Leg pains: how do you know when it is serious?

Leg pains occur very often at the end of the day, together with a swelling feeling. After too much time spent standing or seated, you may experience an accumulation of fluids, and poor blood circulation, resulting in swollen ankles and legs.

In other more serious cases, however, leg pains may be chronic and associated to swelling and heaviness. In this case, you should see your doctor to understand if you have blood circulation problems or some kind of inflammation. Let’s see what are the symptoms and the situations in which leg pains are due to a serious problem.

Leg pains: causes and symptoms

When you experience pain and your leg is swollen, hot and with a soft edema, it could be thrombosis. You will understand immediately that you need to see a doctor, because the pain is pretty intense and your leg will look different than the usual.

Instead, if you suffer from knee or hip pains, it could be arthritis. Usually, this disease appears suddenly, and your joint will feel rigid. The only temporary way to solve this problem is to move around. With a X-ray you can confirm if it is arthritis or not.

In case of sciatica, however, you will feel an intense pain from your lower back to the back of your thigh. In more serious cases, it reaches up to the lateral leg and to the foot. Spinal disc herniations or vertebral osteoarthritis can cause this inflammation. You will first experience a stabbing pian It can be mild up to constant and similar to an electric shock. In acute cases, you feel a shooting pain as soon as you make a wrong move. Consequently, you can also feel a tingling on the foot or even have difficulties in controlling your leg movements.

Nightly leg pains

During the night, you may feel an unpleasant sensation in your legs and a need of moving them uncontrollably  while resting. It is a disorder known as restless legs syndrome, which usually occurs while you are trying to fall asleep. Sometimes, you also need to get out of bed and walk a bit to get a bit of relief.

It is, however, a neurological disease you can solve with the right diet, and possibly with supplements adviced by your doctor.

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