Pain in the calves is a common phenomenon that can occur both in completely healthy people and in patients suffering from various pathologies.
“Calves” in the context of the article are the calf muscles of the lower leg (biceps), which are involved in the work of the foot and support the body during movement. Naturally, these muscles are subject to heavy loads, especially when walking. When the normal functioning of muscle fibers is disrupted, pain occurs. There are many reasons for the development of disorders, and they are not always pathological in nature.
Complaints of pain in the calf area occur in a variety of diseases and conditions - from banal muscle fatigue after physical activity and being overweight to a serious pathology in the body, one of the manifestations of which is this symptom.
The most common causes of pain in the calves are vascular diseases:
A distinctive characteristic of pain against the background of vascular disorders is its intensity - the pain has a pronounced character, intensifying when walking.
Disruption of the normal innervation of the lower extremities also leads to pain in the lower leg. Occurs in the following diseases:
If the cause is neurological, there is pain with a “shooting” effect, which lasts for a short period of time, alternating with relative well-being. Pain syndrome as a result of neurological disorders intensifies during exercise and does not go away at rest (rest).
Also, reasons that can cause pain in the calves include a disease such as diabetes. With this pathology, there is a feeling of numbness in the lower extremities, and convulsive activity may increase at night.
The source of pain in the calf muscles can be an inflammatory process that develops in the muscle fibers. Such diseases include various myositis, including complications after colds or caused by trauma to the lower leg muscles. The pain is aching, intensifies with movement. A characteristic feature is the presence of compactions upon palpation of the calf area.
When the bone tissue of the lower extremities (tibia and fibula) is affected, the leading symptom is also pain:
The pain is long-lasting and intense.
Pain in the calves is caused by a convulsive syndrome of general origin as a result of overstrain and stretching of muscle fibers.
The disease is caused by insufficiency or complete absence of insulin production, which leads to impaired carbohydrate metabolism.
There are 2 main types of the disease:
This type of disease is dangerous due to its mild clinical picture in the initial stages. The diagnosis is made by chance, during a routine examination (during a blood sugar test) or when contacting specialists due to developing complications of the disease. Symptoms:
A symptom of late diabetes is the syndrome of ulcerative lesions of the legs (diabetic foot) and circulatory disorders in the lower extremities (obliterating vascular lesions). When long-term non-healing wounds and ulcers appear on the skin of the leg (on the foot, calves), the pain is mild (loss of sensitivity is caused by diabetic neuropathy).
Damage to the nerve trunks innervating the lower limbs
Damage to peripheral nerve fibers is usually the result of trauma.
Calf pain can occur when the tibial nerve, which supplies nerve cells to the calf muscle, sole, and toes, is compressed, irritated, or compressed. The sensitivity of soft tissues in the area of the lower leg (back), sole and fingers (their back surface) increases. The foot is forced into an elevated position - when walking, the patient does not rest on its entire surface, but only on the heel.
A causalgic pain syndrome develops, the first signs of which are impaired sensitivity of the skin in the lower part of the leg (tingling, numbness - paresthesia), and over time intense, burning pain occurs. Patients compare the pain to a burn after boiling water. At first, the pain is clearly localized (in the foot), then spreads upward, to the lower leg area and higher.
The intensity of the pain may increase from strong noise, flash of light, touch or exposure to warm air. The pain subsides when the painful area is cooled (for example, with cool, damp compresses) at night.
The resulting vasomotor-trophic disorders are a reaction of blood vessels (their spasms) to acute pain syndrome.
Tumors. Neoplasms localized in the area of the spinal column of a malignant or benign nature.
Pain syndrome radiating to the calves is associated with tumor growth. Initially, the pain (of greater or lesser intensity) is localized in the back. Then, increasing in size, the formation begins to put pressure on the nerve roots (at the exit from the spinal canal). Developing radicular syndrome causes severe pain in the lower extremities. Its peculiarity is the absence of pronounced localization; the pain spreads along the entire length of the sciatic nerve, rising from the feet to the thigh.
Characteristic signs of pain syndrome:
Other characteristic signs indicating the development of education are:
Spinal tuberculosis. Inflammatory process (infectious) of the spinal column.
