2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 02:10
What to do if the shin hurts?
Pain in the lower leg when walking can indicate a developing pathology, or occur under normal conditions, for example, after or during excessive physical exertion. Diseases that provoke painful sensations can affect nerve fibers, blood vessels, and the spine. Most often, the pain in the lower leg goes away on its own, after a short rest, but this is possible only if its nature does not have a pathological basis.
Often, a person cannot himself determine the factor that provoked the painful sensations. In this case, you need to go to the doctor and be examined. Pain should not be treated with analgesics, as temporary relief can be severely worsened.
Content:
- What can hurt in the lower leg?
- Causes of pain in the lower leg
- Calf pain diagnostics
- What to do with leg pain?
What can hurt in the lower leg?
All structures of the lower leg are permeated with nerve fibers. Therefore, irritation or damage to any part of it will lead to painful sensations. This happens when the skin, muscles, ligaments or tendons, bone structures, joints, blood vessels and the nerve endings themselves are affected.
Pain-provoking factors:
- Direct tissue damage due to trauma. The pain is acute. Once the source of the injury is removed, the pain will begin to subside.
- Inflammation. This process is accompanied by tissue edema, expansion of blood vessels, an increase in the number of leukocytes in the affected area, compression of nerve fibers, which provokes pain.
- Deterioration of the nutrition of the lower leg due to failures in the circulatory system. Normally, the blood continuously supplies nutrients to the lower leg and carries away metabolic products. If this process is disturbed, then the metabolic products settle in the tissues of the lower leg and cause pain. It is enhanced by oxygen starvation.
- Damage to nerve fibers. Pain in the lower leg can be triggered by damage to the nerve trunks at the level of the spinal cord or in another area that is interconnected with its structures.
Causes of pain in the lower leg
There are several main reasons that can lead to painful sensations in the lower leg, among them:
- Injury received.
- Pathology of the bone apparatus of the lower leg.
- Diseases of the muscle structures of the lower leg.
- Vascular pathology.
- Spine diseases.
- Infections.
- Tumor neoplasms.
Causes of pain |
Possible diseases |
Injury to any structures in the lower leg will lead to pain. Its intensity depends on the severity of the injury and on the nature of the injury. Major shin injuries:
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Pathology of the bone apparatus of the lower leg |
Diseases that can affect the bones of the lower leg:
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Diseases of the muscle structures of the lower leg |
Muscle pathologies that can lead to pain in the lower leg:
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Vascular pathology |
Vascular pathologies that can lead to pain in the lower leg:
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Spine diseases |
The lower leg is laced with nerve fibers that extend from the sacral plexus. It, in turn, comes out of the spinal nerves that extend from the spinal cord. Therefore, diseases of the spine, concentrated in the lumbosacral region, can lead to pain in the lower leg. These pathologies include:
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Infections |
Infections that can lead to pain in the lower leg:
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Tumor neoplasms |
If a person develops a tumor, then the initial stages of its formation are most often not accompanied by painful sensations. They appear as the tumor grows in size. The lower leg can suffer from the following benign tumors:
However, tumors are not always benign. They can sometimes contain cancer cells. These tumors include sarcoma, melanoma, and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. All malignant tumors tend to grow rapidly and spread metastases. |
Calf pain diagnostics
Sometimes the cause of leg pain is obvious to a person, as is the case with injuries. With this development of events, it is necessary to immediately contact a traumatologist and get appropriate help. However, the causes of pain in the lower leg are not always on the surface. Often, their identification requires a comprehensive examination and consultation with various specialists (neurologist, angiosurgeon, infectious disease specialist, orthopedist, oncologist, etc.).
Type of disease |
Diagnostic methods |
Diseases of the bone tissue of the lower leg |
To detect Osgood-Schlatter disease, an X-ray examination will be required, but it reveals pathological changes only in the late stages of the development of the disease. CT is indicated for early diagnosis. Symptoms that are characteristic of this disease:
To detect deforming osteitis, you need to donate blood for biochemical analysis. In this case, the patient will have a high level of alkaline phosphatase. X-ray of the bone allows you to reveal its curvature and deformation, and scintigraphy makes it possible to clarify in which parts of the bone overly active metabolic processes occur. Osteitis symptoms:
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Calf muscle diseases |
If the pain in the lower leg is provoked by rare muscle spasms and does not bother a person on an ongoing basis, then you can not show any concern. However, when painful sensations follow a person for a long time, you need to consult a doctor:
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Vascular pathology of the lower leg |
Damage to blood vessels is always serious, therefore, you need to see a doctor as early as possible:
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Spine diseases |
The earlier the pathology is detected, the higher the likelihood of the success of therapy. To identify osteochondrosis of the lumbosacral region, you need to focus on the patient's complaints:
Instrumental examination methods include X-ray and CT of the affected area. For the diagnosis of disc herniation or protrusion, similar symptoms are characteristic. Diagnostic methods: CT and X-ray. |
Infections |
Infections affecting soft tissues with the formation of boils, phlegmon, gangrene, erysipelas or trophic ulcers do not cause diagnostic difficulties. Most often, an external examination of the lower leg is enough for the doctor to make a diagnosis. To clarify the nature of the disease, such studies are prescribed as:
When a trophic ulcer is formed, blood is taken to determine the glucose level in it. If vascular pathology is suspected, angiography and Doppler ultrasonography are performed. Osteomyelitis requires an MRI or CT scan, which allows a detailed study of the condition of the lower leg bones. |
Tumor neoplasms |
Tumor neoplasms may not manifest themselves for a long time. Therefore, you should always pay attention to indirect signs that can indicate developing cancer. Early symptoms include:
To find a tumor, you will need to undergo CT or MRI, scintigraphy or angiography. When a neoplasm forms on the bone tissue, it can be detected using X-ray examination. Histology of tumor tissues is performed to determine the presence of malignant cells in it, as well as to clarify the type of neoplasm. |
What to do with leg pain?
