Legs are perhaps the most stressed part of our body. Throughout the day, it bears the weight and pressure of our whole body. Whether we walk, stand or even sit, the gravitational force makes the legs support our body from falling. So you can imagine how painful it would be when either of your legs hurt.
Pain in legs is quite common. Most people complain about leg pain every other day. Whether it’s the feet, the ankles, the knees or the thighs, any pain in the lower half of your body, below your hips, is categorized as leg pain. It may be a mild pain, or it could just be intense. Sometimes, the pain can become so excruciating that you can’t even put your feet on the floor, let alone walking.
The pain can be caused due to some light or severe injury, or it may be because of some medical condition that you are not aware of. If your leg pain is acute and it persists for a long time, without showing any signs of healing, then you must visit your doctor and get his/her expert diagnosis on the matter. A quick diagnosis and treatment will keep you safe from any major health crisis. On a basic level, everyone should be aware of leg pain symptoms, their causes, and treatment methods available so that you know when to seek medical attention and how to go about the whole process towards a cure. While there are many symptoms of leg pain, some of the common ones have been listed below.
• Weakness in your leg, which includes your feet and ankle
• Numbness in your feet specifically
• Constant and frequent cramps
• A throbbing sensation
• Severe aching or mild aching
• A tingling sensation in your legs accompanied by pain
The leg pain symptoms may arise due to several common reasons such as an injury, or it may be due to an underlying medical condition that requires treatment to improve the situation.
Common causes of leg pain
There are a number of common causes because of which you might experience leg pain symptoms. These causes are minor and temporary and go away within days with proper treatment.
Cramps
One of the major and common causes of leg pain is a muscle cramp or spasm. Cramps generally result in a sudden, sharp pain caused due to the contraction of the muscles. Dehydration and muscle fatigue also leads to cramps.
Injuries
Well, it goes without saying that any damage to your leg will cause pain. However, there are different ways by which you may have injured your leg.
• Tendonitis or inflammation of a tendon can cause pain in the hamstrings or the heels or both.
• Muscle strain occurs when your leg muscle fibers get overstretched and tears as a result.
• When the fluid-filled sacs, or bursa, around your knee joint gets inflamed, it results in the painful condition called knee bursitis.
• Shin splints cause pain on the inner side of your thigh due to overstretching of the muscle around your shin.
• There is a condition called stress fractures that cause tiny breaks in your leg bones.
Underlying medical conditions
Now that you are aware of the common causes that result in leg pain symptoms, you must also know about the severe medical conditions that can cause leg pains.
Peripheral vascular disease
Peripheral vascular disease or PVD is a medical condition where the blood vessels narrow down, get blocked or even experience spastic attacks.
Deep vein thrombosis
Deep vein thrombosis or DVT is a major leg pain symptom, and it occurs when a blood clot is formed within a vein, which is located deep inside your body, especially your legs.
Sciatica
Any dysfunction in your sciatic nerve causes sciatica.
Flat feet
When your feet don’t form the general arch while standing, it causes severe pain in your legs.
Multiple sclerosis
This causes muscle weakness and numbness all over the body. Legs are also affected as leg muscles are the most worked muscles.
Varicose vein
This is a condition where the veins of your legs get enlarged, dilated and overfilled with blood. These generally do not cause you any pain. But advanced cases of varicose veins do cause intense leg pain.
These are just a few of the severe causes of leg pain. If you experience any of these severe symptoms, do not wait for it to heal by itself, because it won’t. Contact your doctor immediately and get your leg checked. Leg pain symptoms may seem very common, but these might give rise to severe conditions if you take them casually. Legs are that part of the body on which the whole weight is put and that is why, it catches on the pressure and aggravates the condition easily, and therefore, caution is required.
