Repetitive Strain Injury Of The Hamstring
Repetitive strain injury of the upper leg is caused by consistent repetitive use.
Rarity: Uncommon
Top Symptoms: upper leg numbness, thigh weakness, hamstring pain from overuse
Symptoms that always occur with repetitive strain injury of the hamstring: hamstring pain from overuse
Symptoms that never occur with repetitive strain injury of the hamstring: upper leg injury, severe upper leg pain
Urgency: Self-treatment
Take A Warm Bath And Stretch
Take a warm bath, and then gently stretch your muscles. If you have pain in the lower part of your leg, try pointing and straightening your toes when sitting or standing. If you have pain in the upper part of your leg, try to bend over and touch your toes.
You can do this while sitting on the ground or standing up. Ease into each stretch, holding each position for five to 10 seconds. Stop stretching if your pain gets worse.
It can sometimes be difficult to determine when leg pain warrants a trip to the doctor or the emergency room. Schedule a doctors appointment if youre experiencing:
- swelling in both legs
- varicose veins that are causing discomfort
- pain while walking
- leg pain that continues to get worse or persists beyond a few days
Go to the hospital immediately if any of the follow occurs:
- You have a fever.
- You have a deep cut on your leg.
- Your leg is red and warm to the touch.
- Your leg is pale and feels cool to the touch.
- Youre having difficulty breathing and you have swelling in both legs.
- Youre unable to walk or put any weight on your leg.
- You have a leg injury that occurred along with a pop or grinding noise.
A number of serious conditions and injuries may cause leg pain. Never ignore leg pain that doesnt seem to be going away or thats accompanied by other symptoms. Doing so could be dangerous. See your doctor if youre concerned about your leg pain.
Chronic Idiopathic Peripheral Neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy refers to the feeling of numbness, tingling, and pins-and-needles sensation in the feet. Idiopathic means the cause is not known, and chronic means the condition is ongoing without getting better or worse.
The condition is most often found in people over age 60. Idiopathic neuropathy has no known cause.
Symptoms include uncomfortable numbness and tingling in the feet difficulty standing or walking due to pain and lack of normal sensitivity and weakness and cramping in the muscles of the feet and ankles.
Peripheral neuropathy can greatly interfere with quality of life, so a medical provider should be seen in order to treat the symptoms and reduce the discomfort.
Diagnosis is made through physical examination blood tests to rule out other conditions and neurologic and muscle studies such as electromyography.
Treatment involves over-the-counter pain relievers prescription pain relievers to manage more severe pain physical therapy and safety measures to compensate for loss of sensation in the feet and therapeutic footwear to help with balance and walking.
Rarity: Rare
Top Symptoms: distal numbness, muscle aches, joint stiffness, numbness on both sides of body, loss of muscle mass
Urgency: Primary care doctor
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When To See A Doctor
Its a good idea to see a doctor for leg pain if it gets worse with walking, involves swelling, or if it doesnt get better after a few days of home treatment.
Its important to see a doctor quickly if any of the following are true:
- There are signs of possible infection
- Your leg is swollen and pale or unusually cool
- You have calf pain after a period of prolonged sitting
- You have swelling in both legs along with breathing problems
- Any serious pain develops suddenly
While leg pain usually isnt a medical emergency, you should seek immediate medical attention if any of the following applies to your pain:
- Youre unable to walk or stand
- You develop pain, swelling, redness, or warmth in your calf
- You have a sudden injury with a deep cut or exposed tissue
- You heard a pop or grinding sound when you injured your leg
How Do You Treat A Blood Clot In The Leg At Home
To ease the pain and swelling of a DVT, you can try the following at home: Wear graduated compression stockings. These specially fitted stockings are tight at the feet and become gradually looser up on the leg, creating gentle pressure that keeps blood from pooling and clotting. Elevate the affected leg. Take walks.
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Leg Pain Below The Knee
Leg pain can strike anytime. Specific pain below the knee may be caused by factors such as anatomical weakness, daily activity and stress, and individual levels of fitness. The entire knee joint is susceptible to accidents and overuse, so knowing the exact cause of pain is helpful in controlling it.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Is Leg Pain At Night A Warning Sign Of Vascular Disease
Is leg pain at night often interrupting your sleep? It could more than a normal sign of getting older. Pain in your legs and feet at night, or when trying to sleep, is often a symptom of peripheral artery disease .
