We are used to thinking of vascular disease in terms the heart and brain but legs suffer too! Atherosclerosis can cause cramping pain in the leg muscles on exertion that settles after a few minutes' rest and is called intermittent claudication.

In the early stages of this condition, the pain usually occurs in the calves with a particular walking effort, but settles again after 5 to 10 minutes' rest.

The pain is a result of the leg muscles not getting enough blood to cater for the physical effort needed.

More advanced atherosclerosis may cause almost constant pain even at rest, ulceration of the lower leg and even gangrene in the toes and feet.

Atherosclerosis affects many people. It can start at the age of 20 and increases with advancing age. The exact cause is unknown, but several risk factors accelerate the formation of fatty deposits in the arteries:

smoking
family history of vascular disease, angina, heart attacks or stroke
being overweight
an unhealthy diet
lack of exercise
diabetes
being male
high blood pressure
high cholesterol levels
stress.

Yet another very good reason for a healthy life style.

I understand that wearing specialised compression stockings, socks, hosiery, and pantie hose garments is a good way to get relief for tired, heavy, aching, tingling/burning, numb legs, ankles, and feet that are caused by long periods of standing and sitting.

It seems that tired, heavy, and aching legs occur when blood collects at the ankles and has difficulty in returning back to the heart. This pooling of blood at the ankles leads to the dilation of veins that carry the blood to the heart. When the veins have trouble moving blood from the feet to your heart, the effects show up in your legs. By compressing the dilated veins, compression stockings create a gentle squeeze at the ankles and help get your blood moving up the leg and back to your heart for better blood circulation while also simultaneously decreasing the pressure in the veins. The increase in blood circulation helps reduce the achy, tired, heavy tingling/burning, and numb sensation in the legs and feet. In addition to reducing leg/ankle pain and discomfort, a compression garment can also help reduce leg, ankle, and foot swelling (oedema) by lessening the build-up of fluids in the leg and by keeping the fluids in circulation. For these reasons, compression garments are especially suited for active women and men, for people who are standing and sitting for long hours at work (i.e. health care professionals, sales/retail people, waitresses and restaurant professionals, factory employees, cashiers, airline employees, etc.), for people travelling long distances by car or air, and for enhancing comfort in one’s everyday life.