The Center for Cardiac, Pulmonary, and Vascular Fitness

Vascular Rehabilitation Program

If you experience pain in your calves or thighs after walking short distances, you may have lower extremity vascular disease and will benefit from a rehabilitation program.

Man on exercise machine

More Information

For more information or for the class schedule, please call:

The Center for Cardiac Fitness (Providence) at 401-793-5810

The Vanderbilt Rehabilitation Center (Newport) at 401-845-1179

How the Program Works

Exercise training three to five days a week will help you decrease pain from claudication – a symptom of diminished blood flow – and increase your tolerance for walking. Vascular studies and a progressive treadmill-walking test are required before beginning the program.

We evaluate vital signs and pain assessment during the sessions. Treadmill walking, cardiovascular conditioning and strength-training exercises progress gradually.

Education addresses podiatric concerns, claudication symptoms and risk factors associated with vascular disease. When you complete the rehabilitation program, we repeat the testing and report progress to your referring physician, usually with a recommendation to graduate into a maintenance program. If you choose exercise training as an alternative to surgery to relieve symptoms of claudication, it is a commitment you make for life, not a short-term fix.

Our Vascular Rehabilitation Team

The vascular rehabilitation staff comprises a behavioral psychologist, clinical pharmacists, exercise physiologists, physical therapists, physicians, registered dietitians, and registered nurses.

How Does Vascular Rehabilitation Help?

This exercise and education program aims to relieve your symptoms of lower extremity vascular disease and increase your knowledge of risk factors.

Who Is Eligible?

Those who experience pain in their calves or thighs after walking short distances, a sign of lower extremity vascular disease, will benefit from vascular rehabilitation. Health insurance plans do not cover vascular rehabilitation costs. Affordable payment plans may be available for those who qualify.