Pulling of the leg or both is a common complaint of patients with osteochondrosis and other problems with the spinal column. But not all of these manifestations can be accompanied by diseases of the spinal column. Very often, this symptom masks even more serious problems that affect blood vessels, vessel walls and the endocrine system. To exclude varicose veins of the lower extremities, vascular atherosclerosis, gout and diabetes mellitus, an experienced doctor will prescribe a number of relevant laboratory tests. This will help to accurately identify the cause of pain and eliminate it in a short time. An inexperienced doctor will immediately blame everything on problems with the spine. Moreover, every modern person who has crossed the threshold of 25 years has manifestations of osteochondrosis to one degree or another.
We recommend that you carefully study the proposed material. It was written by several doctors of different specializations. Here you can find out the main differences between nagging pains in different diseases. We will also give you initial information about what tests and studies need to be done to determine the exact cause. We hope that this short instruction will help you restore your health and completely get rid of discomfort in your legs and muscles.
So, let's start by listing those diseases that can provoke pulling sensations in the legs. The list includes all possible conditions and diseases. Below you can find a detailed description of each of them.
Here's what can cause leg muscles to pull in women and men:
Let's start with a large group of diseases that are associated with impaired vascular tone. They can be associated both with loss of elasticity of large blood vessels and with impaired circulation in the smallest capillaries. This group includes atherosclerosis with damage to blood vessels by atherosclerotic plaques and narrowing of their lumen, varicose veins, obliterating endarteritis, and diabetic angiopathy. All these conditions are associated with blood stagnation and accumulation of oxidation and breakdown products in muscle fibers. They are what give the feeling of heaviness and fatigue in the legs. External manifestations in the primary stages are almost invisible. In advanced cases, you can see thinning of the skin and the appearance of vascular patterns. If left untreated, they can lead to trophic ulcers and limb amputation.
To establish an accurate diagnosis, you need to contact a vascular surgeon and do a duplex scan of the veins and arteries of the lower extremities and pelvis. Be sure to take a blood test for sugar and clotting time. Check your blood platelet levels.
If pulling sensations in the lower extremities are associated with osteochondrosis and damage to the nerve endings in the spinal column, then distinguishing them is quite simple. You should know that:
To confirm the diagnosis, it is enough to do an MRI of the spinal column and make sure that some nerve endings are suffering from compression.
Very often, discomfort in the legs can occur due to a deficiency of microelements and vitamins in the human body. In particular, severe nagging pain in the leg muscles at night, accompanied by convulsions, occurs with a lack of magnesium.
Usually, after starting to take a complex vitamin-mineral preparation, including calcium, magnesium and vitamin C, the pain completely disappears after 2-3 days. To clarify the diagnosis, you can take a blood test for the quantitative content of microelements and vitamins. To avoid this situation, watch your diet. Typically, in women, such symptoms appear after prolonged adherence to diets with limited dietary diversity.
pulling sensations in the legs and muscle cramps in the lower extremities can occur as a result of acute or chronic intoxication of the body. This may be due to impaired renal function, acute infectious diseases and colds. In this case, the following happens:
To prevent and treat this condition, it is necessary to detoxify the body and eliminate the cause that caused it.
A general blood test, a general urinalysis, a biochemical blood test and an ultrasound of the kidneys will help establish the diagnosis. A similar picture is observed with gout and diseases associated with metabolic disorders.
This question is often asked by women who have successfully completed all the proposed examinations. They did not reveal any pathological changes in the vascular and endocrine systems. All blood and urine parameters are normal. No varicose veins are observed. And yet, the pulling sensation in the legs at night persists, despite any methods of treatment and prevention.
Such cases have recently become more common in medical practice. They are connected with the mental state of a person. Restless legs syndrome causes all the same symptoms as varicose veins and endarteritis. But there are no structural changes. The head needs to be treated here.
