Leg painis discomfort or pain felt in any part of the leg.
It can range from mild to severe, depending on the cause.
In some cases, leg pain is nothing to worry about and is due to a minor muscle strain.
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Treating leg pain is highly dependent on its cause, but it can typically be remedied using at-home therapies.
This article discusses the various causes of leg pain and what you might do to remedy the discomfort.
Types include:
Neurological Pain
Neurological leg pain is often referred to as neuropathic pain orneuropathy.
It develops when a health condition damages nerves that carry pain signals to the brain.
Symptoms include burning pain accompanied by tingling and numbness in the legs and feet.
This pain may arise after muscle sprains or fractures.
One of the most common types of vascular pain affecting the legs is peripheral artery disease.
Injuries
Injuries are the most apparent cause of leg pain.
Types of leg injuries include:
What Do Leg Injuries Feel Like?
This key in of leg pain typically develops when the muscle is injured or overused.
It can also occur if you are deficient in certain nutrients, such aspotassiumorcalcium.
In some cases, charley horse pain can develop if nerves connected to the muscle are irritated.
What Does a Charley Horse Feel Like?
The pain resulting from a leg cramp will come on suddenly in the calf, foot, or thigh.
It is intense and the pain feels dull and tight.
It is triggered by inflammation of the muscle, tendon, or bone surrounding the shin.
What Do Shin Splints Feel Like?
They can develop because of overuse, repetitive force on the area, or bone disorders such asosteoporosis.
What Does a Stress Fracture Feel Like?
Stress fractures start as a dull ache but can worsen over time if left untreated.
Overuse can cause the crack to grow if you dont get it treated promptly.
A strain can be mild or severe, depending on how severe the injury to the muscle is.
What Does Hamstring Pain Feel Like?
If mild, a hamstring strain may not cause any pain to develop.
It is typically caused byfatty plaque buildupin the arteries, a condition known asatherosclerosis.
What Does PAD Feel Like?
It develops when ablood clotforms in a deep vein in the lower legs or thighs.
What Does DVT Feel Like?
In some cases, DVT will not cause symptoms to develop.
What Does Achilles Tendonitis Feel Like?
The pain most associated with Achilles tendonitis is dull and achy.
It will occur in the back of the leg just above the heel after being physically active.
Compartment Syndrome
Compartment syndromeoccurs when there is an increase in pressure inside a muscle.
This pressure restricts blood flow, leading to pain in the area.
In some cases, sudden onset of compartment syndrome can be a medical emergency.
What Does Compartment Syndrome Feel Like?
The pain associated with compartment syndrome can feel like a deep ache or burning and worsens upon movement.
It controls the muscles in the back of the knee and lower leg.
When this punch in of pain occurs, it is referred to assciatica.
The common causes of sciatica include:
What Does Sciatic Nerve Pain Feel Like?
There is no set bang out of pain in sciatica because it can vary widely.
It can feel like a mild tingling or a dull ache or as though the leg is burning.
Arthritis
Arthritis is a common condition driven by joint inflammation.
If the joints affected are in the legs, pain can develop.
There are several types of arthritis, some of which affect major organs.
What Does Arthritis Pain Feel Like?
Arthritis pain typically feels dull and achy but can also create a burning sensation.
The pain tends to worsen the more you use the joint.
Gout
Goutis a form ofinflammatory arthritisthat affects the joints in the lower limbs or the big toe.
It causes swelling and pain and comes on in flares, meaning it comes and goes sporadically.
The condition is sparked by high levels of urate (a jot down of salt) in the body.
What Does Gout Feel Like?
Swelling is also present.
In some cases, a gout flare can cause pain so severe it can wake you up from sleep.
Varicose Veins
Varicose veinsare veins that have been twisted around to lie just under the skin.
They tend to swell.
The leading cause of varicose veins is damaged or weak vein walls and valves.
What Do Varicose Veins Feel Like?
Thepain that develops because of varicose veinswill be achy.
They include:
Slipped (Herniated) Disc
Between eachvertebra in the spineare discs.
Their role is to absorb shock on the spine to avoid injury.
Typically, when this happens to a disc, they are already in a state of degeneration.
The causes most associated withherniated discsare excessive strain or injury to the area and the natural aging process.
What Does a Slipped Disk Feel Like?
Tumors
Tumors are masses of abnormal cells that form a growth.
They can occur anywhere in the body, including the legs.
A tumor can also develop in the bone in the leg, referred to asosteosarcoma.
What Does a Leg Tumor Feel Like?
However, as it grows, it can compress nerves or press into muscles, causing pain and soreness.
Osgood-Schlatter Disease
Osgood-Schlatter diseaseoccurs when the knee is injured or overused.
It leads to swelling and a large, painful bump on the shinbone below the knee.
The cause of Osgood-Schlatter disease isbone growth plateirritation.
The femoral head collapses without adequate blood supply, leading to irritation and inflammation.
It typically affects children 10 and under, and there is no known cause.
What Does Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease Feel Like?
The pain will be mild and worsen with physical activity.
Prevention Tips
Prevention is the best method for avoiding leg pain.
If you experience any of the symptoms of DVT, you should head to your local emergency department.
Summary
Leg pain has a variety of causes.
While most of them are not severe or life-threatening, others can be.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Peripheral neuropathy.
MedlinePlus.Shin splints - self-care.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
UK National Health Service.DVT (deep vein thrombosis).
UK National Health Service.Compartment syndrome.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.Arthritis.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Varicose veins.
American Cancer Society.Surgery for osteosarcoma.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Osgood-Schlatter disease.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Perthes disease (Legg-Calve-Perthes disease).
MyHealth.Alberta.ca.Muscle cramps: care instructions.
Better Health Channel.Sports injuries.
MyHealth.Alberta.ca.Varicose veins home treatment.
