Brief Answer:
Explained below...

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

I read your message and understood your medical problem.

Before I say my final opinion, I need to know at least about the symptoms you face and if it is possible, send me medical evidence, for example, a CT or MRI of the spine if you have any.

PAD is a condition similar to the atherosclerosis of the heart vessels but this time happens to the arteries of the lower extremities. Most common symptoms are cramping, pain or tiredness in the leg or hip muscles when climbing stairs or walking.

The pain goes away when you rest and returns when you start walking again. It is very important to be diagnosed on time as it may cause serious consequences for your leg and general health.

Another condition that may be misunderstood with PAD is disc herniation of the spine at some level of the lumbar spine region. In this case, the leg pain is worse than the back pain. Pain has strange characteristics. It may be described as piercing, sharp, electric, or radiating.

Other neurological symptoms like numbness, pins-and-needles sensations, weakness, and tingling are also present. If the sciatic nerve is affected that you will experience the sciatica pain which radiates through the sciatic nerve. You may face difficulty in lifting your leg or staying on the ball of your foot. This is called foot drop and is characteristic for this type of neurological problem.

Disc herniation progresses fast which may make the painkillers not to work anymore and you need to do surgery to correct the problem.

Anyway, it is important to do some investigation before concluding to the final diagnosis. A spine MRI and if it is still suspected for PAD, an Angio-CT of the leg vessels is necessary. Your age predisposes for both these conditions but the information you gave me is not enough for proper evaluation of your health problem.

Please, see your doctor again and discuss with him the problem. If you can, kindly send me more information and I will fully evaluate your condition.

Hope this is useful for you.

Thank you.
Dr. Albana.

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