Inflammation in the initial stages is manifested by minor pain in the area of the affected vertebra of a periodic nature (after physical exertion, at the end of the working day). But with the progression of degenerative changes in one or more vertebrae, the pain syndrome worsens, and periods of remission gradually become shorter.
A long-term inflammatory process (localized in the lumbosacral spine) can provoke the development of radicular syndrome. Its manifestations are identical to compression of nerves by growing formations of the spine: severe pain along the damaged nerve, reacting to loads and movements.
Spinal injuries. Traumatic injuries of the spine vary both in nature (open and closed), and in topography, degree and severity of the damage caused.
But in all cases, the reaction to the action of a traumatic factor will be a pain syndrome of varying intensity, clear or uncertain localization.
Unpleasant sensations in the calves of the lower extremities are in most cases associated with serious traumatic injuries to the lumbar spinal column:
Osteochondrosis. A disease that affects segments of the spine (cartilage and intervertebral discs) and occurs in a chronic form.
With pathological changes in the tissues of the spine in the lumbosacral region, the pain spreads down along the sciatic nerve. Its intensity depends on the degree of damage to the cartilage tissue; in severe forms of the disease, the pain syndrome significantly limits the motor activity of patients.
The pain intensifies both with load on the spine (for example, lifting heavy objects) and with physical activity.
Myositis. Inflammatory disease of muscle fibers. It can occur in acute and chronic form.
When the leg muscles are affected, the clinical picture is manifested by the following symptoms:
Most often, the inflammatory process develops in the calf muscles (among inflammatory lesions of the muscle fibers of the lower extremities). The pain syndrome (aching in nature) that progresses over time intensifies when walking and applying pressure, which leads to limitation of movements. The skin on the back of the leg becomes hypersensitive.
Depending on the etiology of myositis, the symptoms of the disease may be accompanied by a clinical picture of general intoxication (for parasitic infections): vomiting, chills, fever, bowel dysfunction, etc.
Trichinosis. Acute infestation of threadworms (Trichinella spiralis).
Depending on the severity of the disease, clinical symptoms can be expressed to a greater or lesser extent:
Symptoms are more pronounced in mild, moderate and severe forms of trichinosis:
In moderate and severe forms, symptoms of damage to the respiratory and cardiovascular systems are added: bronchitis, pneumonia, tachycardia, up to the development of heart failure. CNS disorders occur (headaches, insomnia, etc.), disruptions in the digestive system.
Injuries. Traumatic injuries to the muscle fibers of the lower limb include:
Less common traumatic injuries include crash syndrome (long-term, up to 8 hours, crushing of muscle fibers by debris, blocks, etc.) and spontaneous hematomas caused by taking anticoagulants.
Inflammatory processes of peripheral nerve fibers (single - with neuritis, multiple - with polyneuritis), in which the conduction of nerve impulses is disrupted. Along with the pain syndrome, there is a loss of sensitivity, up to paralysis and paresis.
Thrombosis (thrombophlebitis). A disease characterized by impaired blood flow (up to complete cessation) due to the formation of a blood clot in the lumen of a blood vessel.
The clinical picture with the development of thrombosis is fully manifested, but the symptoms are mild:
Deep vein thrombophlebitis of this localization is practically asymptomatic in most cases.
Phlebeurysm. The condition is caused by insufficiency of the valve apparatus.
The pain syndrome is localized in the affected areas - with pronounced swelling. Uncomfortable sensations can also include a feeling of fullness, heat, tingling. The characteristic manifestation of pain is that it intensifies in the evening, after physical exertion.
Hot baths, hot weather, and hormonal changes can provoke manifestations of varicose veins. The pain subsides with a raised position of the lower extremities and active, “shaking” movements in the ankle joint.
The disease develops over a long period, visual manifestations (bulging veins, asterisks formed by affected vessels) appear in the later stages of the disease.
The following symptoms should alert you:
Acute obstruction of the arteries of the lower extremities. Cessation of blood circulation in the main artery.
Chronic arterial insufficiency of the lower extremities. A condition in which ischemic blood supply disorders are observed.
Arthritis. Inflammatory disease of the joints and surrounding soft tissues.
A number of symptoms are quite characteristic, regardless of the location of the inflammatory processes:
Concomitant symptoms depend on the etiology of the disease: for example, symptoms of an acute inflammatory process (fever, weakness, lack of appetite, etc.) appear with infectious arthritis, while rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by severe deformation of the affected joint.
