Heart Disease Health Center

Many people who have peripheral arterial disease (PAD) don't have symptoms.

If you do have symptoms, you may have a tight, aching, or squeezing pain in your calf, thigh, or buttock. This pain, called intermittent claudication, usually happens after you have walked a certain distance.

For example, your pain may always start after you have walked a block or two or after a few minutes. The pain goes away if you stop walking. As PAD gets worse, you may have pain in your foot or toe when you aren't walking.

Only about 1 out of 5 people with PAD have intermittent claudication.¹

Other symptoms of peripheral arterial disease of the legs may include:

• Weak or tired legs.
• Difficulty walking or balancing.
• Cold and numb feet or toes.
• Sores that are slow to heal.
• Foot pain while you are at rest, which means that PAD is getting worse.
• Erectile dysfunction.

More severe symptoms, such as skin changes on the feet or legs, may be a sign of advanced PAD.

Some people may not report symptoms to their doctors. This may happen in:

• People who have a high pain tolerance.
• People who have other health problems such as diabetes with numbness in their legs. This can prevent them from feeling pain.
• People who never exert themselves long enough for leg pain to start.

Whatever the reason, not reporting symptoms can make it harder for doctors to diagnose the disease.