The reason for this condition is that the brain, under the influence of constant stress, does not allow the muscle fibers to completely relax. The body is in a constant state of full combat readiness. This also manifests itself in relation to unpleasant sensations in the lower extremities. They usually begin at the moment of falling asleep. You desperately want to move your legs, constantly changing their position. In this case, seizures do not occur. Only a feeling of muscle tension and hypertonicity. This prevents you from falling asleep, relaxing and recuperating. Gradually, restless legs syndrome can lead to neurosis and a nervous breakdown.
In this case, physical activity with an emphasis on strength exercises on the leg muscles helps. Try doing a small set of exercises 2 hours before going to bed. Include running in place for 15 minutes, 10 squats, and a few kicks with each leg. If this does not help, then you should contact a neurologist to prescribe comprehensive rehabilitation treatment. Try to avoid stressful situations. Learn to keep your emotions under control and manage them.
Almost every person, regardless of gender and age, is familiar with the feeling of pain in the leg muscles. Most often this occurs after intense and unsystematic physical activity. Such pain causes some minor discomfort and, as a rule, goes away on its own after a short period of time. However, leg muscles often pull for other, sometimes much more serious reasons.
First, you need to figure out where exactly the pain occurs: whether it is the joints, or the muscles of the legs. Anatomy divides the leg muscles into 4 groups: muscles of the lower leg, buttocks, anterior and posterior thigh groups. Unpleasant sensations, as a rule, occur in the muscles of the lower leg. Let's look at their reasons.
First aid, or What to do when your leg muscles are pulled?
Finally, let's talk about how to prevent foot diseases.
The leg muscles are the most important component of the human musculoskeletal system - only the back can match the load on them. Therefore, one should not allow a dismissive attitude towards them - even seemingly trivial ailments can turn into serious health problems in the future.
Of course, the entire period of pregnancy proceeds differently for each woman. And it’s clear that every expectant mother wants not to have any health problems during this happy time. But, unfortunately, this cannot always be avoided. One of the reasons for anxiety during pregnancy may be nagging pain in the legs, which happens quite often. Let's try to figure out what this is connected with.
In most cases, concerns begin already in the last stages of pregnancy. And all because the uterus increases in size and thereby puts pressure on the pelvis. As a result, the inferior vena cava is pinched, and thus the exchange of venous blood is disrupted. The flow of blood into the legs occurs as usual, but the outflow is a little difficult. The first thing you need to do in such a situation is to immediately go to the doctor, otherwise you can easily get varicose veins.
Naturally, there are two of you, and you need to eat for two, since the baby needs nutrients in full. If he lacks something, he makes up for the deficiency at the expense of the mother’s body. It is for this reason that pregnant women are often prescribed various vitamins. Remember one thing: you can take them only after consulting a doctor!
When looking for the reasons why her legs are pulled during pregnancy, the expectant mother needs to think about whether she is abusing tea and coffee. While carrying a baby, these drinks should not be consumed at all, since after drinking coffee or tea, water-salt metabolism slows down, which leads to swelling of the limb. The fluid accumulated inside begins to put pressure on the muscles and thereby provokes cramps.
Due to the fact that the expectant mother experiences discomfort in this or that clothing, difficulties may arise not only with her legs.
Just imagine: the expectant mother expects to rest and goes to bed. But it was not there! It is at night that the baby in the tummy begins to actively push, and in addition to everything, unpleasant nagging pains in the legs began. Well, what kind of dream is this?! During pregnancy, your legs may drag at night because they are very tired during the whole day, which is further aggravated by the additional load on the spine and legs due to the weight gained. It is for this reason that discomfort may occur at night.
Our leg consists of four large bones (calcaneus, tibia and fibula and femur, forty-four small bones (in the foot and metatarsus), three large joints (ankle, knee and hip) and fourteen toes. It also contains more than twenty muscles, one large artery and two large branching veins.And all of this can hurt.
The condition of the feet can be influenced by many factors - professional sports, excessive loads, heavy physical labor, uncomfortable shoes, sedentary or standing work, pregnancy and childbirth, excess weight and poor nutrition. Many diseases also affect the condition of the legs - heart and kidney diseases cause swelling, and early menopause provokes fractures and causes osteoporosis.