Osteomyelitis. An inflammatory disease of bone tissue (all its components, including bone marrow) of an infectious nature with the formation of foci of suppuration and necrosis.
Since long tubular bones are the most “vulnerable”, the focus of the disease is often localized in the upper and lower extremities.
Depending on the form of osteomyelitis, the intensity of the clinical picture may vary:
The above symptoms appear during the development of the disease (its acute course), which quite quickly (on average after a month and a half) develops into the chronic stage. Phases of exacerbation and remission alternate, their duration depends on the form of the disease and the general condition of the body.
A distinctive symptom of chronic osteomyelitis is the formation of fistulas - an abscess on the skin with constant and long-term (sometimes for several years) purulent discharge.
Achilles tendon rupture. Violation of the integrity of the tendon formed by the heads of the leg muscles is caused by direct exposure to a traumatic factor or excessive physical exertion.
Inflammatory skin diseases. Pain in the calf muscles is most pronounced with erysipelas - an infectious (caused by streptococci), inflammatory skin disease.
The disease begins to manifest itself with intoxication symptoms (headaches, nausea, weakness, fever).
During the day (up to 20 hours), local pathological changes appear:
The temperature and symptoms of intoxication disappear after a week (sometimes 5 days), after which the manifestation of the local inflammatory process also subsides. At the site of swelling and severe hyperemia, the skin begins to peel off.
Without drug treatment, in most cases, progression of the disease is observed: the affected areas increase in size, and blisters filled with dirty yellow contents appear. Such a course of erysipelas can cause serious complications - lymphostasis.
Ankle joint injuries. The ankle joint connects the tibia, fibula, and the largest bone of the tarsus, the talus.
The most common injuries to this bone joint include:
The development of pain, swelling, loss (full or partial) of motor function (as the main symptoms of traumatic injuries) is influenced by the severity of the injury, its nature and localization in the articular area.
To determine the cause of pain in the calves, the entire range of diagnostic measures accepted in modern medicine is used.
Laboratory tests: general blood test, biochemical blood test, water-electrolyte metabolism, serological tests, urinalysis. If one reason or another is suspected, the emphasis is on specific diagnostics. In diabetes mellitus, for example, these are levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood, in case of gout - increased levels of uric acid, and in case of vascular lesions - cholesterol levels.
Instrumental diagnostic methods: angiography, Dopplerography in combination with ultrasound - for vascular damage, radiography - for damage to bones and joints, MRI and CT - for the neurological nature of pain in the calves, osteoscintigraphy - for metastatic damage to the bones of the lower leg and other studies as necessary.
If an oncological process is suspected, patients are recommended to undergo a test for tumor markers, and for bone tuberculosis or osteomyelitis, a biopsy from the lesion.
Diagnosing pain in the calves is a responsible and scrupulous process. There is no single examination algorithm. An experienced doctor, based on the patient’s complaints, the nature of the pain and concomitant diseases (including history), forms the necessary amount of research that will confirm or refute his suspicions.
The tactics and scope of necessary treatment for pain in the calves are planned depending on the cause that caused them: the provoking factor is removed and the pain disappears. In other words, specialists treat the source that led to the pain in the first place.
Pain in the muscle area in many cases is relieved by symptomatic treatment: the use of analgesics, warming ointments, therapeutic massage sessions, etc.
Initially, you should consult a general practitioner - a therapist or traumatologist. After an initial assessment and the necessary diagnostics, treatment of pain in the calves will be carried out by a specialized specialist - a neurologist (neurologist), vascular surgeon, oncologist, dermatologist, endocrinologist or infectious disease specialist.
Single center for making appointments with a doctor by phone +7 (499) 519-32-84.
Thousands of people around the world regularly experience pain in the calf muscles. Few people know the reasons for this phenomenon, although they really want to get rid of it. First of all, it is worth saying that pain in the legs requires immediate contact with a specialist. There are quite a few reasons for the appearance of such pain, so untimely treatment or illiterate self-medication can lead to serious consequences. Let us note the causes of pain in the calves.
