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leg pain

Leg Pain

Leg pain may manifest alone or may be accompanied by other symptoms, depending on the underlying cause.

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What is leg pain?

Leg pain is not necessarily serious. It may be acute, sudden, and short-term. However, it may also be chronic and persistent, gradually worsening when left unattended and untreated. The pain may be sharp, numbing, dull, burning, aching, radiating, or tingling, mild or severe.

What are the symptoms of leg pain?

The pain itself is a symptom. It can be mild to severe, depending on the cause and severity of the condition. However, the pain may be accompanied by other symptoms in some cases. The most common symptoms of leg pain aside from the pain itself are as follows: fatigue, tingling, numbness, and weakness. The person may also feel a cramping or burning sensation in the leg when sitting or standing.

What causes leg pain?

Muscle Cramp or Spasm

This is considered the most common cause of leg pain. Cramps or spasms cause the muscles to contract, which triggers a sudden and sharp pain in the leg. Aside from the pain, the person may also feel tightening, swelling, or swelling in the area. The most common causes of leg cramp are muscle fatigue and dehydration.

Injuries

The leg is prone to various injuries. This is why injury is considered another common cause of leg pain. The primary leg injuries are muscle strain, tendinitis, and shin splints.

Muscle strain happens when there is a tear in the muscle fibers of the legs. The strain may also affect larger muscles in the area. This is usually caused by overstretching. On the other hand, tendinitis occurs when the tendons become inflamed. This results in pain and difficulty moving the affected area. Moreover, shin splints are commonly a result of overuse and tear in the muscles around the shinbone. This can cause pain in the leg, particularly along the edge of the shinbone.

Medication Conditions

There are medication conditions that lead to leg pain. The common possible causes are arthritis, gout, varicose veins, deep vein thrombosis, atherosclerosis, nerve damage, and infection.

Arthritis inflames the joints. If the joints affected are those in the hips or knees, the pain may radiate to the legs. Aside from the pain, there may be swelling and redness in the affected area. A specific form of arthritis is gout, which is caused by too much uric acid in the system. This usually affects the feet, which may radiate to the lower part of the legs.

Varicose veins may cause pain in the legs, as it commonly occurs in the ankles and calves. It is a condition characterized by the knotting and enlargement of the veins. A blood clot in the vein may also cause pain. A type of blood clot that typically forms in and affects the lower leg is deep vein thrombosis (DVT). This causes pain, cramping, and swelling in the area.

Atherosclerosis is a condition resulting from the hardening and narrowing of the arteries due to fat and cholesterol buildup. This causes blockage and reduction of blood flow. When this happens, the tissues in the legs do not receive enough oxygen, which results to pain.

Other less common causes of leg pain include the following: slipped herniated disc, Osgood-Schlatter disease, Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, tumor in the shinbone or thighbone.

How is leg pain treated?

If the leg pain is due to a minor injury or muscle cramp, you can follow home treatments. Resting your leg and elevating it help provide relief. This also allows your leg to recover and regain its strength and flexibility. You can also take over-the-counter pain relievers to ease the pain and discomfort in your legs. Wearing compression stockings or socks also provides support and releases stress off your legs.

Aside from pain medications, there are also pain therapy, injection, and invasive procedure to treat severe and chronic leg pain. Proper diagnosis helps determine the right treatment for a particular patient.

AZ Pain and Spine Institute
Leg Pain Treatments

Here at Arizona Pain and Spine Institute, we improve our patients’ quality of life by alleviating and managing their pain. Some of our Leg Pain treatments include:

Lumbar Sympathetic Block
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Why choose AZ Pain and Spine Institute to treat your Leg Pain?

We have a team of medical practitioners, pain management doctors, and staff who are experts on pain management, including Leg Pain. We use state-of-the-art technology and effective approaches in achieving our mission. We care about your well-being and are committed to making your life pain-free.

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