Pain in the calf muscles at night can be caused by several reasons:
• Lack of potassium, magnesium and calcium in the body.
• Vascular diseases. In this case, the outflow of venous blood is disrupted and, as a result, the pressure in the vessels increases. The resulting venous congestion irritates the nerve endings and develops pain.
• Sedentary or standing work, when normal blood circulation of arterial and venous blood does not occur in the veins of the legs due to stagnation, as a result of which oxygen starvation occurs and harmful toxins accumulate in the legs.
If you have pain in your calves at night, you should consult a doctor and have your blood tested for calcium, potassium and magnesium levels.
In the morning, pain in the legs may be associated with pathology of the lumbosacral spine, brain, spinal cord or peripheral nerves. In this case, it is necessary to perform an MRI of the lumbar spine, as well as electromyography of the lower extremities. After this, contact a specialist who will prescribe the appropriate treatment.
As a rule, leg muscles ache after the first days of training or after a long rest, which is due to the appearance of lactic acid in them. Also, legs may ache after training due to microtrauma of the fibers. In this case, when compensation ends (healing to the original level), the pain goes away.
After heavy exertion, it is advisable to massage your legs and lubricate the muscles with a cooling ointment.
Pain in the legs during a cold is a normal reaction of the body to a virus. During the flu, aches and muscle pain are always observed, especially at high temperatures. If the shape of the joint has not changed, there is no swelling or redness of the skin, then there is nothing to worry about. To relieve pain, you can take painkillers and antipyretics.
The leg seems simple in its structure, but it is a complex structure consisting of 26 bones, 33 joints, numerous muscles, nerves and various ligaments. Any part of it can be affected by disease. Some leg disorders manifest as a mild aching or, when the legs are pulled, nagging pain. In most cases, people consider pain in the legs to be a minor problem and prefer to treat it with home remedies, which, if done incorrectly, can lead to serious health complications and even disability.
Symptoms that occur in the legs, including pain, numbness, weakness, stiffness, swelling, a pulling sensation, or difficulty moving, are the result of diseases in other parts of the body and internal organs of the person and manifest themselves in different ways. Pain and discomfort torment a person constantly or periodically. The condition of your legs may improve or worsen as you move. When present, leg pain is described as sharp, dull, stabbing, burning or throbbing and varies in intensity from mild to severe pain.
When a person is tormented by the feeling that his legs are pulling, then, as a rule, the disease is not limited to leg disease. However, its symptoms often first appear in the lower extremities. This is due to the remoteness of the central circulation, as well as the constant load of the entire body weight on them. The cause of nagging pain in the legs may be osteochondrosis and other problems with the spine. In addition, they should be considered as a result of vascular disease, a condition of the vessel walls, or diseases of the endocrine system. That is, one should not lose sight of such causes as varicose veins, vascular atherosclerosis, gout and diabetes mellitus, as well as acute infectious diseases or chronic kidney problems that lead to intoxication of the body.
An appropriate physical examination and laboratory tests, including ultrasound, X-ray or MRI, and duplex scanning, will help evaluate the condition of the blood vessels and soft tissues. It is possible to identify the reason why your legs are pulled only by undergoing the necessary examinations as prescribed by a doctor. If the cause was problems associated with vascular disease (loss of elasticity for large vessels or impaired circulation in the capillaries, atherosclerosis, varicose veins, diabetic angiopathy), then concerns are caused by stagnation of blood, which leads to the accumulation of oxidation and breakdown products in muscle tissue. External manifestations are initially invisible, later thinning of the skin appears and a vascular pattern appears.
