Summary. Leg weakness can result from sciatica, spine conditions, neuromuscular disease, and certain medications. Sudden leg weakness may be a sign of stroke. Call 911 for any sudden muscle weakness, particularly if it occurs with facial drooping, severe headache, or slurred speech.
Sudden leg weakness can be a cause for concern and should prompt immediate medical attention. Some causes of sudden leg weakness include stroke (due to a decrease in oxygen reaching parts of the brain), spinal cord damage, or a pinched nerve coming out of the spinal cord.
Legs can “give way” due to muscle issues, especially while exercising. These instances are not cause for alarm typically. But if your legs give way and you lose complete control or feeling, the spinal nerves are likely the culprit. The nerves in our spine help deliver signals from our brain to the legs.
As a result, people with heart failure often feel weak (especially in their arms and legs), tired and have difficulty performing ordinary activities such as walking, climbing stairs or carrying groceries.
Muscle weakness due to vitamin D deficiency is predominantly of the proximal muscle groups and is manifested by a feeling of heaviness in the legs, tiring easily, and difficulty in mounting stairs and rising from a chair; the deficiency is reversible with supplementation (15–18).
Infections. Injuries, such as fractures (broken bones), sprains, and tendinitis. Movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. Neurologic diseases, including multiple sclerosis and peripheral nerve disorders.
Neuromuscular disease
Neuromuscular diseases can decrease function in muscles and nerves, including those in the legs. Neuromuscular conditions that can have leg weakness as a symptom include: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) multiple sclerosis (MS)
The main symptom of paralysis is the inability to move part of your body, or not being able to move at all. It can start suddenly or gradually. Sometimes it comes and goes. Paralysis can affect any part of the body, including: the face.
See your doctor if you start noticing problems with your gait. Sudden difficulty walking or gait changes can be a sign of serious or potentially life-threatening conditions, such as stroke. Seek immediate medical care (call 911) for sudden gait changes or any of the following symptoms indicating stroke: Arm weakness.
Neurologic Disease
The weakness of the hip and lower extremity muscles commonly cause gait disturbances. Cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, Charcot Marie Tooth disease, ataxia-telangiectasia, spinal muscular atrophy, peroneal neuropathy, and microvascular white-matter disease all cause significant gait disabilities.
They discovered common factors that lead to loss of mobility, such as older age, low physical activity, obesity, impaired strength and balance, and chronic diseases such as diabetes and arthritis.
Other conditions that can result in serious mobility issues include; muscular dystrophy, COPD, cerebral palsy, and cystic fibrosis amongst many others. Of course, you can't always see symptoms of an impending illness, and medical treatment might also be a factor in someone's inability to move.
Parkinsonism is a general term for slowness of movement along with stiffness, tremor or loss of balance. There are many different causes. Parkinson's disease and certain dopamine blocking medications are the most common causes.
Muscular dystrophy is a group of inherited diseases characterized by weakness and wasting away of muscle tissue, with or without the breakdown of nerve tissue. There are 9 types of muscular dystrophy, with each type involving an eventual loss of strength, increasing disability, and possible deformity.
Call 9-1-1 immediately if any of these signs of stroke appear: Numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg; Confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech; Trouble seeing in one or both eyes; Trouble walking, dizziness, or problems with balance; severe headache with no known cause.
Many types of orthopedic or neuromuscular impairments can impact mobility. These include but are not limited to amputation, paralysis, cerebral palsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, arthritis, and spinal cord injury.
Temporary paralysis often results from a genetic condition that leaves an individual susceptible to periods of paralysis after exposure to certain triggers. These triggers may include temperature fluctuations, extreme temperatures, stress, hunger, excitement, or traumatic experiences.
On average, the rate of decline in walking speed and other measures of lower extremity performance accelerates over the seventh decade of life, starting sometime between the ages of 60–70 years, with an extremely heterogeneous time course across individuals (Figure 2).
Some of the more common causes of immobility in the elderly include Parkinson's Disease, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, broken or fractured bones, depression and anxiety, pain from arthritis and osteoporosis, muscle and joint pain as well as malnutrition.
Poor Circulation
Poor circulation often causes leg weakness. This condition is caused by plaque build-up in the arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to the muscles and tissues of the body. The build-up causes blood to move slower, thus resulting in muscle fatigue and weakness.
Weak legs are a common problem in seniors because we lose muscle mass as we get older. As we age, we tend to become less active, and this causes a reduction in our muscle strength. While some physical conditions can cause leg weakness, chances are, your weak leg muscles are part of the aging process.
The Cerebellum
This area of the brain is responsible for fine motor movement, balance, and the brain's ability to determine limb position. A stroke in this area of the brain can lead to paralysis or “jerky” muscle movements.