Your heart’s health is critical. Whenever you have an issue touching the heart or the circulation system, you need the best care possible. If you, for example, have noticed PAD (peripheral artery disease) symptoms, a vascular condition that affects the limbs (mostly legs), you need professional diagnosis and treatment. This emphasizes the need to employ due diligence to find and select an ideal peripheral artery disease Frisco specialist. So, how do you go about it? Here are a few tips to get you started.
Primary care doctor
The simplest entry point for any specialized medical attention is your primary care doctor. If you have not adopted an annual wellness visit in your health regimen, this is an excellent reason to get started. Apart from developing a rich medical history, your primary care doctor can recommend a PAD specialist. They interact with other specialists in their line of work. This means that they know a PAD specialist or someone who can point you in the right direction. Professional referrals make your search easier, especially since you can trust their input as they are in the same industry and understand how sensitive your healthcare needs are.
Social network
Do you know someone, maybe a friend or relative, who has battled a heart or circulation system-related problem? Such connections can help you find the best specialist. Nonetheless, don’t just blindly follow their input. It would be best to ascertain that the specialist is well equipped to handle your needs. For instance, do your homework, and establish if they were attended to by a vascular and interventional radiologist or vascular surgeon. Learn the difference, and establish the specialist best suited to handle PAD.
With such information, you will have an easier time narrowing the recommendation from social circles. You can use information such as how friendly and professional the specialist is, their facilities, and experiences your friend or relative had during their engagement.
Online search
Online searches are today’s starting point to find virtually anything. For example, a quick query, the best peripheral artery disease specialist in Frisco, returns an extensive pool. This gives you the flexibility to choose a service marking the most, if not all, boxes on your checklist. Go through the site, read the specialists’ bios, and consider their academic background and how long they have been in practice. Such information can help you make a list of manageable services for thorough vetting, say, five or fewer.
While searching online, a quick hack that can help narrow the options is considering the specialists’ reputation. Go through their previous patients’ testimonials. Read as many reviews as possible and see if the ratings inspire confidence. If a PAD specialist doesn’t boast an extensive pool of reviews and good ratings, they probably are not as good.
Follow your gut
Now that you have a shorter list; it is time to start making calls or visiting the specialists’ offices. During the consultation, a significant yet overlooked aspect is considering your gut feeling. Do you like the specialist? If you engage a PAD specialist you don’t like and are not comfortable around, the chances of a smooth engagement are relatively low.
Are you experiencing a weak pulse, numbness, pain, cramping in your legs/arms, wounds that will not heal, or coldness in the lower leg/foot, among other symptoms? Don’t discount it; it could be PAD. Visit or call Prime Heart and Vascular for consultation, diagnosis, and, if needed, treatment.