Peripheral artery disease leg pain can occur anywhere in your leg, but the most common places to feel pain are in the muscles of your calf, thigh or buttocks. The pain can range from mild to so severe you can barely walk a very short distance. PAD is a progressive disease. For some people, pain only occurs during the daytime. Others have pain when resting or at night.
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Ways To Treat Knee Pain Radiating Down Shin
1. Lose weight
Losing weight can help improve your knee pain because it reduces the weight on your knee joint. The Community Health Research Research Guidelines recommend losing 5 percent of your weight over a 20-week period.
How to lose weight in order to reduce knee pain radiating down shin.
2. Improve movement
Exercise is important for people with arthritis. It increases strength and flexibility, relieves joint pain, and helps fight fatigue. In fact, when strong and painful joints are already falling, the idea of walking around a barrier or swimming a few thighs may seem overwhelming.
But you dont need to run a marathon or swim as fast as an Olympic competitor to help alleviate the symptoms of arthritis. Even moderate exercise can reduce your pain and help you maintain a healthy weight. When arthritis threatens to weaken you, exercise makes you able to move forward.
If you have osteoarthrosis, exercising to strengthen and straighten your knee is about improving your function and mobility. This can help reduce pain and stiffness. Both ground-based exercises, such as yoga, and water movements, such as water aerobics, can help.
3. Perform heat and cold therapy
4. Find helpful materials
If you have limited mobility as a result of arthritis of the knee, working with a physical or occupational therapist can help you find tools to use in your daily life. For example, you can succeed with a regular knee brace or walker.
5. Use natural remedies
6. The pain subsides
Direct Forces And Twisting
Direct impact injuries include being struck in the knee or leg by an object such as a rock, you and a soccer teammate colliding at the knees, or a football player tackling another sideways at knee-level. Impact forces bruise and crack tissue, even bone, on a continuum from the tiniest strain or hairline crack to a full tearing of tissue or breakage of bone. Soccer, football, tennis and skiing also incur twisting forces that injure knee and leg tissue directly.
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Dvt: Deep Vein Thrombosis Can Cause Pain In The Back Of Your Knee And Calf
Deep vein thrombosis or DVT can cause pain in the back of your knee but the pain is not often isolated to the back of the knee. There is usually calf pain, calf swelling and perhaps thigh pain too. A DVT is not a common cause of pain and swelling, but I list it first because it can be a worrisome cause of pain.
Usually, the pain from a DVT will also occur in the back of your calf or your inner thigh. While not impossible, the pain can be isolated to just the back of your knee. Most people with a DVT will also have swelling in their calf or leg. In people who are obese, swelling of the leg is not uncommon so swelling alone does not mean you have a DVT.
People who are at risk for a DVT include people who are obese, have cancer, chronic diseases, and those of you who recently traveled and sat still for hours/days while recovering from illness, injury, or surgery. We do not know the exact incidence of people walking around with a DVT. People who recently had surgery are at an increased risk for a DVT. If your calf is tender and swollen and the back of your knee hurts, you need to see your doctor urgently or go to an emergency room.
Can Knee Pain Travel Down The Leg
Your doctor will take your medical history and perform an exam to try to make a diagnosis and determine the cause. The nerve in your knee can be felt as it travels around the top of your tibia, so your doctor may tap on it. If you feel a shooting pain down your leg, you probably have a pinched peroneal nerve.
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How To Tell The Difference
If you have leg pain without significant back pain, it can be hard to tell if the problem is your back or your hip. Vinita Mathew, MD, FAAPMR, is a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Northwestern Medicine Integrated Spine Center. Here, Dr. Mathew explains what to look for and what to expect if you see your physician for leg pain.
Leg Pain While Lying On The Back
When lying on your back, the lower spines natural inward curve is more accentuated than when sitting or reclining. Holding the spine in this position decreases the size of the passageways where nerve roots exit the spinal column. If a herniated disc or bone spur is present, this position can directly pinch a nerve root and result in sciatic leg pain .
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For example, try sleeping with a pillow beneath your knees. If you have an adjustable mattress or reclining chair, sleeping with your knees propped up can reduce the inward curve of the spine and help you get a good nights sleep.