Legs often drag during pregnancy, when there is a deficiency of calcium, magnesium and vitamins. Pregnant women usually feel these severe nagging pains, accompanied by cramps, at night. A proper balanced diet helps alleviate this condition, which necessarily includes foods with easily digestible calcium (cheese, cottage cheese, milk) and magnesium (buckwheat, pine nuts, almonds, oatmeal, peas, beans). In this case, taking complex vitamin and mineral preparations (including vitamin C) is possible only as prescribed by a doctor. In two or three days the situation may improve. There are known cases where night cramps and nagging pain in the legs did not occur if a pregnant woman ate at least 100 grams of cottage cheese during the day.
If your legs drag at night, this may be caused by restless legs syndrome, which is a problem with a person's mental state. In this case, no structural changes are observed in the muscle tissue or blood vessels of the legs, but the person, usually after 18 hours, cannot fall asleep due to the need to constantly move the lower limbs. This anxiety lasts throughout the first half of the night; only after 4 am does a person manage to fall asleep. This condition is caused by muscle hypertonicity, which occurs as a result of strong emotional stress and stress received during the day. This condition is exhausting, deprives you of proper rest and can lead to severe nervous breakdowns. Therefore, it is necessary to contact a specialist.
Every person, regardless of age, has complained at least once in his life that his legs are buzzing. And the reasons for this phenomenon can be very diverse. Starting from simple fatigue and ending with serious vascular disorders. Heavy leg syndrome is the medical name for this phenomenon. Do not take lightly the fact that your feet are buzzing. And it is better, of course, to consult a doctor.
The reason why your feet buzz is “on the surface.” All this can be explained by referring to anatomy. Since a person is an upright creature, most of the blood accumulates in the lower extremities. As a result, blood stagnation begins, which causes pain, swelling and other problems with the legs. Most often, the legs buzz at the end for the female gender.
According to statistics, women are 3 times more likely to complain about leg problems. It is very simple to explain this pattern. Women experience greater vertical loads. Especially during the period of bearing a child, when the weight increases several times. And the opportunity to play sports and live an active life is impossible.
There are certain risk factors:
If your legs buzz frequently, it is recommended to urgently consult a specialist - a vascular surgeon or phlebologist. This is necessary to determine the causes of leg problems; the doctor may prescribe duplex or triplex diagnostics of the vessels of the lower extremities. With the help of modern ultrasound, the speed of blood circulation in the veins and arteries is measured, and the doctor will be able to assess the condition of the walls of blood vessels.
It is imperative to check your legs for flat feet. The plantography technique is a study of the foot print in order to identify violations of the shock absorption function. If nothing is detected, then an MRI procedure is performed. This is a scan of the tissues of the lower extremities and radiography. During examinations, doctors try to exclude diseases that belong to different categories of pathologies.
This disease occurs as a result of impaired blood flow in the vessels of the lower extremities. Signs of the disease manifest themselves as follows: pain in the calves, numbness in the feet, pain while climbing stairs. Very often the disease manifests itself at night, suddenly. Even in the warm season, in a hot room, feet are always cold.
This is a fairly serious disease that requires immediate treatment. Atherosclerosis does not go away on its own and it is impossible to cure it on your own, without proper supervision by a specialist. If treatment is not started in time, damage to the veins and arteries, as well as other parts of the body, may occur. Ultimately, this disease can cause a stroke.
During the course of the disease, the vessels in the legs become inflamed. This disease manifests itself as severe pain that occurs even after just a few steps. A person is unable to walk for a long time; he needs frequent stops to sit down and rest. True, rest does not bring relief for long; the pain returns with renewed vigor. At the first manifestation of the disease, you must immediately consult a doctor or call an ambulance.
A dangerous disease that causes blockage of the veins. Blood clots form, which impair blood circulation. The disease is accompanied by pain in the limbs, numbness, legs constantly buzzing and swelling.
This is the most common reason for the problem we are talking about. For people suffering from flat feet, the feeling of heaviness almost never leaves. Flat feet occur due to irregular foot shape. It flattens out and becomes flat. As a result, the load on the vessels of the legs increases by 2-3 times. This causes swelling and pain.
These are not all diseases during which the legs may buzz. Therefore, to understand the reasons for this condition and decide what to do about it.
