Are your feet always cold? It could be narrowed arteries and leg pain could be next
Circulation problems commonly cause cold feet, an expert says. People who are overweight or have high blood pressure are at increased risk
Having chronically cold feet is not pleasant – not for you nor for your partner when you snuggle up to them under the covers.
There are many possible causes of chronically cold feet. If it is because of poor circulation, it could be down to a common condition known as peripheral artery disease, or PAD, in which narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to the legs or arms.
This is usually a sign of atherosclerosis, a build-up of plaque – fats, cholesterol and other substances – in the inner lining of the arteries, which can cause the arteries to harden and narrow, impeding blood flow.
How can you identify that this is happening before the condition worsens and your symptoms broaden beyond cold feet to, say, leg pain when walking?
“If you want to know whether your arteries are at risk of plaque build-up, first consider whether you’re in a risk group,” says Dr Siamak Pourhassan, a vascular surgeon in Oberhausen, Germany.
