our heart and circulatory system make up your cardiovascular system. Your heart works as a pump that pushes blood to the organs, tissues, and cells of your body. Blood delivers oxygen and nutrients to every cell and removes the carbon dioxide and waste products made by those cells. Blood is carried from your heart to the rest of your body through a complex network of arteries, arterioles, and capillaries. Blood is returned to your heart through venules and veins. If all the vessels of this network in your body were laid end-to-end, they would extend for about 60,000 miles (more than 96,500 kilometres), which is far enough to circle the earth more than twice!

The one-way circulatory system carries blood to all parts of your body. This process of blood flow within your body is called circulation.

carry oxygen-rich blood away from your heart, and veins carry oxygen-poor blood back to your heart.

In pulmonary circulation, though, the roles are switched. It is the pulmonary artery that brings oxygen-poor blood into your lungs and the pulmonary vein that brings oxygen-rich blood back to your heart.

In the diagram, the vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood are coloured red, and the vessels that carry oxygen-poor blood are Colored blue.

Twenty major arteries make a path through your tissues, where they branch into smaller vessels called arterioles. Arterioles further branch into capillaries, the true deliverers of oxygen and nutrients to your cells. Most capillaries are thinner than a hair. In fact, many are so tiny, only one blood cell can move through them at a time. Once the capillaries deliver oxygen and nutrients and pick up carbon dioxide and other waste, they move the blood back through wider vessels called venules. Venules eventually join to form veins, which deliver the blood back to your heart to pick up oxygen

anatomy of circulation in the leg

The one-way circulatory system carries blood to all parts of your body. This process of blood flow within your body is called circulation. Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from your heart, and veins carry oxygen-poor blood back to your heart.

In pulmonary circulation, though, the roles are switched. It is the pulmonary artery that brings oxygen-poor blood into your lungs and the pulmonary vein that brings oxygen-rich blood back to your heart.

In the diagram, the vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood are Colored red, and the vessels that carry oxygen-poor blood are Colored blue.

poor circulation explained

A common cause of poor leg circulation – restricted blood flow to your legs – is peripheral vascular disease, or PVD. This term refers to disorders involving blood vessels outside, or on the periphery, of the heart. PVD can involve peripheral arteries (blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart) or peripheral veins (blood vessels that carry blood toward the heart).

When PVD involves the arteries, it is known as peripheral artery disease, or PAD. A fatty substance called plaque builds up and hardens on the walls of the peripheral arteries, making it difficult for blood to properly flow through. The plaque takes years to build up, which is why older adults are more at risk.

In addition, the following behaviours or conditions can also contribute to leg circulation problems:

• Tobacco smoking
• Obesity
• Lack of exercise
• Improper diet
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Certain nerve and thyroid conditions
• Pregnancy
• Family history

If you have poor leg circulation, symptoms usually develop gradually.

• In the early stages, you may experience cramping or fatigue in the legs, buttocks or feet during activity. The pain, whether it’s leg pain, lower leg pain or foot pain, usually diminishes with rest, but will reoccur.
• You may complain of a tired, aching feet, or swollen feet/legs.
• You may also have cramping that occurs in your legs and feet when you are sleeping or immobile for extended periods of time.
• In addition, you can incur such symptoms as ‘cold feet,’ or feet that ‘fall asleep.’

Frequent suffering with cold feet and/or cold hands usually signifies that your circulation, or blood flow from your heart, has slowed. This may especially happen at night when you are trying to sleep, during periods of immobility or after eating certain foods.