Introduction
According to Dr Richard Nahas, pain in your lower legs can be quite painful. It may happen due to an injury, inflammation due to daily activities or some other conditions. It’s important to get your leg checked by the doctor instead of ignoring the pain. Let’s check out a few common conditions that lead to lower leg pain.
The Conditions
- Muscle cramp – A muscle cramp is a common condition that can hit you out of the blue at any time. It can strike you in the middle of the day, or even in your sleep. When you get muscle cramps in your lower leg, you get hit by intense pain. If the muscle cramp has severe contractions, it can get a tight grip and worsen very quickly.
Muscle cramps are usually the result of dehydrated and tired muscles. If you’re prone to muscle cramps, start drinking more water and massage your lower leg muscles every day. It’s also important to stretch your legs properly before working out or doing any physical activity that works out your lower leg muscles.
- Tendonitis – Tendonitis is a condition where your Achilles tendon gets inflamed. When this happens, you feel a sharp pain near the back of your heel, in your lower calf. It’s a common injury that may make your tendon tear, swell or stretch. You may get it from climbing stairs, doing intense exercises or simply climbing stairs with big leaps. Tendonitis also causes lower leg pain to stay for a long time.
For instant relief, you may apply cold compression to the affected area, take anti-inflammatories and get plenty of rest. If the tendon is torn your doctor may inject medicine into the affected area and ask you to get surgery to get the tendon fixed.
- Shin splints – Lower leg pain caused by shin splints is felt at the front of your calf. In this case, the pain comes from the inflamed shin bone and the muscles and flesh along its edge. While this pain should subside with anti-inflammatory medicines like naproxen, ibuprofen and more, you should see a doctor if the pain is sustained.
- Blood clots – When your blood thickens and clumps together in a vein, it can turn into a clot. If this condition happens in a vein that’s deep inside the body, it’s known as deep vein thrombosis. This condition is usually common in the thigh or lower legs. You’re more likely to have this condition if you smoke, are overweight, or stay inactive for long periods. The condition causes severe pain when it occurs in the lower leg and may even cause severe conditions like pulmonary embolism.
Conclusion
Dr Richard Nahas suggests that you go see the doctor if you have lower leg pain. It may be due to something as simple as a muscle cramp or something severe like diabetic neuropathy. It’s important to get diagnosed and seek the right treatments for a quick recovery.
