Treatment

Early on, peripheral vascular disease sometimes can be treated with just a few daily life-style changes. These changes can frequently reduce the symptoms and improve circulation. If you smoke, do all that you can to quit. If you are obes, a regular exercise program(before exercising consult your family doctor) and diet changes will facilitate the circulatory system to function more effciently.

Peripheral Vascular Disease can be treated in a variety of ways:

• Medication: In some cases, medication will be prescribed to help improve blood flow and relieve symptoms. Such drugs a Trental and Pletal could be prescribed to aid circulation. Calcium-channel blockers, a medication that helps relax blood vessel walls, can also be used.
• Minimally invasive procedures:If medications fail, your doctor may recommend minimally invasive procedures such as angioplasty ( a small balloon used to compress the plaque), stent placement( tiny tube inserted into the artery and kept there to keep it open), lasers, atherectomy and thrombolytic therapy(use of a drug injected by catheter in the artery to help dissolve the clot). These various therapies try to treat the plaque accumulation/clot in the arteries by either removing it, compressing it or dissolving it.
• Surgery:If the plaque is large or severe enough to restrict blood flow, then surgery may become necessary. At times, balloon angioplasty is necessary to open a blockage. A common surgical procedure for acute blockage is a bypass graft. Here the surgeon attempts to redirect the circulation around the blockage.

Vascular disease in the lower extremity has a wide range of effect from mild and short-term to severe and long-term. However, it is often treatable and extremely preventable. Remember to prohibit from smoking, exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet.