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5 Tips to Improve Poor Blood Circulation at Home

Poor blood circulation is a common problem that is growing in prevalence each day. While once considered an ailment reserved for the elderly, the growing levels of obesity are leading to circulation problems in people of much younger ages, some even teenagers. Like most conditions, however, there are a great variety of things that you can do on your own to help improve poor blood circulation and stave off some of the repercussions of leaving it untreated. This article will outline five simple things you can do on your own that require little or no additional expense.

Start Working Out – The best thing you can do to improve poor circulation is to get up and start exercising. This increases blood flow to the area that you are exercising and over time will improve overall cardiovascular tone and function. You might want to start with several short walks per day, but the goal is to work yourself up to twenty to forty minutes per day of moderate cardiovascular exercise.

The idea is to start out slow and work yourself up to more significant amounts of exercise. A sedentary lifestyle leads to even further deterioration of blood circulation, so the only way to fight it is to get up and move as much as possible.

Stop Smoking – Any doctor will tell you that smoking is a terrible, unhealthy habit that will eventually lead to all manner of different medical conditions. In terms of poor blood circulation, smoking will harden your arteries over time and raise your blood pressure. Neither of these are exactly good for circulation.

Raise Your Legs – The fact is that the majority of all circulation problems will occur in the legs. This causes blood to pool in your legs, causing a variety of aches and pains and physical changes, some of which could eventually lead to amputation. To help relieve that pressure, elevate your legs over the level of your heart for ten to fifteen minutes three times per day.

Eat a Healthy Diet – Everything that goes into the body has an affect on how well it functions, so it stands to reason that a healthy diet would help any number of different conditions, circulation included. Diets that are high in fats and sugar will increase the viscosity of the blood, making it thicker and more difficult for your heart to pump. Cutting down on these will help thin your blood and get it flowing more easily.

Take Supplements – There are several different supplements that are beneficial for healthy circulation, such as pycnogenol and horse chestnut. Depending on the quality of the supplement and the quantity you take, the cost will vary somewhat. Horse chestnut should also be avoided if you are suffering from kidney disease.

These are only a sample of the things you can do. The main thing to keep in mind is that you need to work to keep the blood flowing, particularly to the extremities, as most circulatory problems are at their worst there. Just keep moving.

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