If the doctor has identified the reasons why your legs hurt and prescribed treatment, then you can breathe easy. But the pain in your legs will not go away after the first dose of medication or after the first procedure. And I want to ease the situation. Therapy can also be performed at home. There are many different ways to relieve swelling, heaviness and pain in the legs:
Massage helps relax muscles, increase blood flow, and relieve tension. You can do it yourself or ask someone close to you. To achieve the best effect, it is recommended to use a special relaxing massage oil or cream.
In order to drain blood from the lower extremities and increase blood flow, the following must be done. Lie on your back, legs should be higher than body level. To do this, you can use the back of a chair, chair or wall. Legs should be straight. It is enough to lie in this position for 10-15 minutes. After time, you will feel lightness in your legs, the pain will go away and they will not buzz.
Special foot baths can work wonders. Below are some recipes for healthy foot baths.
You need to take 2 liters of warm water, add 100 grams there. sea salt. It is better to take natural, without dyes and flavors. Place your feet in the water and hold for 20 minutes. As the water cools, add warm water. The most important thing is that the water completely covers the feet; if the calves also hurt and buzz, then you should take a deeper container and add more water. In this case, you also need to take more salt, at the rate of 100g. for 2 liters.
You need to take pharmaceutical herbs, any with a calming effect will do. They need to be steamed first. Then add to warm water at the rate of 300 ml. for 1 liter of warm water. Place your feet in the water and keep them there for at least 30 minutes. After the first procedure, your legs will stop buzzing, swelling and pain will disappear. It is recommended to do baths even in cases where there are no problems with the legs, for preventive purposes.
In order to relieve swelling, pain and stop the buzzing of the legs, it is necessary to apply cold compresses. They should be applied for no more than 15 minutes. This will be enough to relieve tension and pain. It is especially useful to do this procedure before bed.
In order for your feet to always be healthy, you need to follow simple rules - wear comfortable shoes, lead an active lifestyle, walk more, and massage your feet regularly. In this case, pain, swelling and other problems with the legs will not be terrible.
According to statistics, 75% of people of any age have experienced leg muscle cramps. While for some people this phenomenon occurs in very rare cases, for others, seizures are a sign of a chronic disease and accompany them throughout their lives.
There are many reasons why leg cramps occur at night.
A cramp is an involuntary and unexpected contraction of the leg muscles, which is accompanied by severe pain. Most often, the cramp cramps the calf muscle, less often the toes. At the moment of contraction, the muscles are very tense and hard to the touch. When a muscle cramps, the patient is unable to step on the foot and tries with all his might to get rid of the unbearable pain. The causes of leg cramps vary - from severe muscle overexertion in athletes to a serious illness that causes muscle cramps.
The main causes of leg cramps:
Provoking factors may be alcohol intake and stress. In old age, the reason for the convulsive contraction of the calf muscles at night is the loss of elasticity of the tendons of the legs.
In terms of duration, convulsive muscle contractions can be short or long.
According to etiological characteristics:
Most often, there are secondary spastic contractions of the calves caused by chronic diseases.
In the overwhelming majority of cases of leg cramps, which is 75%, the cause of spasm of the calf muscle is a lack of magnesium, potassium and calcium in the body, as well as B vitamins. It is known that these minerals are involved in transmitting impulses from nerve fibers to muscle tissue. With a lack of minerals, impulse transmission is disrupted, resulting in involuntary muscle contraction. B vitamins directly affect the condition of the nerve fibers through which impulses are transmitted to the muscles.
To eliminate convulsive syndrome, you should compensate for the mineral deficiency by taking magnesium-containing drugs:
A drug that replenishes magnesium deficiency in the body
Before taking medications, you should do a blood test to check the levels of calcium, potassium and magnesium.
