Leg muscle pain

Leg muscles provide movement of the knee, ankle, and finger and foot joints. Pain in the leg muscles can indicate both simple fatigue and serious disorders.

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Causes of Leg Muscle Pain

The main reasons why pain in the leg muscles may occur are problems with the spine, blood vessels, joints, or muscles.

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Vascular diseases

Mostly, leg muscle pain occurs due to a disorder of the circulatory system. Due to the disorder of venous blood outflow, the pressure on the vessel walls increases, which in turn irritates the nerve endings and causes pain. Such disorders eventually lead to varicose veins. The nature of leg muscle pain in such cases is usually dull and aching, with a feeling of heaviness in the legs. These disorders very often occur due to sedentary work and lifestyle, the blood does not circulate properly, which leads to oxygen starvation of tissues and the accumulation of toxins.

Vascular diseases that cause leg muscle pain are atherosclerosis and thrombophlebitis. In the first case, the vessel walls thicken, causing squeezing pain that intensifies when walking, mainly in the calf muscle; a feeling of cold feet is also a symptom of the disease. With thrombophlebitis, leg muscle pain is present almost constantly and is pulsating, turning into a burning sensation under the skin.

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Diseases of the spine

Spinal dysfunction, such as intervertebral disc displacement or inflammatory processes, also lead to leg muscle pain. Such disorders cause characteristic radiating pain, i.e. the pain goes to the legs. In cases of spinal dysfunction, the spine itself may not hurt, but only cause leg muscle pain, this happens because the nervous system is disrupted, which sends false pain signals.

Also, disorders of the peripheral nervous system can cause pain in the leg muscles, in such cases it is paroxysmal in nature, and during breaks it is not felt at all.

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Joint diseases

Twisting pain indicates a malfunction of the joints. Very often it worsens due to weather changes. Pain in the leg muscles is especially excruciating at serious stages of gout. Pain in the knee area may indicate the destruction of the knee cartilage. Only a reliable doctor can make an accurate diagnosis.

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Muscle disease

The most severe pain in the leg muscles occurs when they are inflamed – myositis. This disease can occur as a complication of other diseases, due to injuries or strong unusual loads, there is also parasitic myositis. The disease is very serious, and its diagnosis and treatment should not be postponed under any circumstances.

With myositis, the pain in the leg muscles is aching in nature and increases with movement. Seals and nodules can be felt in the affected muscles. With parasitic myositis, the patient develops fever, pain in the chest and other muscles.

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Diagnosis and treatment of leg muscle pain

In case of problems with the spine, a consultation with a doctor is necessary and most often the treatment will be limited to a course of massage. Pain in the leg muscles caused by problems with joints or muscles requires immediate diagnosis and treatment, in which case only a highly qualified specialist can help you, whose instructions must be followed unquestioningly.

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Prevention of leg muscle pain

To avoid pain, you should follow some rules: in case of problems with blood vessels, you should exclude fatty foods from your diet, monitor your weight and regularly do exercises to strengthen your legs. If you have a sedentary job, you should stretch every hour and also do strengthening exercises in the morning.