Almost all people gain a few unwanted pounds during the winter. This is quite normal, since this is how the body expresses a lack of vitamins and readiness for frost. But with the arrival of spring, thousands of people begin training to quickly return their figure to its original form. Everything would be fine, but not many people know that the load on the body should increase gradually.
In order for the body to respond normally to physical exercise, jogging, etc., it is necessary to load it slowly, gradually. Abrupt training, which appears in the life of the body like a bolt from the blue, will cause serious disruptions in all organ systems. First of all, the muscles will suffer, since they have been relaxed all winter, and a person can get sprains from sudden tension. The ligaments can even be torn.
Thus, many people may notice that their legs hurt after working out. This means that for some time you need to forget about physical exercise and allow your own muscles and ligaments to recover. A person will feel that their calves hurt when walking. Ways to relieve pain will be described below.
There is hardly a person who has never experienced pain in the back of the knee in their life. The soreness may extend to the calves. The calves of the legs hurt greatly, especially at night, when a person is in a horizontal position. Despite its high prevalence, the causes of this disease are not known to everyone. The fact is that the vessels, or more precisely, their walls, have a certain throughput. When, due to the loss of elasticity and flexibility of the walls, they cannot pass a certain flow of blood through themselves, they begin to expand. Thus, you can see a whole pattern of bulging veins on your legs. Of course, this picture is not very aesthetic, but it is also accompanied by unbearable pain.
A person feels pain due to the fact that enlarged veins irritate the nerve endings that are located in close proximity to the vessels. If your calves hurt, you should first examine the entire surface of your legs from the back. If the cause of pain is varicose veins, the person will see characteristic bulging veins that are dark blue or even purple. You should also pay attention to blue stars, which may be a harbinger of varicose veins. A vascular surgeon treats varicose veins. It is worth saying right away that surgical methods rarely get rid of varicose veins. Most often, conservative treatment in tandem with traditional methods is enough.
One of the most serious diseases of the vascular system is thrombophlebitis. Many have heard of it as its prevalence continues to skyrocket. Moreover, the disease is steadily getting younger, therefore, even if a child has pain in his calves, thrombophlebitis cannot be discounted without a full range of diagnostic procedures.
The disease itself consists of the formation of a thrombus - a blood clot in an artery. The thrombus adheres to the walls of the blood vessels, but can break away from it at any moment. Despite the fact that the size of the blood clot is small, it can easily block a vital artery. For this reason, death may occur. Due to the seriousness and prevalence of this disease, it is dealt with by a specific specialist - a phlebologist. The main diagnostic method in this matter is ultrasound examination of blood vessels. The latest technologies help to easily detect a blood clot. Failure to see a doctor on time can lead to a very tragic outcome, so you must not hesitate!
It would seem that there is nothing in common between diseases of the spine and neurology, but everything is quite elementary: diseases of the spine can easily provoke a pinched nerve. For this reason, a person may feel pain in the calf of the left or right leg. This is a characteristic feature of a neurological cause - “radiating” pain to one limb. The source may be located much higher, but the pain may bother the buttock, lower back, or the leg itself in different places.
An example is osteochondrosis. By the way, this disease is considered one of the most common. Moreover, it affects not only mature people, but also teenagers who suffer from spinal curvature. A neurologist treats neurological ailments, so it is necessary to contact him, especially if there is discomfort in one limb, for example, the calf of the right leg hurts.
Having found the reasons why your calves hurt, you should be puzzled by treatment methods. Of course, the causes listed above have different treatments, which may be suitable for one disease, but not at all recommended for another. For this reason, we will consider all treatment methods separately for each ailment.
Any trainer will tell you that heat relaxes muscles best. Many may object, because even at a football match, an athlete is given first aid with ice.
Ice perfectly relieves pain and has an anti-inflammatory effect in the first minutes after injury.
But when the pain is not caused by injury and is systematic, then a warm compress is the best solution. Of course, this can be called an emergency way to get rid of pain, but not treatment.
Treatment of ligaments and muscles that hurt due to colossal strain and sprains should be carried out using warming ointments. It is worth saying that they should always be with the unfortunate athlete, even after the pain goes away, because the muscles must be warmed up before training. In order for the leg muscles to withstand hours of training more steadfastly, they should be thoroughly warmed up. It is not necessary to resort to cream or ointment; just stretch your legs rhythmically and do a little exercise. This way, the whole body will prepare for the workout and the muscles will stretch in advance.
