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Left leg pain
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025
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Pain in the left leg accompanies many people throughout their lives. Some prefer to endure the pain or self-medicate, while others act more rationally - they seek medical help from medical institutions. The sooner the cause of the pain can be identified, the shorter and less complicated the treatment will be.
[ What causes pain in the left leg?
Pain in the left leg can occur due to many reasons. Often, painful sensations in the leg are associated with diseases of the joints, leg vessels, muscles, and spine.
The most common cause of pain in the left leg is problems with blood vessels. Impaired venous blood flow provokes an increase in intravascular pressure. As a result, venous blood stagnation occurs, nerve endings are irritated and, as a result, painful sensations in the leg occur. The patient experiences an unpleasant heaviness in the leg, "dull" pain. Advanced disease eventually ends in varicose veins.
Thrombophlebitis is a serious vascular disease that causes pulsating, often accompanied by burning and other unpleasant sensations in the leg. The pain syndrome is constant, the calf muscles are most susceptible to it.
Pain in the left leg can also be caused by atherosclerosis of the arteries. Due to the thickening of the vascular walls, the patient feels a squeezing pain in the calf muscles that intensifies during walking. The main symptom of atherosclerosis is cold feet at any time of the year.
Spinal diseases are accompanied by radiating pains to the left leg. The patient may not even suspect this connection, because the spine is not always painful. Most often, the cause of pain is inflammation of the sciatic nerve, or simply sciatica. Passing along the sciatic nerve, the pain is transmitted to the leg, causing unpleasant, pulling sensations in the thigh or the entire back of the left leg.
Pain in the left leg may be a consequence of a diseased femoral nerve, which is found in osteochondrosis, tumors of the spine, spondylitis (more often in children). The pain spreads to the entire anterior-inner surface of the thigh.
Another common source of pain in the left leg is joint diseases. The pain worsens with changes in weather conditions, the leg seems to be "twisted". Those suffering from gout suffer especially at this time. If pain in the knee is recorded, then it is possible to assume the destruction of the knee cartilage.
Problems with peripheral nerves can also be a source of pain in the left leg. With neuralgia, pain occurs periodically, and the attack may disappear, but the pain will continue to be present for some time.
Myositis – muscle inflammation – is a serious disease that causes pain in the left leg. The patient should urgently consult a doctor.
Pain in the left leg, prolonged and sharp, can be caused by a bone disease such as osteomyelitis.
Often, various injuries (bruises, sprains or ligament ruptures, fractures, etc.), heavy physical work, wearing uncomfortable shoes can provoke pain in the left leg.
If a person feels sharp pain attacks in the shin of the left leg, as well as an increase in temperature and sudden reddening of the skin, then erysipelas (simply erysipelas) can be diagnosed. In the presence of tissue swelling, pulsating and seemingly tearing pain in the leg, this can be a sign of thrombosis, phlegmon, lymphatic edema. Painful sensations intensify when pressing on the sore spot. A doctor's consultation is extremely necessary if suddenly the pain in the left leg does not go away, there is numbness, cooling, swelling or cyanosis of the skin.
What to do if you have pain in your left leg?
Pain in the left leg may not appear if you follow a few simple rules, for example, do not sit on a chair for a long time (this is especially true for office workers), but periodically get up and walk around the office. If you have vascular diseases, it is recommended to exclude fatty, cholesterol-rich foods from your diet; do special physical exercises that effectively help in the fight against varicose veins; you should lose excess weight, if any. Spinal diseases can and should be treated only under strict medical supervision. The most common treatment method is massage, included in the general treatment complex.
If pain in the left leg continues for more than 3 days, you should immediately contact a medical center for help!