoloration (brown patches)
- Wounds that take a long time to heal on your feet and legs.
- Skin itchiness in your legs
