Cleavage symptoms consist of pain when walking or walking and the pain is usually localized in the calf, but can also occur in the thighs or buttocks. The pain mainly occurs when you have been walking for a while and when you have taken a break the pain subsides and you can continue, but after a while the pain comes back. Window legs indicates narrowings in the leg arteries, which are caused by arteriosclerosis. These narrowings cause a problem with the blood supply to the leg muscles, causing a shortage of oxygen. This limits the walking distance. Older people in particular are more likely to develop it. Treatment of claudication is aimed at reducing the symptoms and reducing the risk factors for arteriosclerosis.

• What are mannequin legs?

• Clavicle legs is a vascular disease
• Medical name

• Causes of clasp legs

• Atherosclerosis
• Constrictions in the leg arteries
• Other causes

• Risk factors
• Symptoms: pain in legs and calf when walking

• Phenomena
• Long-term complaints

• Complications
• Window legs treatment

• Surgical procedure
• Walking at window legs
• Physiotherapy
• Medicines

• Prevention

 Pain when walking or walking with claudication legs / Source: David Pereiras/Shutterstock

What are mannequin legs?

Clavicle legs is a vascular disease

Claudication is a condition that causes limited oxygen supply to the tissues of the legs, caused by poor circulation. After walking for a while, pain, cramps or fatigue occur in your legs. When walking, the leg muscles consume more oxygen than at rest. In claudication, the arteries in the leg are narrowed due to arteriosclerosis. This causes a reduced supply of oxygen-rich blood to the leg muscles, which leads to pain while walking. You may experience pain in your foot, calf, thigh or buttock, depending on the location of the blood vessel stenosis. Standing still for a moment reduces the pain. This is because the muscles relax, allowing the oxygen shortage to be replenished. That is why the condition is known as ‘window legs’. People who walk in a shopping street with these complaints often seem to stop at a shop window to look at it.

Medical name

Intermittent claudication is the medical name for narrowing of the leg arteries. Doctors also often use the broader term peripheral arterial disease (PAD). This indicates vascular problems in the peripheral parts of the body, in other words: the arms, legs and feet.

Causes of clasp legs

Atherosclerosis

Claudication is usually a symptom of peripheral vascular disease. This involves damage to the arteries that carry blood to your limbs, usually as a result of atherosclerosis or arteriosclerosis. Atherosclerosis can develop in any of your arteries, especially those in your heart. When atherosclerosis affects your arms and legs, it is called peripheral arterial disease.

Constrictions in the leg arteries

Atherosclerosis narrows the blood vessels and makes them stiffer and harder. That’s because the arteries become clogged with fat, cholesterol and other material. These deposits, so-called ‘atherosclerotic plaques’, do not cover the entire inner layer of the artery wall, but occur locally. These plaques can narrow arteries so that less blood can flow through them. You then feel pain because your leg muscles do not receive enough oxygen-rich blood. Oxygen is the fuel that muscles need to contract.

Other causes

Atherosclerosis is not the only cause of claudication symptoms. Other conditions with similar symptoms include stenosis, peripheral neuropathy, certain musculoskeletal disorders and deep vein thrombosis.Smoking is a risk factor for arteriosclerosis / Source: WerbeFabrik, Pixabay

Risk factors

There are a number of habits that increase the risk of arteriosclerosis (atherosclerosis). The most important are high blood pressure (hypertension), the cholesterol level in the blood (which in turn depends on diet and genetic factors), smoking, diabetes mellitus, obesity, little exercise and a Western diet with too much saturated fat in meat. dairy products, eggs, too much fast food and not enough fruit, vegetables and fish. It turns out that about 90% of people with clack legs smoke. Smoking seriously damages the condition of the blood vessels, with the result that the blood supply to the legs is even further reduced.

Symptoms: pain in legs and calf when walking

Phenomena

The complaints develop gradually, over months or years. Often both legs are affected, but the extent can vary per leg. The main complaint is a painful cramp in the legs, especially after walking for a while. Other complaints that may occur are:

• pain in one calf or both calves while walking;
• the pain always manifests itself after running the same distance;
• the pain is more likely to occur when walking quickly or uphill, as well as in the cold;
• the pain goes away after a few minutes of rest.

Long-term complaints

If the condition persists for a longer period of time, you may also experience the following complaints:

• cold feet;
• the lack of a subcutaneous fat layer;
• thickened toenails;
• wounds on the foot or leg that heal less well and sometimes develop ulcers.

The complaints can significantly disrupt your daily life, both at home, at work and in your social contacts. It is also disastrous for your condition if you exercise too little due to the complaints.

Complications

In extreme cases, circulation in your legs or arms may be so limited that you feel pain even when you are not walking or walking. Your legs or arms may then feel cool. Severe peripheral arterial disease can lead to poor healing of wounds and ulcers. This can lead to gangrene and in severe cases requires amputation.

Window legs treatment

Surgical procedure

The treatment is aimed at improving blood flow to the tissues in the legs, limiting symptoms and reducing risk factors for arteriosclerosis. One of the ways to remove a narrowing in a blood vessel is angioplasty, in which a balloon is placed at the end of a catheter, after which it is introduced into the artery and inflated. Sometimes surgery is necessary to place a bypass along the closed veins. But if the blockage can be removed surgically, a bypass is not necessary.

Walking at window legs

However, for some patients the walking advice is sufficient. Frequent walking improves blood flow in the legs by activating the body’s restorative capacity. Walking correctly is important for claudication patients and not cycling or swimming. Frequent walking causes acidification in the muscles. This leads to the body looking for an alternative solution. Unfortunately, the strictures or closures cannot be reversed, but the body can form so-called ‘collaterals’. These are a kind of ‘shortcuts’ of blood vessels that are already present in muscles but are activated during repetitive effort – such as walking. The collaterals then slowly take over the function of the narrowed and blocked arteries. It’s very simple. The more you walk, the more collaterals develop and over time you will notice that the distance you can cover pain-free increases substantially.

Physiotherapy

There is also a group of patients who require more intensive guidance by a physiotherapist. For example, if you have difficulty with specific skills such as climbing stairs. You can then train this in a targeted manner under the guidance of a physiotherapist.

Medicines

Certain medications can also be used to influence risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. However, these medications are not a substitute for walking training, quitting smoking or surgery.Healthy food / Source: Oleksandra Naumenko/Shutterstock

Prevention

The best way to prevent claudication is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. That means:

• Quit smoking if you are a smoker.
• Control your blood sugar levels if you have diabetes;
• Exercise regularly;
• Lower your cholesterol and blood pressure, if necessary.
• Make sure that the amount of saturated fat in the diet is as low as possible; and
• Maintain a healthy weight.

read more

• Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries): symptoms and treatment
• Leg pain: causes of sore legs or leg pain
• Window legs: symptoms, cause and treatment
• Cramps in calf while sleeping: causes of calf cramps at night
• Itchy legs: causes of itchy legs