Treatment of pain in the calves should be accompanied by rest, you should postpone all physical exercises and walk less. This will allow your legs to recover. For pain, you can rub the following ointments: Finalgon, Finalgel, Fastum gel, etc. The cost of the listed drugs starts at 200 rubles, but they will quickly relieve a person of unbearable pain and allow him to breathe deeply.
Treatment of this disease does not require medical examination; moreover, thousands of people are treated for it without seeing a doctor. There is a rational grain in this, because current pharmaceuticals offer a whole list of drugs that effectively cope with varicose veins.
The most effective ointments for varicose veins are preparations with horse chestnut. These can be found in any pharmacy. The most popular remedy is Lyoton. Some traditional medicine methods can also be used in tandem with ointment. The use of targeted cold significantly accelerates blood circulation. We are talking about ice cubes that need to be moved over the sore areas of the legs. Ice will not completely relieve pain, but it will certainly stimulate microcirculation. You can make ice cubes from chamomile infusion. This extremely simple but effective remedy greatly reduces inflammation and irritation, so the pain will soon subside.
Thrombophlebitis, as mentioned earlier, is one of the most serious diseases. For this reason, its treatment in most cases is surgical. A phlebologist, first of all, prescribes a certain diagnosis.
Diagnostic procedures help the doctor obtain a complete medical history of the patient. The diagnosis of phlebitis or thrombophlebitis is either confirmed or not. If a blood clot is detected, surgery is prescribed. Of course, the location of the clot and its size matter. There is no need to be afraid of surgery as it only takes a few minutes. The main task for a vascular surgeon is to eliminate the blood clot, and so that it does not break away from the walls of the vessels.
After surgery, scars may remain, but modern medicine allows you to completely get rid of them. As for procedures aimed at restoring the body, physiotherapy is most often prescribed, but it may not be necessary.
Neurologists use classical diagnostic methods, which include x-rays, tomography, ECG and ultrasound. If you wonder why your calves hurt at night, you need to see a doctor. After diagnosis and history taking, a diagnosis will be made. Correct diagnosis and proper treatment are the key to a speedy recovery, do not forget about this.
As for treatment, neurology requires not only conservative treatment with medications, but also third-party influence through physiotherapeutic procedures.
Not many people know that physiotherapy combines many different therapies that are not only extremely beneficial for the body, but also incredibly useful. For example, hydrotherapy and magnetic therapy can significantly reduce pain due to neurological disease. Fortunately, physiotherapeutic procedures can be performed in every municipal clinic. The course of treatment is 10 days. Each procedure lasts no more than a quarter of an hour, but, if necessary, the course is extended or repeated, but after a while.
For any woman, pregnancy is the most important period in life. For nine whole months, a woman thinks and worries about her unborn child every second. The body also experiences enormous stress.
Complaints of pain in the calf muscles are not uncommon; moreover, they may be accompanied by cramps and severe swelling. Any obstetrician will tell you that there is nothing wrong with this. You just need to drink less to avoid swelling, and eat in moderation so that weight gain is not so rapid and significant. In practice, not every woman manages to moderate her appetite while pregnant, and she may always want to drink, especially in the summer, which is quite logical. Therefore, it is necessary to help women in the fight against this inconvenience, because severe pain in the calves can deprive an already restless sleep.
A beloved husband should pay maximum attention to his wife during pregnancy, since the body of the beloved woman works for two. An evening massage of the legs and calves will not only bring extraordinary pleasure to the pregnant woman, but will also significantly soothe pain.
Good old foot baths are more important than ever during pregnancy. This is especially true in the last months of pregnancy, when a woman experiences maximum stress. You will need the help of a friend or husband. It is necessary to give your feet a contrast shower, pouring warm and cool water on them from a ladle or a large mug. From such a simple procedure, a pregnant woman will feel a surge of energy and a lift in mood. It is recommended to do such contrast baths in the evening so that pain does not bother you at night. You can also simply soak your feet in warm water with the addition of a decoction of chamomile.
