Can’t walk for a long time due to pain in your leg muscles?

As soon as Homo sapiens straightened up and began to walk, obviously from that moment muscle pain appeared when walking. Statistics say that during a lifetime (average duration 65-70 years) a person makes about 500 million step movements and practically covers the distance from planet earth to its constant companion – the Moon, that is, approximately 400 thousand kilometers. Since 200 different types of muscle tissue are involved in the process of movement, it is only natural that some of them will become overexerted and may become painful.

Simplified, walking can be divided into two main movements – moving the leg and supporting it, with the main load falling on the following muscles:

• Musculus quadriceps femoris – quadriceps femoris muscle.
• Musculus biceps femoris – biceps femoris muscle.
• Musculus tibialis anterior – tibialis anterior muscle.
• Musculus rectus abdominis – rectus abdominis muscle.
• Musculus peroneus longus – longus muscle (peroneus).
• The triceps surae muscle is essentially two muscles: gastrocnemius – gastrocnemius and soleus – soleus.
• Musculus semitendinosus – semitendinosus muscle.
• Musculus tensor fasciae latae – tensor of the fascia lata (pelvic muscles).
• Musculus gluteus maximus is the gluteus maximus muscle.
• Musculus gluteus medius – gluteus medius muscle.
• Musculus erector spinae – the muscle that straightens the spine (the strongest and longest spinal muscle).

In addition, muscle pain when walking can occur in the quadratus lumborum muscle, in the muscles responsible for rotating the leg. A painful symptom can be caused by both physiological objective factors and diseases of the blood vessels, musculoskeletal system, spine and even internal organs.

Causes of muscle pain when walking

Factors and causes of muscle pain – myalgia, which appears during movement, when walking, are primarily determined by the type and condition of the muscles involved. Also, the pain symptom is influenced by the way of walking, because a person can move in a simple way, that is, go for a walk, be an athlete involved in race walking, or walking is part of his job (postmen, couriers, and so on).

First, you need to decide which muscles and joints are most involved in a particular type of walking, taking into account the joint connection:

• Muscles
• Hip joints
• knee joints
• Ankle joints
• Swing stage
• Musculus iliopsoas – iliopsoas muscle and rectus femoris muscle, which is part of the quadriceps femoris muscle, as well as the pectineus and sartorius muscles
• Quadriceps muscle of the thigh
• Tibialis anterior, extensor toe longus, and also extensor hallucis.
• Leg support stage
• The gluteal muscles, a group of thigh muscles, as well as the muscles responsible for rotating the leg in the hip joint.
• Thigh muscles, popliteus, gastrocnemius and partially soleus, gracilis and sartorius muscles.
• Triceps surae (gastrocnemius and soleus), flexor hallucis longus and toes, peroneus brevis, peroneus longus, plantaris and tibialis posterior.

Accordingly, the first causes of muscle pain when walking relate to joint diseases and pathologies of the musculoskeletal system:

• Osteoarthrosis (gonarthrosis) of the knee joints, most often secondary, associated with abnormalities in the structure of the lower leg (valgus, varus deformity). If osteoarthritis develops in the area of ​​the patella, between the femur, a person experiences pain when walking up the stairs, osteoarthritis in the area between the femur and tibia manifests itself as pain when walking long distances, and this pain goes away with rest and rest.
• Osteomyelitis, which manifests itself as severe, sharp pain when walking.
• Chondromalacia of the patella is more likely not a disease, but a condition of irritation of the surface of the joint due to uncoordinated work or overload of the leg muscles.
• Damage to the knee tendon is called tendonitis, where pain is felt in the quadriceps muscle.
• Osteoarthritis of the joints of the big toes.
• Rupture of cartilage, damage to the meniscus, when swelling and swelling affect the adjacent muscle tissue.
• Osteoporosis, when the bone tissue is not able to take the load, the muscles compensate for it and become overstrained.
• Rheumatoid arthritis, which provokes the development of myositis – inflammation of muscle tissue.
• Almost all types of osteochondrosis.

In addition, the causes of pain in the muscles when walking can be due to the following diseases:

• Infringement of the nerve endings of the spinal cord during radiculopathy, especially in the lumbosacral area of ​​the spine.
• Inflammation of the sciatic nerve, sciatica, a disease that affects the muscles of the thigh, leg, and foot with pain.
• Lumbago, pinching of the femoral nerve, causing atony of the thigh muscles, loss of the knee reflex.
• Atherosclerotic vascular pathologies.
• Venous congestion, varicose veins. Venous intermittent claudication due to blockage (occlusion) of the pelvic veins, causing diffuse pain when walking and cramps in the calf muscles.
• Vasogenic intermittent claudication (ischemia of muscle tissue).
• Fibromyalgia, more often in women.
• Myositis is inflammation of muscle tissue of various etiologies.
• Polyneuropathy.
• Myxedema.
• Diabetes.
• Lymphedema.
• Flat feet.
• Metabolic disorders, micronutrient deficiency.
• Violation of water-salt balance.

Surprisingly, pain when walking can be experienced not only by those who are constantly on the move; it is precisely these people whose muscles are more developed and trained. The following groups of people most often experience pain symptoms during movement:

• Everyone who drives for a long time is a driver.
• People whose work involves increased stress on the lower back.
• Persons whose activities involve a prolonged static position of the body, especially standing work.
• Lovers of gardening.
• People with increased body weight and obesity.

Symptoms of muscle pain when walking

When walking, muscles can ache either constantly or periodically; the nature of the pain also varies.