In addition to the use of medications, it is necessary to review the diet: it should include foods containing magnesium, calcium and potassium. Magnesium and potassium are found in buckwheat, bananas, walnuts, dried apricots, figs and prunes. Fresh fruits, legumes and grains are also rich in magnesium. Calcium is found in dairy products: hard cheese, cottage cheese, milk. Cabbage also contains calcium.
Magnesium-containing foods should be taken in the first half of the day, and calcium and potassium in the evening, when they are better absorbed by the bones, in which they are stored as a depot.
The cause of calf muscle cramps is often varicose veins. The first signs of varicose veins of the legs appear long before cramps. Spider veins on the legs are a characteristic, conspicuous sign of varicose veins. As the disease progresses, the following symptoms appear: heaviness in the lower extremities, increased fatigue and swelling of the legs. In people suffering from varicose veins, cramps in the calf muscle or toes often appear at night during sleep.
Night cramps in the leg muscles can occur with varicose veins
If you notice such signs in yourself, you should contact a vascular surgeon. Even an external examination of the patient provides the doctor with information to make a diagnosis. If necessary, the doctor will conduct a blood clotting test and determine the prothrombin index. In some cases, phlebologists prescribe Dopplerography of the blood vessels of the legs. Doppler ultrasound allows you to diagnose spasms, stenosis or thrombosis of blood vessels in the brain, lower and upper extremities.
If you have varicose veins, you should not massage your leg muscles.
Leg cramps are a common accompaniment of pregnancy. Why do they develop during pregnancy? The causes of seizures are explained, on the one hand, by a lack of the minerals calcium, magnesium and potassium, which are spent on the development of the fetus. Taking diuretics due to edema and vomiting during pregnancy toxicosis also disrupt the mineral composition of the blood.
From the 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy, the enlarged uterus compresses the great vessels of the legs, causing insufficiency of their valves. Poor circulation of the lower extremities is manifested by the fact that a pregnant woman’s legs cramp at night. In this case, you need to strengthen your diet with dishes containing magnesium, potassium and calcium. On the other hand, to improve blood circulation, you need to walk a lot and try not to sit for a long time. Even while sitting, you need to move your legs at the knee and ankle joints. On a long trip while sitting in a vehicle, you can periodically squeeze and release your calves to restore blood circulation. If your calf muscle cramps, you need to sit down and put your feet on the cold floor.
Older people are more likely to experience night cramps
Why do older people often experience leg cramps at night? With age, factors accumulate that contribute to the development of leg muscle spasms. The most important points in the occurrence of cramps at night in the elderly:
In old age, legs often cramp at night due to accumulated fatigue during the day. Calf cramps should be treated based on its cause. In any case, enriching your diet with minerals and vitamins will reduce leg cramps. A more active lifestyle and weight loss are important conditions for successful treatment. A course of treatment with Magne B6 Forte will provide significant assistance. If your leg cramps for a long time and during sleep, the best solution is to contact a vascular surgeon.
What causes leg cramps after taking medications? Some medications disrupt the balance of minerals in the body. Long-term use of diuretics leads to potassium and magnesium deficiency. This causes a disruption in the neuromuscular transmission of impulses, resulting in contraction of the leg muscles.
Another drug that has been implicated in the development of leg cramps is statins. With prolonged use, they contribute to the deposition of calcium on the inner wall of blood vessels and its compaction. Lack of vascular elasticity over time leads to vascular insufficiency of the lower extremities, which is manifested by leg muscle cramps. The instructions for use of Atorvastatin indicate a side effect on the musculoskeletal system - leg cramps.
One possible side effect of statins is leg muscle cramps.
In the event of a cramp in a dream, a person wakes up from such pain, so he must help himself to relieve the attack. You just need to know how to do it. Simple measures can help with cramps:
Minor leg cramps at night can be eliminated by rubbing with warming ointments or apple cider vinegar. Vodka is suitable for rubbing and compresses.
In conclusion, we emphasize that the causes of leg cramps are numerous. Most often, cramps occur due to a deficiency of magnesium, calcium and potassium. Convulsions that occur at night and last for a long period require consultation with a vascular surgeon.