Leg pains: how to understand when the problem is serious and how to remedy it

When are leg pains serious? Here’s how to recognize the severity of muscle pain based on symptoms and intensity, along with the causes and remedies.

Leg pains are very common problems, which almost everyone has experienced on their own skin. Often they are also accompanied by a state of swelling , which is also common: after too long standing or sitting there is an accumulation of fluids and therefore poor circulation, resulting in swollen legs and ankles.

In other more serious cases, however, leg pain is chronic and is associated with swelling and heaviness. In this case it is advisable to consult your doctor to see if you are dealing with serious circulation problems or some kind of inflammation . Let’s see, therefore, what are the symptoms, the causes, the specific situations to better understand if the pain is attributable to a serious problem, and the remedies to be adopted.

Muscle aches in the legs: causes and symptoms

It goes without saying that muscle pain is the most frequent symptom for this disorder, but not only: this is often accompanied or preceded by swelling and / or heaviness, as already mentioned. These unpleasant sensations, if they become unbearable, must be treated with the help of a specialist doctor , who will make an accurate diagnosis to establish the causes during the visit. These can be different depending on the problem and where the pain is.

In general, the causes may be following a trauma or coming from other pathologies that must be investigated by specialist medical examinations.

The first diagnosis that the doctor makes takes into account these factors : if the pain is accompanied by other symptoms (swelling, a sense of heaviness, heat, or if it is accompanied by others such as back pain); the position where it hurts (pain in the legs from the knee down, or the opposite, joint pain at the knee); and if they were sudden or had already been present for some time.

The importance of a good diagnosis is fundamental for the treatment of the disorder, which can be linked to:

• Varicose veins
• Arthritis
• Sciatica
• Muscle cramps
• Rheumatic diseases
• Restless Legs Syndrome
• Sciatica
• Diseases and problems of the circulatory system
• Problems related to Covid-19

Sore Legs: When Is It Severe?

When you experience pain in a single limb with a swollen , warm leg and soft edema, it could be a thrombosis . You will quickly understand that it is time to see a doctor because the pain is quite intense and the appearance of your leg will be different than usual.

If, on the other hand, the pain is localized in the knee or hip it could be arthritis . It usually comes on suddenly with stiffness in the affected joint. The only temporary way to fix the problem is to move. With an x-ray it will be possible to verify whether or not it is arthritis.

In the case of sciatica , however, there is an intense pain that starts from the lower back and extends to the back of the thigh. In severe cases it reaches up to the lateral leg and foot. It is therefore an inflammation of the sciatic nerve that can be caused by a herniated disc or vertebral arthrosis. The first pain you feel is a twinge that can be mild to constant and similar to an electric shock . In the most acute cases, a stinging and stabbing pain is felt as soon as a wrong movement is made. As a result, you may feel tingling in the foot or even difficulty in controlling the movements of the leg.

Leg pains at night

During the night, you may feel an unpleasant sensation in your legs and an uncontrollable need to move them while you rest. This is known as restless legs syndrome , and is characterized most often by pain in the legs in bed and, more generally, when standing still. It usually occurs while you are trying to fall asleep and sometimes you need to get out of bed and walk a bit to get some relief.

However, it is a neurological pathology that can be resolved with the right diet and possibly supplements and indications from the treating physician.

Leg pain: remedies and treatments

To treat aching and aching leg pains, you need to be clear about the related pathologies . To do this you must in all cases contact your doctor or a specialist who will prescribe the best treatment.

In any case, this disorder should never be underestimated, because it can be, as already abundantly explained, a symptom of more serious pathologies. In case of arthritis or sciatica, the ideal drug therapy is with ibuprofen , or acetylsalicinic acid ); while in the case of thrombosis the therapy will be based on anticoagulant and prophylactic.