Symptoms of muscle pain when walking depend on the following factors:

• As a person ages, older people experience more intense pain for understandable reasons – age-related deformation of the spine and musculoskeletal system puts additional stress on the muscles.
• Body weight.
• Duration of walking.
• Shoes that can cause a lot of inconvenience and be an independent cause of pain.
• Type of walking – sports, tourism (obstacles), household.
• Preparation of muscles, their condition (trained or atrophied muscles).
• Associated diseases and conditions.

Sensations, signs, symptoms of muscle pain when walking can be as follows:

• Vascular diseases most often manifest themselves as aching, nagging pain; a person describes the condition as “heavy” legs. Walking does not cause much discomfort if the distance covered is small; long-term movement forces a person to stop and rest his legs and muscles.
• Diseases of the spine sometimes prevent a person from moving at all; walking with radiculitis or lumbago causes shooting, sharp pain.
• Osteoarthritis of the knee provokes hypertonicity of the thigh and calf muscles; with tendonitis, the muscles of the lower leg and thigh hurt, especially when lifting up.
• Atherosclerosis of blood vessels can cause a tingling, burning sensation in the muscles; venous insufficiency is felt as bursting pain in the muscles and provokes cramping in the calves.
• Coccyx pathologies may be accompanied by pain in the abdominal muscles, thighs and perineal muscles, the pain intensifies with movement and walking.
• A heel spur primarily causes pain in the heel itself, but is also felt as a pain symptom in the hip area due to chronic pressure on the tibial nerve, and pain also develops in the ankle.
• Polyneuropathy is felt as a nagging, aching pain in the muscles, burning, tingling, especially when walking.

It should be noted that pain can be felt not only in the muscles of the legs and thighs; sometimes a person’s neck muscles ache when walking due to incorrect posture, curvature of the spine, the muscles of the arms may ache with myositis or fibromyalgia, and even the muscles of the chest with pathologies of the bronchopulmonary system and compensatory tension of the pectoral muscles.

As a rule, all pain in the muscles subside with rest, as soon as the person is given the opportunity to resume blood circulation and nutrition in the muscle tissue.

Diagnosis of muscle pain when walking

In order to determine the root cause of a painful symptom that worsens with movement, it is necessary to conduct a series of examinations, and for this a person needs to promptly consult a general practitioner, who may refer the patient to a phlebologist, rheumatologist, surgeon, agiosurgeon or neurologist.

Diagnosis of muscle pain when walking involves the following measures:

• Collecting anamnesis and clarifying the history of the development of the pain symptom – when it arose, under what circumstances it intensifies, what is the nature of the pain.
• Exclusion or confirmation of the inflammatory factor, etiology of pain.
• Exclusion or confirmation of a vertebrogenic cause of pain.
• Search for a possible cause associated with compression-radicular syndrome and spinal pathology.
• Palpation of muscles.
• It is possible to prescribe x-rays of joints and spine.
• It is possible to prescribe vascular angiography.

Diagnosing muscle pain when walking is a rather difficult process, since the symptoms of muscle pain are not always specific; cramping pain in the calf muscles and muscle pain associated with osteochondrosis are most clearly differentiated. As a rule, the first stage of identifying the etiology of a symptom involves the method of exclusion. The remaining diagnostic steps depend on the results of the first stage and the examination is carried out by narrow specialists who have practical experience in diagnosing a specific specific area – vascular, organic or musculoskeletal, spinal.

Treatment for muscle pain when walking

Treatment of muscle pain when walking, not associated with serious pathologies, is limited to compensatory rest, massage and possibly physiotherapeutic procedures. More in-depth treatment may consist of prescribing vitamin complexes with an enhanced composition of B vitamins, which strengthen and restore the condition of muscle tissue. The prognosis for treatment in such cases is favorable and recovery occurs after a week, rarely 10-14 days.

All other cases in which a pathological root cause is determined are subject to more serious therapy. Treatment for muscle pain when walking in general terms is as follows:

• Restriction of pain-provoking movement, immobilization of joints and muscles.
• Treatment of the main identified disease.
• Symptomatic treatment of pain is the prescription of local anesthetics and ointments depending on the nature of the pain (cooling or warming).
• The purpose of anti-inflammatory drugs is tablet and external form. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Ibuprofen, Diclofenac) are prescribed taking into account the state of the digestive system and the hematopoietic system.
• Prescription of myelorelaxants – Mydocalm, Baclofen, Sirdalud.
• It is possible to prescribe applications and compresses.
• Rehabilitation procedures – therapeutic exercises, correctional complexes (post-isometric relaxation), acupuncture.

Preventing muscle pain when walking

First of all, it should be remembered that in more trained people, whose muscles are accustomed to a reasonable load, pain symptoms when walking occur very rarely. Consequently, the prevention of muscle pain while moving and walking is to maintain normal muscle tone, including the muscle corset in the abdomen, back, and not just the legs.

To avoid muscle pain during active movement, you need to follow these recommendations:

• In order to prevent the development of vascular pathology, which often provokes pain in the legs, it is necessary to build a reasonable diet and limit fat and cholesterol in the menu.
• Prevention of muscle pain when walking is maintaining a normal weight in accordance with the recommended index – BMI.
• With a constant static load, you should periodically stretch your muscles and change your position.
• If you have a disease of the joints or spine, you need to wisely calculate your strength and resources when hiking long distances, but first of all you need to treat the root cause, that is, the disease.
• To maintain health in principle, including muscle health, you need to regularly perform a set of exercises and engage in some kind of sport.
• If muscle pain when walking appears just once, you should not write it off as an accident, you need to pay attention to the symptom and try to identify and eliminate the cause, possibly with the help of a doctor.

If you have constant muscle pain, it is necessary to undergo a comprehensive examination and follow all medical recommendations in order to avoid serious complications, because some diseases can completely immobilize a person.