How to Improve Circulation in Your Legs and Feet

How to improve circulation in legs and feet depends on which part of the circulation is failing. Narrowed arteries respond to stopping smoking, a structured walking program and medicines; leaky veins to movement, elevation and compression; lymphedema to a therapist-led program; and cold-triggered color changes to warmth. Some of those measures are wrong for the other problems, so the first step is knowing which one you have.

Start with which problem you are treating

If you are not sure whether your problem is narrowed arteries (peripheral artery disease, or PAD), leaky veins (chronic venous insufficiency), poor lymph drainage (lymphedema) or cold-triggered spasm (Raynaud’s phenomenon), start with the signs and causes of poor circulation, and with an examination that includes an ankle-brachial index if your arteries are in question.

How to improve circulation in legs and feet: the evidence by problem

Each evidence label in the table applies to a specific problem: the same measure can be established for one problem and unsafe for another. If you want to improve blood circulation naturally, the best-supported measures are near the top: not smoking, structured walking, elevation and warmth.

If the problem is your arteries

These measures, set up with your clinician, are what change the outlook in PAD.

Stop smoking

Smoking is the main risk factor for PAD and lowers blood flow to the feet, and quitting reduces symptoms and complications. Counseling and medication together give the best chance of quitting for good; in the United States, 1-800-QUIT-NOW offers free coaching.

Walk, in a structured way

For leg pain that comes on with walking and eases with rest, clinicians usually recommend supervised exercise therapy. A session means walking, often on a treadmill, until the leg pain reaches a moderate level, resting until it settles, and repeating; programs usually meet at least three times a week for three months or more. In a Cochrane review of 21 trials, people in supervised programs could walk about 120 meters farther after three months than people exercising at home, and about 210 meters farther than people given walking advice alone.

Medicare covers up to 36 sessions over 12 weeks after a face-to-face visit with the physician treating your PAD. Where no supervised program exists, a structured home program working up to 30 minutes of continuous walking is an option, though home programs have done less consistently in trials. All of this is for diagnosed claudication, not for a wound, rest pain or undiagnosed leg pain. How structured walking works →

Take the medicines that protect the arteries

Statins slow plaque buildup and lower the risk of PAD complications. Antiplatelet medicines such as aspirin or clopidogrel prevent clots and lower the risk of heart attack and stroke. Blood pressure treatment matters too, and in diabetes, keeping blood sugar under control can lower the risk of leg problems. Cilostazol can improve walking distance for some people, but it is not used in heart failure. Check decongestants too: pseudoephedrine can tighten blood vessels and may worsen PAD symptoms.

Restore blood flow when it is needed

When exercise and medicines have not helped walking pain enough, angioplasty, stents or bypass surgery can restore blood flow; rest pain, a non-healing wound or gangrene needs urgent vascular assessment. PAD is lifelong, so the measures above continue afterward.

If the problem is your veins

• Keep moving. Walk regularly, and avoid standing or sitting still for long; even small leg movements help keep blood flowing. A 2023 Cochrane review found too little trial evidence to say whether exercise helps vein disease, but it is low-risk and NHS and vascular-society advice recommends it.
• Raise your legs. Lie down with your legs raised on cushions when you can.
• Use compression after an arterial check. Compression is a standard treatment for chronic venous insufficiency and helps venous leg ulcers heal, and stronger stockings may lower the chance of an ulcer returning. For varicose veins without ulcers, the evidence for stockings as the only treatment is weak, and UK guidance offers them only when a vein procedure is unsuitable. Before starting, the arterial circulation should be checked with an ankle-brachial index if you have diabetes, PAD symptoms, numbness, a wound, kidney disease or heart failure, because compression is not safe when ankle artery pressures are low. Compression safety →
• Lose excess weight, which lowers pressure in the leg veins and helps treat and prevent venous ulcers.
• Ask about treating the veins. For varicose veins, endothermal ablation, which closes the vein with radio-wave or laser energy, is usually first choice; foam sclerotherapy and surgery are alternatives.

If the problem is lymph drainage

Lymphedema is managed rather than cured. The recommended treatment, decongestive lymphatic therapy, is delivered by a trained therapist. It combines compression bandaging and then fitted garments, skin care to prevent infection, exercises that use the leg muscles to move lymph, and a specialist massage called manual lymphatic drainage. It usually starts with daily treatment for several weeks, followed by long-term maintenance.

