Our blood is propelled back to our heart by our heart pumping and by our leg and foot muscles as we walk and move our ankles. that blood is forced into the tissue of our skin making it swell. This can make our legs feel tired, throbbing and painful.
The popliteal pulse is one of the pulses you can detect in your body, specifically in the portion of your leg behind your knee. The pulse here is from blood flow to the popliteal artery, a vital blood supply to the lower leg.
Your heart pumps blood through your body and your arteries pulse as your blood flows through them. The popliteal pulse is named after your popliteal artery. This is an important blood vessel that carries blood down through your leg to your feet. So the location of your popliteal pulse is behind your knee.
Walking is especially good for you
Several randomized clinical trials have shown that walking can make a real difference for people with peripheral artery disease, says Emile R. Mohler, III, MD, late Director of Vascular Medicine at Penn Medicine.
Atherosclerosis—or clogging—in the peripheral arteries is dangerous. If you have atherosclerosis in your legs, it's almost certainly occurring elsewhere in the body. That's why all patients with PAD, regardless of whether leg pain is present, are at increased short-term risk of a heart attack or a stroke.
Segmental Doppler pressure testing checks different parts of your legs for narrowed or blocked arteries. This method is similar to ABI testing but uses blood pressure cuffs placed at thigh, calf, and ankle levels.
There are 2 main types of revascularisation treatment for PAD: angioplasty – where a blocked or narrowed section of artery is widened by inflating a tiny balloon inside the vessel. artery bypass graft – where blood vessels are taken from another part of your body and used to bypass the blockage in an artery.