Do your fingers or toes constantly feel cold? Or do you experience a tingling sensation in your arms and legs?
If so, you could be experiencing peripheral artery disease, or poor circulation.
Poor circulation results when blood is restricted from flowing through your circulatory system. The circulatory system brings fresh blood to every part of your body, including your brain.
Decreased blood flow to the brain can cause many other ailments including but not limited to:
1. Decreased motor functions like walking, eating, talking, even breathing.
2. Limits to your ability to think clearly and make decisions.
3. The eyes can become weakened due to lack of oxygen and nutrients.
4. The liver and kidneys can’t remove toxins from the body.
5. Any amount of exertion can cause dizziness and breathlessness.
Symptoms of Poor Circulation
- Cramping or fatigue in the legs, buttocks or feet during activity. It will usually go a way with rest, but will come back as soon as you resume your activity.
- Cramping or pain in your legs while sitting for long periods of time; such as driving long distances, or while on a long flight or bus ride.
- Your legs and/or feet “fall asleep” while sitting or sleeping.
- Tired, aching feet, or swelling of the feet and legs.
- Lower temperature in the legs and feet compared with the rest of the body. (This can also apply to the arms and hands)
Some of the complications that can come about as a result of poor circulation if left untreated include heart attack, stroke, amputation and death.
Treatments for Poor Circulation
It is estimated that 8 to 12 million Americans suffer from Peripheral Artery Disease, or poor circulation.
There are several common treatments for poor circulation: dilating drugs can be used to thin the blood; surgery may be required in extreme cases. A stent may need to be inserted into arteries that inflates to allow blood flow to resume to your outer extremities.
One gentle remedy to improve blood circulation is to bathe in a “circulation bath”. This is good for all kinds of circulation problems, and may even fix acne.
This is a mixture of birch leaves, rosemary, thyme with essential oils of rosemary, Siberian fir and lavender. This bath is recommend for people who experience feet problems, rheumatism and muscular pain.
If you are looking for a herbal cure, then a natural remedy to fix poor circulation is to use ginger, skullcap and magnesium to reduce clotting. In addition, Butchers Broom used with Garlic and Cayenne can be used as a blood thinner to aid circulation.
For information about how to improve your circulation, visit the Healthy-Americandotcom health and family website:
Fix Poor Circulation at Healthy-American
Copyright Bradley N. Smith May 2006