Painful legs

Causes of leg pain

Leg pain can occur for many reasons. Sometimes it can be the result of a muscle cramp, which is often referred to as a charley horse in jargon.

Sometimes legs will hurt because of the dehydration or low amounts of potassium, sodium, calcium or magnesium in the blood stream as well.

Other times medication can cause leg pains, especially diuretics that will cause a person to lose a lot of fluid.

Often too much exercise can lead to leg strains or muscle fatigue as well.

There are also injuries of the bones and muscles of the leg that can hurt as well. If a muscle is torn or overstretched it can cause pain. There will also be leg pain if the bone is broken or if tendons in the leg are inflamed.

Blood clots can also cause leg pain and usually result from extended period of bed rest when a person is sick and cannot move out of bed much.

Nerve damage in the leg can also cause pain, sometimes diabetics, smokers or alcoholics will develop such nerve damage that can lead to pain or different sensations such as numbness, tingling or pins-and-needles in he legs.

Some other less common causes of leg pain include benign tumors or cysts of the leg bones, drugs like allopurinol or corticosteroids, malignant bone tumors, or sciatic nerve pain which results from a slipped disk in the back usually. Home treatment

If a person has a leg cramp, the most important thing to do is to rest the leg as much as possible. The leg should be elevated whenever possible as well and ice needs to be applied to the leg for 15 minutes at a time at least four times a day.

Massaging the leg can also help relieve the pain, and if it is too hard to deal with, the person can take over-the-counter pain medications to help cope with it.

If the leg pain is caused by a nerve disorder, it is important to take alcohol and tobacco out of one’s diet immediately and to avoid wearing shoes that do not fit well.

If the leg is swollen or red, if the person has a fever along with the leg pain, if the pain keeps getting worse, if it changes color and become black or blue, if the leg gets cold and pale, then the person should contact a doctor immediately.