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What Is Hip And Leg Pain
Hip and leg pain can have many different causes. Because the movement of the hip joint, lower back, and leg bones are all connected, pain or inflammation in one area can cause problems in another. This is called referred pain.
Types of damage or injury that could be causing hip and leg pain are:
- Bone fractures.
- Nerve damage. Damage to the nerves can lead to neuropathy , a tingling sensation radiating into the legs and extremities.
- Muscle injury or inflammation . Muscle sprains, tears or strains in the lower back, buttocks, pelvis, and thighs can cause hip and leg pain.
- Joint problems.Arthritis can lead to pain in the hip, lumbar or lower spine, and the knee, causing pain that can be felt throughout the lower body.
Tennis Leg Causing Muscle Pain And Swelling Behind The Knee
A condition called tennis leg can also cause pain in the back of your leg behind the knee.
Tennis leg is associated with damage to the gastrocnemius where damage to the muscle and the soleus muscle in the calf causes a buildup of fluid.
According to the journal Radiology Case Reports, tennis leg is often a result of sports injuries. Damage to the calf muscles can cause swelling and pain in the posterior knee.10
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Risk Factors For Leg Pain
A few risk factors associated with leg and foot pain include:
- Advanced age
- Poor posture
- Occupations, such as heavy labor, sports, or military service
While the listed causes and risk factors are not comprehensive, one or more of these conditions are typically associated with leg and foot pain.
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Several causes of leg pain can produce overlapping signs and symptoms. It is important to accurately diagnose the underlying cause of leg pain in order to effectively treat the condition as well as rule out serious problems, such as tumors, infections, or nerve damage.
Calf Or Hamstring Strain Or Cramp
Sudden activity and overuse are two leading causes of pain behind the knee due to a calf or hamstring strain or cramp, according to Dr. Tanaka. Movements that require pushing off or severe knee bending cause this calf and hamstring pain, respectively. Both can be managed with ice, rest, gentle stretching, and anti-inflammatories however, one should seek care if there is swelling or persistent pain associated with this to rule out blood clots, Dr. Tanaka says. Dr. Lyons adds that although an orthopedist could treat this, if you cant bear weight on the knee or are at risk of falling, then its time to go to the emergency room. Heres what else could be causing pain in your calf.
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Herniated Disk In The Lower Back
The backbone, or spine, is made up of 26 bones called vertebrae. In between the bones are soft disks filled with a jelly-like substance. These disks cushion the vertebrae and keep them in place. Although people talk about a slipped disk, nothing actually slips out of place. The outer shell of the disk ruptures, and the jelly-like substance bulges out. It may be pressing on a nerve, which is what causes the pain.A slipped disk is more likely to happen due to strain on the back, such as during heavy lifting, and older individuals are at higher risk.
Rarity: Common
Top Symptoms: lower back pain, moderate back pain, back pain that shoots down the leg, back pain that gets worse when sitting, leg weakness
Urgency: Primary care doctor
Restless leg syndrome is a chronic condition characterized by uncomfortable sensations while lying down and a strong urge to move the legs. Leg movement relieves the unpleasant sensations temporarily, often resulting in poor quality sleep. RLS is co..
Sharp Knee Pain Causes By Activity
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What Causes Pain From Knee To Ankle
Leg pain can affect people in any areas. It can appear as pain from knees to ankles, in the foot, in the knee, behind the knee, in the ankle, down the back of your leg, etc. In most cases, those who have pain from their knee to ankle have lower leg pain. Even though your legs are affected the most by your daily activities, you shouldnt be in pain. Pain in your lower legs may be due to issues with nerves, blood clots, or a number of other potential problems.
Cold/heat Treatment For Arthritis Pain
Applying cold and heat to inflamed joints may help with arthritis pain. Research on the efficacy of cold and heat treatments has been inconsistent.
Ice helps to restrict blood vessels. This reduces fluid in the tissue and decreases swelling and pain. Wrap ice in a towel and apply to the aching area for up to 20 minutes. You can ice your joints several times a day.
Heat treatments can be applied in the same way. Use a hot water bottle or heating pad and apply it to the swelling. Heat opens the blood vessels and increases circulation. This brings in nutrients and proteins that are essential to repairing the compromised tissue.
Heat and ice treatments can be used in combination. Talk to your doctor about what might work best for your needs.
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