As already mentioned, pain in the legs is often accompanied by swelling. It is quite easy to notice swelling. A woman will begin to notice that she has difficulty putting on shoes, fastening her boots, or that there are marks on her feet from socks. This phenomenon indicates that the fluid does not leave the body, but accumulates in the tissues. The kidneys are working hard because the uterus with the growing baby is nestled on top of them. Therefore, if previously a woman drank almost four liters of liquid, and did not observe swelling, now, drinking only a couple of liters, she will observe unsightly swollen legs. In this regard, a pregnant woman is recommended to drink not just water, but diuretic fruit drinks made from cranberries and lingonberries. A rosehip decoction helps a lot, as it perfectly complements the usual dried fruit compote with its taste.
As for nutrition, of course, a pregnant woman cannot be denied or forbidden anything, but the emphasis must be placed on cheese, dairy products and fish. These products are extremely tasty, but that’s not the point. Muscle pain may also indicate a deficiency of calcium, magnesium and iron in a woman’s body, and cheese and fish can significantly fill this gap. Of course, we must not forget about vegetables and fruits, which should always be on the table. They allow calcium to be better absorbed by the body, and fresh vegetables are a storehouse of vitamins.
Any disease requires prevention. You can predict the appearance of systematic pain in the legs by playing sports. Don’t fanatically do push-ups and pump up your abs until your breathing and heart rate falter. All you need to do is spend three minutes every morning to exercise.
Every person in childhood heard the instructions of their parents and educators about exercise, but not many carried this habit into adulthood. Every morning you need to do literally ten squats and various turns. First, turn your head left and right, up and down, then do similar actions with your shoulders, torso and hips. Exercises allow you to prevent all diseases of the vascular system. I repeat, there is no need to exhaust yourself when you wake up in the morning. Three minutes is enough for the muscles to warm up, stretch and prepare for the working day.
After a hard day at work, you need to allow yourself to relax in your favorite chair, placing your feet in a basin of warm water. You can add a decoction of chamomile or string, and a few more grains of sea salt. This will give you a lot of pleasure and relieve the tension accumulated throughout the day from your legs. After such a procedure, pain is unlikely to occur at night.
Start thinking about your health right now. A free comprehensive screening is a great first step to taking charge of your health. The promotion is carried out only for women over 30 in Moscow clinics.
The knee joint consists of the kneecap, which is located in front. It is connected to the quadriceps muscle by a tendon, the continuation of which is the patellar ligament. The cruciate and collateral ligaments are also present. Between the femur and tibia there are cartilages - menisci, internal and external.
Thanks to this structure, we can easily move - walk, run, jump, sit down and stand up. But sometimes pain under the knee disrupts the usual rhythm of life. Why this happens and what to do with such symptoms, every person has wondered at least once.
Pain does not arise just like that; it accompanies any disturbances in the functioning of organs. If your leg hurts under the knee behind or in front, then this is a clear symptom that the knee needs treatment. The cause of pain under the knee can be infection, inflammation, disruption of the integrity of the ligaments due to overload or injury, as well as neoplasms, including malignant ones.
You can guess what caused the pain syndrome after a visual examination of the leg, based on the nature of the pain and accompanying symptoms, but the exact cause of the pain under the knee and the final diagnosis will be announced by an orthopedic doctor only after a thorough examination.
Each illness or injury is characterized by “its own” pain - it can be aching, pulling, sharp, sudden, occur at night or bother you all day, remind you of itself only when moving or when resting. The doctor will definitely ask about what pain is troubling the patient; this is one of the factors on which suspicion of a particular illness is based.
Pain, which gives the feeling that something is pulling in the knee, is inherent in inflammation.
This disease causes inflammation in the joints and surrounding tissues. It leads to decreased joint mobility and gives complications to other organs - heart, liver, kidneys, intestines. Arthritis requires treatment, otherwise the patient may become disabled.
In addition to the nagging pain behind the knee and in the joint itself, there is morning stiffness, weakness, and weight loss. The joint swells and the temperature of the skin around it rises.
Important! In the absence of treatment or when the measures taken are not enough, the patient's life expectancy is reduced by several years.
With these diagnoses, pain behind the knee is caused by inflammation of the tendons or their bursae. They occur with strong and prolonged physical stress on the joint, as well as injuries, even minor ones.
At the same time, fluid accumulates in the cavities of the tendon bursae, which leads to limited mobility of the knee. Patients also note redness of the skin in the painful area, swelling, and the joint may feel warmer to the touch than usual.
