Physiotherapist R. Oostdam is a certified Claudicatio therapist and affiliated with the

"Etalagebenen" or Claudicatio Intermittens

What are "Shop window legs"

The arteries in your legs don't supply enough oxygen for the muscles you use when walking. This is because these arteries are narrowed. A narrowing occurs due to arteriosclerosis.

You may have heard that you have 'shop window legs'. This term was coined because patients want to give themselves an attitude when they are forced to rest. They look in the window of a shop.

The medical term for this condition is intermittent claudication. Doctors also use the term peripheral artery disease (PAV).  PAV is classified by the doctors into four stages:

-Stage 1: You have a narrowing but no typical symptoms of intermittent claudication (shop window legs).

-Stage 2: You suffer from shop window legs. Depending on the walking distance, doctors make a distinction between 2A and 2B. With a stage 2A you can walk more than 100 meters pain-free. At a stage 2B, the pain occurs before you have walked 100 meters. The majority of patients remain in stage two.

-Stage 3: You also have pain in the legs and/or feet at rest. The pain decreases when the leg is left hanging from the bed. The supply of oxygen and nutrients is seriously compromised in the affected leg.

-Stage 4: Non-healing wounds, necrosis or gangrene occur on the affected foot. There is a danger of amputation.

Stages 3 and 4 are called critical ischemia by the doctors. In critical ischemia, low blood pressure in the legs is measured (less than 50 mmHg t.b.v. the ankles and/or 30 mmHg at the level of the big toe).

Where does the pain in the legs come from?

The leg arteries carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the legs. Over the years, arteriosclerosis (medical term: atherosclerosis) can cause narrowing or blockages in the arteries. Eventually, a considerable narrowing can occur; a so-called stenosis. At the site of the stenosis, less blood can pass through. Due to the damage and the slow flow rate of the blood, clots can easily form with such a narrowing. Such a clot can eventually completely close a vessel, this is called an occlusion. With exertion of the leg muscles (walking, running, climbing stairs), the demand for oxygen-rich blood increases. Do you have narrowings in the arteries? Then too little blood with oxygen gets to the muscles. There is a lack of oxygen in the muscles. The lack of oxygen causes pain in your leg. With rest, the pain disappears again.