Key Symptoms Of Peripheral Vascular Disease

Foot Or Leg Numbness

Numbness describes when an individual loses physical sensation in a part of their body. Sensation mechanisms controlled by the sensory nerves throughout the body include touch and the detection of temperature changes. The nerves around the body carry the sensory information from the surface of the skin, through the spinal cord, and into the brain. When any part of this process is impaired, individuals will experience abnormal sensations or loss of sensation. Peripheral vascular disease can describe when an individual has veins in their lower peripherals that do not work properly. Veins that are unable to push blood back to the heart properly will leak fluid. Fluids from the leaky veins accumulate in the surrounding tissues in the legs, which is referred to as edema. The excess fluid accumulation can compress the sensory nerves and their pathways in the affected leg or foot, which causes the sensory impulses to become obstructed on their way to the brain. The result of this malfunction is numbness in the leg or foot.