When the leg behind the knee hurts and the patient describes his sensations as “the leg aches,” this suggests suspicion of injury or a tumor in the knee joint.
When the synovium becomes inflamed, excess fluid accumulates in the tendon bursa. This leads to the formation of a cyst. If you consult a doctor in a timely manner, this disease does not pose a threat to health, although it requires surgical intervention.
It can be recognized by compaction, swelling and aching pain under the knee at the back. The pain is not severe, tolerable, but constant.
If there is pain under the knee at the back, then after diagnosis a diagnosis of “meniscus cyst” may be made. Its appearance is associated with constant joint injuries, for example, in professional athletes, and nutritional disorders of the knee cartilage.
Even the smallest cysts cause severe pain. But they cannot be identified by palpation or visual inspection. Therefore, if there is pain in the legs behind the knees, which has been bothering you for some time, you need to undergo a diagnosis.
A torn meniscus causes pain in the legs behind the knees, and a person may feel like their legs are buckling. The root causes of rupture are injuries, destruction of the meniscus due to disruption of its nutrition.
There are many types of meniscus tears, each of them is accompanied by severe pain and can only be treated surgically.
Acute, sudden pain under the knee most often signals diseases of the nerves and blood vessels of the limb. A tumor and inflammation of the tibial nerve makes itself felt by severe pain, impaired skin sensitivity, and decreased muscle tone.
Sometimes the walls of the artery located under the knee become dissected and a bulge forms in the back of the knee - an aneurysm. At the same time, there is a “pulling” under the knee, but sometimes a sharp pain appears, and pulsation is observed when palpated.
Another reason why the leg hurts under the knee is thrombosis. It occurs in the popliteal vein and, although rarely diagnosed, poses a threat to the patient’s health. This type of thrombosis is difficult to detect due to the similarity of symptoms to a pinched nerve, and in the meantime complications may arise.
Causes of pain under the knee, such as purulent-inflammatory diseases of the knee joint and adjacent tissues, cannot but be taken seriously.
They arise when an infection spreads, which “lives” in microcracks in the feet and legs. Once in the lymph nodes, microorganisms cause lymphadenitis, in particular its purulent form. The result of lymphadenitis is an abscess in the popliteal fossa.
Since the lymph nodes are located deep in the tissues of the limb, it is not always possible to palpate the lump; there may be no swelling or redness. The main symptom is acute pain under the knee at the back when walking, bending the leg, and a nagging pain also under the knee at the back at rest.
Treatment of pain behind the knee involves preliminary diagnosis and identification of the cause of the symptom. To find out why it hurts under the knee, you first need to contact a therapist or orthopedist, and if necessary, they will refer you to a surgeon, neurologist or other specialists.
The doctor selects methods for treating the knee joint.
If it is determined that the cause of the pain behind the knees is one of the inflammatory diseases, then medications such as NSAIDs, glucocorticosteroids, and chondroprotectors are used for therapy. For bursitis, wearing a knee brace or bandage is sometimes prescribed, physiotherapy and rest for the joint are prescribed. Treatment of the causes of nagging pain under the knee at the back can also be folk - using herbs, honey, alcohol tinctures for the same purposes as medicines - relieving inflammation and pain.
Neoplasms (Baker's cyst, for example) or ruptures of ligaments and menisci require surgical intervention. But in some cases, the use of anti-inflammatory drugs, fixation with a knee brace or splint, and limitation of physical activity make it possible not to have surgery and maintain the ability to move freely.
Vascular diseases that cause pain behind the knee joint can only be treated surgically. Nerve tumors, aneurysm or thrombosis cannot be cured with medications or alternative medicine. These diseases are dangerous, so you cannot delay the operation.
The only solution for purulent lymphadenitis or abscess is opening and draining the abscess. After the operation, antibiotics, compresses, and physiotherapy are indicated.
If there is pain behind the knee, the reasons need to be determined urgently, because some diseases pose a danger to the health and even the life of the patient. Treatment for pain under the knee is offered by both traditional and folk medicine, but action should only be taken when the diagnosis has already been accurately established and any actions should be coordinated with doctors.
