Leg pain in the elderly
With age, people more and more often complain of such unpleasant ailments as tired legs and pain in the legs. In some, joints are sensitive to changes in the weather, in others, the foot burns after walking. To reduce these phenomena or completely get rid of them, first of all, it is necessary to establish their cause. Only a qualified doctor can understand the cause of leg pain.
Many people try to treat pain in the legs using the so-called general methods, but this is wrong and time may be lost, because similar symptoms in different manifestations unite about 120 different diseases of ligaments, joints, bones and muscles.
There have been cases when a patient complained of persistent knee pain characteristic of arthritis, but a deeper examination revealed a blood disorder. Also, a sensation of pain in the legs can occur due to negative transformations of the vascular system.
Diseases that cause leg pain in older people
- Flat feet. One of the fairly common diseases of the legs is flat feet. It is the basis for the development of various foot deformities, diseases of the legs or spine. The result of flat feet in patients is often curvature of the toes, as well as subluxation and dislocation of the foot. Over time, bones form on the thumbs that grow over the years and deform the bone.
The patient often has problems with shoes, it becomes difficult to walk, there is a feeling as if the legs are filled with lead. It is difficult for a flat and strongly spread foot to carry its own body, which causes frequent pain in the lumbar region and in the joints. Flat feet belongs to the category of those diseases that are much easier to prevent than to cure later.
Many people purchase it because they have worn uncomfortable tight shoes for a long time. Flat feet in the initial and intermediate form can be corrected by choosing the right shoes and instep supports, which is why it is recommended for elderly people to wear worn-out shoes that are comfortable for their feet. In addition, it is useful to walk more often barefoot on wet sand and grass in order to strengthen the feet, to engage in special exercises for training legs.
- Heel spurs. Another common disease is thorns or heel spurs. These formations are salt deposits due to metabolic disorders. Their appearance in older people is often caused by age-related changes and can cause quite tangible pain. Walking with such a spike is facilitated by special discharge rollers.
- Arthrosis. Osteoarthritis or osteoarthritis is also one of the most common diseases that causes leg pain in older people. There are two types of it. In the first variant of the disease, the joints of the fingers are affected - they thicken and look like drumsticks. With the second type of arthrosis, degenerative painful changes in the bone and articular tissue occur, developing at the site of early injuries or as a result of the inflammatory process.
For example, a patient had an ankle fracture and the damaged bone was connected a little inaccurately, hence the development of the degenerative process. Or in his youth, a person injured the meniscus during training, and by the age of sixty he has arthrosis of the knee joint. So if in your youth or at any other age you have an injury, then you should make every effort to get to an experienced qualified doctor who minimizes the consequences of injury. This will avoid some of the problems in old age.
n
Osteoarthritis can come in different ways: some have the feeling that "their legs are not going", others begin to ache in their muscles and joints when going up the stairs. If such symptoms occur, you should not waste time to consult a competent doctor. For patients with arthrosis, gymnastics is useful. All exercises should be light and pain-free. The feeling of pain in this case means that the load has exceeded the limit required by the joints.
Pain in arthrosis in most cases appears with various loads on the joint or during movement, and with arthritis, it can occur at rest. In the mornings at the onset of the disease, pain is sometimes felt in the hands, fingers are hardly compressed (this symptom is more often manifested in women, men experience similar sensations in the feet). These pains can be temporary and last for several days, but if they do not subside within two months, then you should seek medical help.
- Other diseases of the lower extremities. Several other diseases are also worth noting. Periarthritis usually affects tendons and is characterized by mild inflammation. With bursitis, the periarticular bags become inflamed. In particular, the membrane under the kneecap suffers from it. Legs always hurt in vascular diseases - endarteriosis, endarteritis, thrombophlebitis, which lead to sclerotic changes in blood vessels.
Author of the article: Kaplan Alexander Sergeevich | Orthopedist
Education: diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received in 2009 at the Medical Academy. I. M. Sechenov. In 2012 completed postgraduate studies in Traumatology and Orthopedics at the City Clinical Hospital named after Botkin at the Department of Traumatology, Orthopedics and Disaster Surgery.
