What Is Claudication? A Guide From The Midwest Institute For Non-Surgical Therapy

If you’ve ever felt cramping or aching in your calves, thighs, or buttocks when you walk, only for it to ease once you rest, you might be experiencing claudication. It’s a medical term, but what it really means is that your muscles are not getting enough oxygen when you’re active, and that’s something worth understanding, treating, and not ignoring.

What Is Claudication, Exactly?

Claudication is essentially discomfort or pain in the muscles, especially in the legs, that arises during activity and goes away with rest. It’s most often caused by peripheral artery disease (PAD), a problem that occurs when the arteries that supply blood to your legs narrow because of plaque buildup.

In other words, when you walk, your leg muscles demand more oxygenated blood. But if the arteries feeding them are narrowed, they can’t keep up, and your muscles rebel with ache, cramp, or heaviness.

How Common Is Claudication?

Claudication isn’t rare. Literature suggests that in the US, it’s present in 5% of men and 2.5% of women over 60. That’s around 4.8 million people. The risk increases significantly with age: in people over 70, prevalence may go up to 20%.

European data also underscore the issue: in one study of people aged 60–90, about 7% had intermittent claudication.

Even more critically, claudication isn’t just a sporadic leg problem; it’s a warning sign.

What Causes Claudication?

The root cause is usually atherosclerosis, a process where fatty deposits (plaque) build up inside your arteries. Over time, these plaques narrow the blood vessels, limiting blood flow.

Risk factors are very similar to those for heart disease and include:

• Smoking
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure and high cholesterol
• Obesity or being overweight
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Age — the older you are, the greater the risk

Because these risk factors are common, many people develop PAD without realizing it. In fact, many reduce their activity to avoid pain rather than seeking care.

What Happens if Claudication Gets Worse?

If ignored, claudication can progress. Complications may include:

• Non-healing wounds on the legs or feet
• Skin changes, like shiny or hairless skin
• In very severe cases, critical limb ischemia, where circulation is so poor that tissue is endangered

Also, people with PAD have a significantly higher risk of heart attack and stroke, because the same artery-damaging process is often happening elsewhere in the body.

How Do Doctors Diagnose Claudication?

If you describe leg pain on walking, your doctor will likely start with a review of your medical history and a physical exam. But there are also specific tests:

• Ankle-Brachial Index (ABI): This measures blood pressure in your ankle vs. your arm. Low ABI suggests PAD.
• Doppler ultrasound: Uses sound waves to check for blood flow in your leg arteries.
• Imaging: In some cases, CT or MR angiography can map out where blockages are.
• Walk test: You may walk on a treadmill or along a hallway to see how symptoms behave under exertion.

What Can Be Done to Prevent or Treat Claudication?

Thankfully, claudication is treatable, and in many cases, you can significantly improve symptoms without major surgery.

1. Lifestyle First: Preventing & Slowing It Down

Preventing or slowing claudication is a lot like protecting your heart. Key steps include:

• Quitting smoking. This is one of the biggest risk-reduction moves.
• Getting active. Walking regularly helps improve blood flow, builds muscle tolerance, and stimulates new blood vessel growth.
• Eating smart. A heart-healthy diet (low in saturated fat, high in vegetables, whole grains) helps control cholesterol and blood pressure.
• Managing chronic diseases. Take care of diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol with your healthcare team.

2. Structured Exercise Therapy

One of the most powerful and evidence-based therapies for claudication is supervised exercise therapy (SET). Guidelines recommend at least 30–45 minutes per session, three times a week for at least 12 weeks.

Clinical studies show that SET significantly increases walking speed and endurance, and even small improvements in walking ability are meaningful for patients.

3. Medications

Several drugs can also help reduce risk and improve symptoms, and include:

• Statins: Lower cholesterol, which slows artery damage.
• Antiplatelet agents (like aspirin or clopidogrel): Reduce the chance of blood clots.
• Cilostazol: A medication that specifically helps people with claudication walk farther by improving blood flow.

4. Procedures When Needed

If lifestyle measures and medications don’t bring relief, or if blockages are severe, more interventional options exist:

• Angioplasty + stenting: A catheter blows up a balloon inside the artery, and often a stent is placed to keep the artery open.
• Bypass surgery: In more advanced cases, surgeons can perform vascular bypass to reroute blood around blocked sections.

Decisions depend on how severe your symptoms are, where the blockages are, and your overall health.

Why Early Attention Matters

Because claudication often comes on gradually, it’s easy to dismiss it as “just aging” or “just getting out of shape.” But that’s a risk. Every time you ignore leg pain, you could be ignoring a sign that your arteries are unhealthy.

Treating claudication not only helps you walk more comfortably. It may also lower your risk of heart attack and stroke by tackling the root cardiovascular problems.

When to Get Help for Claudication

See a doctor if:

• You regularly feel leg pain when walking that stops when you rest
• Pain is getting worse, or now comes when you rest
• You notice skin changes, sores, or wounds on your legs that don’t heal

A simple test like the Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) can pick up PAD early. From there, a personalized plan, including exercise, risk factor control, and possibly medical or procedural treatment, can make a big difference

What the Midwest Institute for Non-Surgical Therapy Can Do for You

At MINT, we specialise in non-surgical, evidence-based care for claudication and PAD. Here’s what we offer:

• Supervised exercise therapy programs, tailored to your level and goals.
• Risk factor management, including support to quit smoking, optimize diabetes and blood pressure, and improve cholesterol.
• Medication support, helping you find the right therapies with minimal side effects.
• Coordinated care, including referral for minimally invasive procedures when necessary,  but always with careful evaluation and patient-first decision making.

If you're limping, stopping, or worried about what your leg pain means, don’t wait. Contact MINT today for a personalized evaluation. Together, we can build a plan to relieve your pain, improve your walking, and protect your heart.

Want to find more answers to the question “What is claudication?” Reach out to MINT for a consultation. We’re here to walk this journey with you.