Peripheral arterial disease (PAD)

Find out about peripheral arterial disease (PAD), including the symptoms, when to get medical help, how it’s diagnosed, treatments and causes.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a long-term condition that affects the blood supply to your legs and causes pain in your legs. There are treatments that can help ease your symptoms.

The main symptom of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is pain in your legs when walking that goes away when you stop and rest for a few minutes. This is sometimes called intermittent claudication.

The pain:

  • usually affects your lower legs (calves)
  • can feel like cramp, aching or burning
  • often affects both legs at the same time and can sometimes be worse in 1 leg
  • can be constant, happen when you're not moving and may be worse at night (if peripheral arterial disease gets worse)

Other possible symptoms of PAD include:

  • hair loss on your legs
  • the skin on your legs looking shiny or a different colour – your skin may look blue or purple, which may be harder to see on brown or black skin
  • weakness or numbness in your legs – your legs and feet may also feel cold to touch
  • sores, wounds or ulcers on your legs and feet that do not heal
  • toenails that grow slowly or break easily

Some people with PAD do not have any symptoms.

You should see a GP if you have symptoms of peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

See a GP if:

You have pain in your legs and:

  • the pain is in your calves, thighs, feet or bottom when walking and goes away after resting for a few minutes
  • the pain is there all the time and is worse at night
  • you have other symptoms, such as hair loss on your legs, gradual numbness or weakness, or sores that do not heal

If a GP thinks you might have peripheral arterial disease (PAD), they'll look at your legs and may ask about your symptoms and family history.

They may also arrange for you to have some tests, such as:

  • blood tests
  • a test to measure blood pressure and blood flow in your arms and ankles, called ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI)

There is currently no cure for peripheral arterial disease (PAD), but there are treatments that can help manage your symptoms.

These depend on how long you've had the condition, your symptoms and how severe they are.

Treatments for PAD may include:

  • an exercise programme – this may be with the help of a healthcare professional, or you may be able to do it on your own
  • medicines to relieve pain or to help increase blood flow to your leg muscles
  • surgery to widen or unblock your arteries and improve the blood flow to your legs

If your pain is severe and other treatments have not helped, the affected leg may need to be removed (amputation).

There are some things you can do to help if you've been diagnosed with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Do

Don't

  • do not smoke because it can make your symptoms worse

Find out more about how to make healthy lifestyle changes on the NHS Better Health website

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) can cause complications.

These can be serious but getting the right treatment for your symptoms as soon as possible reduces the chance of them happening.

Complications of PAD include:

  • severe pain, which can cause mobility problems
  • increased pressure inside your leg muscles, causing swelling, severe pain, weakness or pins and needles (compartment syndrome)
  • ulceration and gangrene in the affected leg that may mean it needs to be removed (amputated)
  • mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression

If you have PAD, you also have an increased risk of getting vascular dementia and having a heart attack or stroke.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is usually caused by the arteries that supply blood to your legs becoming narrowed or blocked.

A build-up of fatty deposits (atherosclerosis) narrows or blocks your arteries and restricts the blood flow to your legs.

Less common causes of PAD include:

  • conditions that cause inflammation in the blood vessels, such as vasculitis
  • a blood clot in a vein that blocks the blood flow to your legs
  • an injured or diseased artery

If you have peripheral arterial disease (PAD), healthcare professionals will support you throughout your treatment.

You may also find it helpful to get support from your family, friends and other people with the condition.

British Heart Foundation

The British Heart Foundation provides a range of support and information for people affected by heart and circulatory conditions.