Pain cannot be tolerated. This signal warns a person that something is wrong in his body.
Until the moment the diagnosis is made, the person is shown taking painkillers, which make it possible to alleviate his well-being.
These drugs include:
- Drugs from the NSAID group (Diclofenac, Nimesil, Paracetamol, etc.), which are prescribed both for oral administration and intramuscularly. They are used to treat almost any type of leg pain.
- Narcotic analgesics. These are drugs such as Morphine, Omnopon, Codeine. They are prescribed for severe pain, by mouth, subcutaneously, or intramuscularly. These drugs are available only by prescription, or are prescribed to inpatients, for example, to relieve pain after a bone fracture.
With leg injuries. The main aspects of the treatment of a leg injury are reduced to ensuring the immobilization of the limb. Before the arrival of the medical team, cold is applied to the site of injury or sprain. In difficult cases, such as fractures or ligament ruptures, surgery is required. During the period of pain, the patient is prescribed pain medications.
At the recovery stage, physiotherapeutic treatment is indicated: electrophoresis, UHF, magnetotherapy.
Video: What to do if the periosteum is ill (bone in front below the knee):
For tissue diseases. For the treatment of Osgood-Schlatter disease, it is necessary first of all to provide the affected limb with complete rest. The patient is advised to give up sports. It is recommended to use elastic bandages during physical activity.
Anesthetize the leg with NSAIDs. To eliminate the acute stage of the disease, UHF and magnetotherapy are prescribed. The operation is performed only when the tibial tuberosity is severely deformed.
With osteitis deformans, the patient should adhere to bed rest, take medications: calcium supplements, drugs from the NSAID group, Pamidronic acid, Alendronic acid.
Another point of treatment is the implementation of exercise therapy, which is made up for each patient individually.
For diseases of the leg muscles. If your leg pain is caused by a cramp, then you need to sit down or lie down so as not to lose balance. With hypothermia, the muscle needs to be warmed up. To prevent the occurrence of seizures, you need to eat right, perform regular massage of the lower leg, and increase physical activity.
Shin splitting syndrome and tunnel syndrome are treated with NSAIDs. It is imperative to refuse to perform those exercises that caused painful sensations, or reduce physical activity on the lower extremities.
With vascular pathologies. If the pain in the lower leg is caused by atherosclerosis, then it is imperative to reconsider your lifestyle, increasing physical activity, quitting smoking and junk food. To improve microcirculation in tissues, the patient is prescribed Trental and Actovegin. The drugs Simvastatin and Pravastatin help to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood. Vascular surgery is performed in severe cases, only with severe tissue hypoxia with necrosis.
Therapy of obliterating endarteritis is reduced to taking medications. For vasodilation, No-shpa is prescribed, and means are also shown to reduce the viscosity of blood. When infectious complications join, the patient is prescribed antibiotics. Massage and physiotherapy (UHF, thermal procedures, electrophoresis) have a good effect. The operation is indicated for severe pathology, but it does not solve the problem, but brings only temporary relief.
To get rid of varicose veins, you need to eliminate the factor that led to its development. First of all, this concerns hypodynamia. Therefore, all patients with varicose veins need to increase their physical activity. Medical correction is reduced to taking NSAIDs. It is better to give preference to Aspirin, which not only eliminates pain and relieves inflammation, but also thins the blood, preventing blood clots from forming. In addition, patients are prescribed anticoagulants and angioprotectors. Compression garments can be worn to prevent veins from overflowing. To treat severely damaged collaterals, sclerosis or vein removal is required.
If a patient develops thrombophlebitis, then he is urgently hospitalized, since when a blood clot breaks off, the likelihood of death increases. The patient is prescribed anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents, angioprotectors and anti-inflammatory drugs. In severe cases, surgical treatment is indicated with the removal of the affected veins or their cauterization.
With infectious diseases. Therapy for infectious diseases requires the use of antibiotics. Their choice depends on what kind of pathogenic flora the purulent process was provoked. Preference should be given to drugs with a wide spectrum of action (penicillins, tetracyclines, cyphalosporins). If antibiotic therapy does not allow you to get rid of the problem, then surgery is indicated with the removal of purulent masses and dead tissue.
Amputation of a limb is an extreme measure taken in order to save the patient's life.
Treatment of tumor neoplasms involves the following types of medical care:
- Chemotherapy.
- Radiation therapy.
- Operative intervention.
They are often combined with each other. When metastases spread, the patient is provided with palliative care aimed at improving his quality of life.
Author of the article: Sokov Andrey Vladimirovich | Neurologist
Education: In 2005 completed an internship at the IM Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University and received a diploma in Neurology. In 2009, completed postgraduate studies in the specialty "Nervous diseases".
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