Leg pain is a symptom with many possible causes. Most leg pain results from wear and tear or overuse. It also can result from injuries or health conditions in joints, bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves or other soft tissues. Some types of leg pain can be traced to problems in your lower spine.
Sore or aching legs can often be treated at home, but if pain is sudden, severe, or persistent, or if there are other symptoms, medical attention may be necessary.
What causes aching legs? Muscle cramps and strain play a part, but a number of health conditions may also result in leg pain, such as arthritis, gout, deep vein thrombosis, peripheral neuropathy, and sciatica.
Poor Circulation
Diabetes and smoking are two leading causes of poor blood circulation. If you are experiencing tired, achy legs and you smoke or are diabetic, it could be due to the blocked arteries that supply blood to your leg muscles. This is the first indication of peripheral artery disease (PAD).
Vascular pain often feels like an uncomfortable heaviness or throbbing sensation. It can also feel like an aching sensation. It usually affects your legs and can be worse with walking or exerting yourself.
Leg numbness or weakness. No pulse or a weak pulse in the legs or feet. Painful cramping in one or both of the hips, thighs or calf muscles after certain activities, such as walking or climbing stairs. Shiny skin on the legs.
Classic signs and symptoms of a heart attack include crushing, substernal chest pain, pain in your shoulders or arms, shortness of breath, and sweating.
The narrowing of the arteries causes a decrease in blood flow. Symptoms include leg pain, numbness, cold legs or feet and muscle pain in the thighs, calves or feet. The arteries which supply blood to the leg originate from the aorta and iliac vessels.
High blood pressure can lead to peripheral arterial disease (PAD), where narrowing of the blood vessels restricts the blood flow to the legs and feet, causing pain.
Pain in the legs can occur as a result of natural wear and tear, muscle overexertion, or an underlying medical condition. Older adults are more at risk of experiencing leg pain as they lose muscle mass with age.
Another sign of dehydration is a feeling of weakness in certain muscles or severe muscle cramps. The cramps can be caused by electrolyte imbalances and reduced blood flow to those muscles. Cramps can happen while you're exercising, or you may wake up in the middle of the night with cramping in your calf muscles.
Heart failure symptoms may include: Shortness of breath with activity or when lying down. Fatigue and weakness. Swelling in the legs, ankles and feet.
The symptoms – chest pain, tightness, and shortness of breath – can be similar, though. Sometimes, when arteries become completely blocked, a new blood supply develops around the blockage. This new blood supply, called collaterals, won't deliver as much blood to your heart.
Walking is especially good for you
There's no limitation in what a person with peripheral artery disease can do,” Dr. Mohler notes. “But the majority of the clinical trials out there support the benefits of walking. That is why we recommend it for our patients.”
Rest pain, also known as critical limb ischemia, is a burning pain in the lower leg or foot. Rest pain is a type of chronic pain that is caused by reduced blood flow to the legs, feet, or hands. It is often described as a burning, tingling, or numb sensation when the affected body part is resting.
This is because the deposits of fatty cholesterol can break off, causing a clot or blockage in the arteries to the heart or brain. What is less well known is that, high-cholesterol may also cause pain in the extremities including your legs.
The most prominent features of critical limb ischemia are called ischemic rest pain — severe pain in the legs and feet while a person is not moving, or non-healing sores on the feet or legs. Other symptoms include: Pain or numbness in the feet. Shiny, smooth, dry skin of the legs or feet.
Sore muscles after exercise
Usually your muscles will stop aching in 2 to 5 days and you won't need any medical attention. You should be able to ease symptoms yourself.
Some people write off nightly leg pain as a symptom of getting older, but if you are experiencing nightly leg pain that is interrupting your sleep that could be a symptom of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). Peripheral Artery Disease is a circulatory disease that is caused by fatty deposits in your artery walls.