Muscle pain when walking

As soon as Homo sapiens straightened up and started walking, it is obvious that from that moment on, muscle pain appeared when walking. Statistics say that during life (the average lifespan is 65-70 years), a person makes about 500 million steps and practically covers the distance from the planet Earth to its constant companion, the Moon, that is, approximately 400 thousand kilometers. Since 200 different types of muscle tissue are involved in the process of movement, it is quite natural that some of them are overstrained and may hurt.

In simple terms, walking can be divided into two main movements – moving the leg and supporting it, with the main load falling on the following muscles:

• Musculus quadriceps femoris - quadriceps muscle of the thigh.
• Musculus biceps femoris - two-headed muscle of the thigh.
• Musculus tibialis anterior - anterior tibialis muscle.
• Musculus rectus abdominis - straight abdominal muscle.
• Musculus peroneus longus - long muscle (fibular).
• The triceps surae muscle is essentially two muscles: gastrocnemius and soleus.
• Musculus semitendinosus - semitendinosus muscle.
• Musculus tensor fasciae latae - tensor of the broad fascia (pelvic muscles).
• Musculus gluteus maximus - large gluteus muscle.
• Musculus gluteus medius - the middle gluteus muscle.
• Musculus erector spinae - the muscle that straightens the spine (the strongest and longest back muscle).

In addition, muscle pain when walking can occur in the square muscle of the lower back, in the muscles responsible for the rotation of the leg. The pain symptom can be caused by both physiological objective factors and diseases of the blood vessels, musculoskeletal system, spine and even internal organs.

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Causes of Muscle Pain When Walking

The factors and causes of muscle pain - myalgia, which appears in motion, when walking, are primarily due to the type and condition of the muscles involved. The pain symptom is also affected by the way of walking, because a person can move in a simple way, that is, go for a walk, be an athlete engaged in race walking, or walking is part of his work (postmen, couriers, etc.).

First, it is necessary to determine which muscles are most involved in a particular type of walking, taking into account the joint connection:

Muscles	Hip joints	Knee joints	Ankle joints
Leg transfer stage	Musculus iliopsoas - the iliopsoas muscle and the rectus femoris, which in the quadriceps femoris, as well as the pectineus and sartorius muscles	Quadriceps femoris	The anterior tibialis muscle, the long extensor of the toes, and also the extensor of the big toe.
Leg support stage	The gluteal muscles, the group of muscles of the thigh, and also the muscles responsible for rotation of the leg at the hip joint.	The thigh muscles, popliteus, gastrocnemius and partly the soleus, gracilis and sartorius muscles.	The triceps surae (gastrocnemius and soleus), the long flexor of the big toe and other toes, the peroneus brevis, as well as the peroneus longus, plantaris and posterior tibialis muscles.

Accordingly, the first causes of muscle pain when walking relate to joint diseases, pathologies of the musculoskeletal system:

• Osteoarthritis (gonarthrosis) of the knee joints, most often secondary, associated with abnormalities in the structure of the shin (valgus, varus deformity). If osteoarthritis develops in the area of the patella, between the femur, a person experiences pain when walking up the stairs, osteoarthritis in the area between the femur and tibia manifests itself as pain when walking long distances, this pain goes away at rest.
• Osteomyelitis, which manifests itself as severe, sharp pain when walking.
• Chondromalacia patellae is not a disease, but rather a condition of irritation of the joint surface due to uncoordinated work or overload of the leg muscles.
• Damage to the knee tendon - tendinitis, when pain is felt in the quadriceps muscle.
• Osteoarthritis of the joints of the big toes.
• Cartilage rupture, meniscus damage, when swelling and swelling affect adjacent muscle tissue.
• Osteoporosis, when bone tissue is unable to bear the load, the muscles compensate and become overstrained.
• Rheumatoid arthritis, which provokes the development of myositis – inflammation of muscle tissue.
• Almost all types of osteochondrosis.

In addition, the causes of muscle pain when walking may be due to the following diseases:

• Pinching of the spinal cord nerve endings due to radiculopathy, especially in the lumbosacral region of the spine.
• Inflammation of the sciatic nerve, sciatica, a disease that affects the muscles of the thigh, lower leg, and foot with pain symptoms.
• Lumbago, entrapment of the femoral nerve, causing atony of the thigh muscles, loss of the knee reflex.
• Atherosclerotic vascular pathologies.
• Venous congestion, varicose veins. Venous intermittent claudication due to blockage (occlusion) of the pelvic veins, causing diffuse pain when walking and cramps in the calf muscles.
• Vasogenic intermittent claudication (muscle tissue ischemia).
• Fibromyalgia, more common in women.
• Myositis is an inflammation of muscle tissue of various etiologies.
• Polyneuropathy.
• Myxedema.
• Diabetes.
• Lymphedema.
• Flat feet.
• Metabolic disorders, micronutrient deficiency.
• Violation of water-salt balance.

Surprisingly, pain when walking can be experienced not only by those who are constantly on the move, but these people have more developed and trained muscles. Most often, the following groups of people experience pain symptoms when moving:

• Anyone who is behind the wheel for a long time is a driver.
• People whose work involves increased stress on the lower back.
• Persons whose activities involve prolonged static body positions, especially standing work.
• Lovers of gardening.
• Overweight and obese individuals.

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Symptoms of Muscle Pain When Walking

When walking, muscles can hurt either constantly or periodically, and the nature of the pain can also vary.

Symptoms of muscle pain when walking depend on the following factors:

• Age of a person, elderly people experience more intense pain for quite understandable reasons - age-related deformation of the spine, musculoskeletal system puts additional stress on the muscles.
• Body weight.
• Duration of walking.
• Shoes that can cause a lot of discomfort and be a cause of pain on their own.
• Type of walking: athletic, tourism (obstacles), everyday.
• Muscle preparation, their condition (trained or atrophied muscles).
• Associated diseases and conditions.

