Don't take it lightly if you always feel cold in your calves

If you feel cold calves, don't be careless, it may be caused by blood circulation problems. There are many reasons for poor blood circulation. The most common one in life is lumbar disc herniation. In addition, for diabetic patients, it often causes problems with peripheral nerves, which can also cause this situation. In addition, reasons such as arteriosclerosis can also cause such symptoms.

Cold legs and feet is a feeling, and the feeling is controlled by nerves

Therefore, the possibility of peripheral neuropathy should be considered first. Zhang Zaiqiang, chief physician of the Department of Neurology at Beijing Tiantan Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, said that cold legs caused by peripheral neuropathy are usually accompanied by numbness, pain, etc., and in severe cases there may be symptoms such as muscle atrophy. There are many causes of peripheral neuropathy. Zhang Zaiqiang introduced that diabetes is the most common cause. In addition, alcoholism, toxins, trauma, immune diseases, liver and kidney diseases, tumors, etc. may damage peripheral nerves, leading to abnormal sensation and causing cold leg symptoms. Cold legs caused by nerve problems are generally difficult to relieve no matter how you warm the area.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is reflected in the legs

There are often symptoms of cold and numb legs and feet. Professor Tian Hui from the Department of Geriatric Endocrinology at the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army said that cold feet may appear before numbness, sometimes on one side, while others may be on both sides. If the disease continues to develop, symptoms such as numbness and crawling sensation in the feet will appear, which is called "diabetic foot". Therefore, if middle-aged and elderly people experience cold legs and feet symptoms that are difficult to relieve, they should pay attention to check their blood sugar.

Lumbar disc herniation in clinical practice.

The sensation of the legs is controlled by the spinal nerves. If the protruding lumbar disc compresses the spinal nerves, especially stimulates the sympathetic nerves, symptoms such as cold legs, leg pain, and leg numbness will appear. Some patients only experience cold legs without any other symptoms such as leg pain or back pain, which can easily be overlooked. The legs of these patients are often cold from the inside out, and no matter how thick the clothes are, they will not help. Such patients need to undergo a lumbar MRI, which can confirm the diagnosis by observing the compression of the spinal nerves.

The legs and feet are far away from the heart, so if the blood supply is not good, they naturally cannot warm up. Yan Ying, chief physician of the Department of Dermatology and a doctor of peripheral vascular medicine at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, said that arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis are common problems in the elderly. If the lumen of the lower limb arteries is narrowed due to atherosclerotic plaque formation and the distal blood supply is insufficient, the legs and feet will become cold.

In the initial stage of the disease, patients often feel cold limbs on one side, and the skin temperature feels slightly lower than normal. This can be relieved to a certain extent by adding clothes or as the temperature rises. As vascular lesions worsen, skin temperature gradually drops. Even wearing more clothes or raising the ambient temperature will not relieve the symptoms and may develop to both sides. The higher the narrow part, the larger the area of ​​cold legs. In addition to cold legs and feet, patients will also experience symptoms such as soreness and weakness in the legs after walking, numbness and pain in the feet; the skin will show signs of malnutrition, such as pale or yellow skin on the distal ends, slow growth of nails, dull and yellow color, muscle atrophy, and loss of sweat hair on the toes.