Leg pain can manifest itself in different ways: tingling, tightness, burning sensation, tingling, pain in the calves or in the thighs, etc. Many pathologies, more or less serious, can be hidden behind these symptoms.

Since some pain can be a sign of significant damage, constituting an emergency, it is important to consult a doctor for an accurate diagnosis. The doctor will try to find out:

• if the pain affects one or both legs

• the situation in which this pain manifested itself: at the time of the effort, after it, during the night, etc. The doctor will also try to determine if the pain has continued after the effort.

• the duration of the pain: old, persistent, frequent, or even sudden onset

Depending on the responses, the diagnosis will be an attack on the muscles, nerves, vessels, arteries, or even bones.

There are many causes of leg pain. Let us quote in a non-exhaustive way:

• Muscle pathologies which usually occur after exercise and persist:
  • body aches
  • an elongation
  • contractures
  • Cramps
  • a tear
  • a breakdown

• Bone pathologies :
  • stress fracture
  • periostitis (inflammation of the periosteum)
  • bone crack
  • osteitis (infection of the bone)
  • bone tumor
  • fractures from trauma, fall or blow

• More serious pathologies considered to be medical emergencies and therefore requiring rapid consultation:
  • phlebitis: formation of a blood clot in a vein that blocks blood flow. The leg is swollen, red, and painful. The risk is to have a pulmonary embolism.
  • arterial thrombosis: formation or migration of a clot in an artery that can cause the downstream blood flow to stop. The leg is suddenly white, cold and unresponsive to palpation. The risk of gangrene is present.

In these cases, the pain affects only one leg.

• Vascular and nervous pathologies :
  • arteritis of the lower limbs: the pain occurs at the time of the effort or at the end of a certain walking perimeter and stops when this one stops. It is a debilitating, long-term disease characterized by damage to the lining of the arteries.
  • venous insufficiency: feeling of heavy legs
  • presence of varicose veins: dilated and tortuous veins
  • sciatica (or inflammation of the sciatic nerve): the pain starts in the buttock and goes down the leg following the path of the sciatic nerve
  • cruralgia (or crural neuralgia): neurological pain less common than sciatica but more acute, localized in the thigh

The pain is generally persistent in case of vascular and nervous pathologies.

Other causes of leg pain (affecting one or both legs) are also:

• tendonitis, or inflammation of a tendon as a result of too much or too much stress or trauma

• fibromyalgia: diffuse muscle pain

• osteoarthritis: in the knee or ankle
• arthritis or any inflammatory rheumatism

• restless legs syndrome or impatience in the legs: neurological disorder causing an overwhelming urge to move the legs

If the pain progresses or is accompanied by difficulty in walking or fever, it is necessary to consult without delay.

Treatments to relieve leg pain depend on their cause.

The doctor may first offer a painkiller, before proposing a solution adapted to the cause of the pain. Let us quote as examples:

• a surgical intervention including that of a varicose vein or a herniated disc causing sciatica or cruralgia

• the installation of a cast or an analgesic immobilization splint

• stopping physical activity for a time to be determined

• or taking medication