The massage is the least proven part: in trials of arm lymphedema after breast cancer, adding it to compression bandaging reduced swelling slightly more in mild-to-moderate cases, but did not ease heaviness or pain any better. Compression may not suit people with arterial problems in their legs, so lymphedema care starts with an assessment too. Lymphatic drainage massage: what it can and cannot do →

Fever, redness, warmth or pain in a swollen leg can mean cellulitis, a potentially serious skin infection. Call your doctor the same day.

Cold hands and feet: warmth first

Fingers and toes that turn white or blue in the cold are typical of Raynaud’s phenomenon. Most people with it control symptoms by staying warm, which makes warmth the core treatment for poor circulation in hands and feet of this kind:

• Keep your whole body warm, not just your feet: layers, a hat, gloves and warm socks.
• Avoid sudden temperature changes, such as stepping into strong air conditioning.
• Stop smoking or vaping, since nicotine makes attacks more likely, and go easy on caffeine.
• Exercise regularly, and find ways to manage stress, a common trigger.
• Ask your prescriber whether any of your medicines could be bringing attacks on.
• During an attack, rewarm gently under warm, not hot, water.

If attacks are severe or disrupt daily life, a doctor may prescribe a medicine such as nifedipine, taken daily or only in cold weather. Get it checked if it affects one side only, starts after age 30, or comes with joint pain or rashes.

What does not work, or is unproven

Safety notes before you try anything

• No direct heat on numb feet. If you have diabetes or reduced feeling, do not put a heating pad or hot water bottle on your feet: you can burn them without knowing. Test bath water with your elbow or a thermometer (90 to 95°F is safe), and do not soak your feet.
• Elevation can backfire in advanced PAD. If raising your legs makes foot pain worse, or the pain eases when the foot hangs down, stop elevating and get assessed; in advanced PAD, keeping the legs below heart level usually reduces pain. When elevation helps and when it does not →
• No compression without an arterial check if you have diabetes, PAD symptoms, numbness, a wound, kidney disease or heart failure.
• No massage on a leg that might have a clot, or one that is infected. Lymphatic drainage massage is also avoided with fever, heart disease, kidney failure or stroke.

Common questions

How do you fix poor circulation in your legs and feet?

There is no single answer to how to improve circulation in legs and feet: the fix depends on the cause. For narrowed arteries, it is stopping smoking, supervised walking and medicines, with procedures when needed; for leaky veins, movement, elevation and compression after an arterial check; for lymphedema, a therapist-led program; for cold-triggered color changes, warmth.

What vitamin is good for poor circulation in legs and feet?

No vitamin, or drink, has been shown to open narrowed arteries or repair vein valves. Vitamin B12 matters if you are low: deficiency causes numb, tingling hands and feet, and metformin and acid-reducing medicines can lower B12. That is a nerve problem, though, and extra B12 does not lower heart disease or stroke risk. Ask for a blood test rather than guessing. As for drinks, drink normally unless you have a fluid limit for heart or kidney disease.

What is the best circulation booster for feet and legs?

For narrowed arteries, the best-supported booster is not a device: it is a supervised walking program, plus not smoking and the right medicines. For veins, it is movement, elevation and properly fitted compression after an arterial check. We found no evidence that copper, magnets or electrical foot stimulators treat the underlying conditions.

Can blood flow be restored to the legs?

Yes, when an artery is narrowed or blocked. Angioplasty, stents and bypass surgery restore flow, and they become urgent when there is rest pain, a non-healing wound or gangrene. For walking pain alone, a supervised exercise program and medicines usually come first. A sudden blockage, with a leg that turns cold, pale, numb and painful, is an emergency: call 911.

How can I increase circulation in my feet and keep them warm?

Keep them moving: walk, and wiggle your toes and shift your legs when you sit for long, which helps keep blood flowing. For warmth, socks, layers and keeping your whole body warm are the safe options. Avoid heating pads, hot water bottles and hot soaks if you have diabetes or reduced feeling: feet can burn without you noticing. If one foot is colder than the other, or cold feet come with color changes, sores or walking pain, get the circulation checked rather than adding heat.

Written by Tom Biernacki, DPM, FACFAS. Published 9 October 2026. Updated 16 October 2026. General education, not medical advice.