The sensations, signs, and symptoms of muscle pain when walking can be as follows:

• Vascular diseases most often manifest themselves as aching, nagging pain, a person describes the condition as "heavy" legs. Walking does not cause much discomfort if the distance covered is small, long-term movement forces a person to stop, give rest to the legs, muscles.
• Spinal diseases sometimes prevent a person from moving at all; walking with radiculitis or lumbago causes shooting, sharp pain.
• Osteoarthritis of the knee causes hypertonicity of the thigh and calf muscles; tendinitis causes pain in the calf and thigh muscles, especially when lifting.
• Atherosclerosis of blood vessels can cause a tingling, burning sensation in the muscles, venous insufficiency is felt as a bursting pain in the muscles, provokes cramping syndrome in the calves of the legs.
• Pathologies of the coccyx can be accompanied by pain in the abdominal muscles, in the thighs and perineal muscles; the pain intensifies with movement and walking.
• Heel spurs primarily cause pain in the heel itself, but are also felt as a painful symptom in the thigh area due to chronic pressure on the tibial nerve, and pain also develops in the ankle.
• Polyneuropathy is felt as a pulling, aching pain in the muscles, burning, tingling, especially when walking.

It should be noted that pain can be felt not only in the muscles of the legs and thighs, sometimes a person's neck muscles hurt when walking due to poor posture, curvature of the spine, arm muscles can hurt due to myositis or fibromyalgia, and even chest muscles due to pathologies of the bronchopulmonary system and compensatory tension of the thoracic muscles.

As a rule, all signs of pain in the muscles subside at rest, as soon as a person allows blood circulation and nutrition to resume in the muscle tissue.

Diagnosis of muscle pain when walking

In order to determine the root cause of the pain symptom that intensifies with movement, it is necessary to conduct a series of examinations, and for this a person needs to promptly contact a doctor - a therapist, who may refer the patient to a phlebologist, rheumatologist, surgeon, agiosurgeon or neurologist.

Diagnosis of muscle pain when walking involves the following measures:

• Collecting anamnesis and clarifying the history of the development of the pain symptom - when it arose, under what circumstances it intensifies, what is the nature of the pain.
• Exclusion or confirmation of the inflammatory factor, etiology of pain.
• Exclusion or confirmation of a vertebrogenic cause of pain.
• Search for a possible cause associated with compression-radicular syndrome, spinal pathology.
• Palpation of muscles.
• It is possible to order an X-ray of the joints and spine.
• Angiography of the vessels may be prescribed.

Diagnosis of muscle pain when walking is a rather complicated process, since the symptoms of muscle pain are not always specific, the most clearly differentiated are cramping pains in the calf muscles and muscle pains associated with osteochondrosis. As a rule, the first stage of identifying the etiology of the symptom consists of the exclusion method. The remaining diagnostic steps depend on the results of the first stage and are carried out by narrow specialists with practical experience in diagnosing a specific specific area - vascular, organic or musculoskeletal, spinal.

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Treating Muscle Pain When Walking

Treatment of muscle pain when walking, not associated with serious pathologies, is limited to compensatory rest, massage and possibly physiotherapy procedures. More in-depth treatment may consist of prescribing vitamin complexes with an enhanced composition of B vitamins, which strengthen and restore the condition of muscle tissue well. The prognosis for treatment in such cases is favorable and recovery occurs after a week, rarely 10-14 days.

All other cases, in which the underlying pathological cause is determined, are subject to more serious therapy. Treatment of muscle pain when walking in general terms is as follows:

• Limiting pain-provoking movements, immobilizing joints and muscles.
• Treatment of the underlying disease identified.
• Symptomatic treatment of pain symptoms – prescription of local anesthetics and ointments depending on the nature of the pain (cooling or warming).
• Prescription of anti-inflammatory drugs - tablet and external form. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Ibuprofen, Diclofenac) are prescribed taking into account the state of the digestive system and the hematopoietic system.
• Prescribing muscle relaxants – Mydocalm, Baclofen, Sirdalud.
• Applications and compresses may be prescribed.
• Rehabilitation procedures – therapeutic exercises, corrective complexes (post-isometric relaxation), acupuncture.

Preventing Muscle Pain When Walking

First of all, it should be remembered that in more trained people, whose muscles are accustomed to reasonable loads, pain symptoms during walking occur very rarely. Therefore, prevention of muscle pain in motion, during walking, consists in maintaining normal muscle tone, including the muscle corset in the abdomen, back, and not just the legs.

To avoid muscle pain during active movement, you need to follow these recommendations:

• In order to prevent the development of vascular pathology, which often provokes pain in the legs, it is necessary to develop a reasonable diet and limit fat and cholesterol in the menu.
• Prevention of muscle pain when walking is maintaining a normal weight in accordance with the recommended index - BMI.
• With constant static load, you should periodically stretch your muscles and change your position.
• If you have a disease of your joints or spine, you need to wisely calculate your strength and resources when hiking long distances, but first of all you need to treat the underlying cause, that is, the disease.
• To maintain health in principle, including muscle health, you need to regularly perform a set of exercises and engage in some kind of sport.
• If muscle pain when walking occurs once, you should not write it off as a coincidence; you need to pay attention to the symptom and try to identify and eliminate the cause, possibly with the help of a doctor.

If you have constant muscle pain, you need to undergo a comprehensive examination and follow all medical recommendations to avoid serious complications, because some diseases can completely immobilize a person.