Pain in the legs occurs for various reasons and the most common of them are diseases of the joints and spine, atherosclerosis of the arteries, thrombophlebitis, flat feet, neuralgia, myositis, and various types of injuries. In any case, you should not start the development of the disease, but it is better to consult a doctor in a timely manner, since many diseases are easily cured at the initial stage.
In addition to medications, traditional medicine recipes can be used as additional treatment, but it is advisable to use these remedies only after consulting a doctor.
To eliminate pain in the legs and numbness of the limbs, use comfrey tincture. It is prepared from 1 tbsp. spoons of crushed plant root and 1 liter of vodka, mixing all ingredients. The tincture is kept in a dark place for 3 weeks, after which it is filtered and diluted with water to obtain a total volume of 3 liters. Take the drug in a dosage of 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times a day 10-15 minutes before meals. Treatment is carried out for 1 month. Additionally, you can apply black radish, grated on a coarse grater, to the sore spot.
Well relieves pain in the legs and reduces inflammation of the joints by alternating an infusion and a decoction from the collection of the following medicinal herbs: birch leaves, immortelle flowers and carrot seeds - 0.5 cups of each type, string grass - 3 cups, St. John's wort, cherry stalks and bearberry grass - 1 glass each. Chop all the herbs and mix well.
The infusion is prepared in the evening in a thermos at the rate of 1 tbsp. spoon of mixture per 0.5 liter of boiling water. In the morning, filter the infusion and take 2-3 times a day in a dosage of 100 ml an hour before meals. Before use, add another 0.5 cup of warm boiled water. After taking the infusion, prepare a decoction the next day. For this, 2 tbsp. Boil spoons of the mixture in 0.5 liters of water in a steam bath for at least half an hour. Take it in the same dosage as the infusion. You should alternate between taking the decoction and infusion daily.
In addition, you can make compresses from dandelion flowers at night. To do this, a 0.5 liter jar is filled 1/5 with the flowers of the plant and filled to the top with vodka. Infuse the mixture for 14 days in a dark place, every day, shaking it slightly, after which gauze soaked in the resulting liquid is applied to the sore spots overnight. No medications should be taken during this treatment. To use this recipe, consultation with your doctor is required.
Tansy infusion is good for leg pain caused by gout, rheumatism and arthritis. To prepare the medicine you need 1 tbsp. Pour a spoonful of crushed raw materials into a glass of boiling water and leave for at least 2 hours. Dosage – 1 tbsp. spoon of infusion 2-3 times a day.
This remedy is recommended for use for joint and muscle pain, osteochondrosis, sprains, household and sports injuries, and muscle spasms. To do this, mix equal parts of aloe juice and oil of menthol, cloves, eucalyptus, wintergreen, and camphor. All these oils are sold in pharmacies. Rub the product 2-3 times a day into painful areas and apply a woolen cloth over it, which is secured with a linen bandage.
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The following folk remedy will help with salt deposits. Fill the gelatin bag with cold water in an enamel bowl, let it swell, and put it on low heat. Add a glass of freshly squeezed pumpkin juice and half a glass of raspberry jam and blueberry syrup to the solution. Bring to a boil while constantly stirring and turn off the heat.
Pour the finished jelly into bowls and after cooling completely, store in the refrigerator. The first portion of jelly can be eaten 12 hours after preparation. We consume one serving daily until the condition improves.
If the condition of the lower extremities worsens due to arthritis, prepare an effective medicine used as foot baths. To do this, pour 2 cups of bay leaves, previously crushed, into an enamel bowl with half a liter of boiling water. Add also a glass of sunflower oil and boil for no more than half a minute.
15 minutes after removing from heat, add 5 tbsp to the broth. spoons of dry mustard. Make foot baths every day in the evening, using 0.5 cups of the mixture per 2-3 liters of water. You should steam your feet in tolerably hot water for about 10-15 minutes, then wipe them dry and go to bed. Sleep without opening up until the morning, even if your feet are hot. After taking the procedure, you cannot go out into the cold.
For inflammatory processes in the joints, an infusion of a mixture of the following herbs will be useful. Mix 1 dessert spoon each of birch buds, St. John's wort, elecampane, horsetail, chamomile, corn silk, lingonberry leaf, mint, nettle and flaxseed. Diuretic tea is also added to the herbs and the whole thing is poured with 7 liters of boiling water. Take the drug 4 times a day, 250 ml with honey.