Women's legs have been hurting since the age of 40, and older women are already burdened with this problem every day. Let's look at the causes of constant pain in the legs.
Symptoms of diseases of the arteries of the legs:
Cause of leg pain in women due to arterial disease:
The disease occurs after 40 years of age and requires constant and long-term treatment because it is associated with the destruction of cartilage. Treatment is prescribed by a rheumatologist or therapist.
Cause of varicose veins:
To prevent the development of varicose veins, compression garments (bandages, tights, stockings) are used.
If the disease is advanced, surgical help is needed.
You need to contact a phlebologist or vascular surgeon.
You need to check the level of content in the body:
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system:
To confirm the diagnosis, you need to undergo an examination:
Pain in the legs is a symptom that speaks of completely different pathologies and different diseases. Therefore, before you start treating your feet, you need to find out the cause of your foot pain and treat the exact cause. We now know why women’s legs hurt; our task is to get rid of this pain and go about our business again.
Often representatives of the middle and older age groups wonder why women have knee pain. Throughout life, day after day, the joints of this part of the legs are subject to severe stress. Therefore, it is not surprising that by the age of 40-50, women notice that the knee joint does not allow them to forget about themselves for a minute. It is important to note that at this age people are already at risk for the possibility of serious limb injuries, for example, if they perform excessive physical activity, or simply turn their leg incorrectly. And all due to the natural leaching of calcium from the body, as well as a decrease in the volume of synovial fluid in the joint.
In order to help yourself get rid of discomfort and pain, you need to understand other reasons why such sensations may arise. In some cases, pathological processes can only be managed with medication, and under the strict supervision of a doctor. It is no secret that the knee is one of the most important joints in the body, and the quality of life directly depends on its health. Therefore, we will consider in detail the causes and pathologies under the influence of which knee pain occurs.
Almost all diseases, inflammatory, dystrophic or traumatic in nature, affecting the knee joint have a similar clinical picture: the constant presence of severe pain, which increases when the knee is used, unnatural clicks, difficulty moving and supporting the affected leg, the presence of swelling of the soft tissues, as well as violation of the anatomical shape of the joint.
Considering any inflammatory disease, for example: bursitis, tendinitis or arthritis, they are almost always accompanied by the presence of swelling in the knee area. If the process is in an advanced or acute stage, then a person may experience an increase in body temperature and other signs of inflammation. A general blood test also helps identify pathology. The peculiarity of knee inflammation is that they begin abruptly, and the person himself did not feel a deterioration in his condition before and was considered completely healthy.
Among the dystrophic pathologies one can distinguish: arthrosis, meniscopathy, osteoarthritis. In most cases, they have a genetic reason for their development, that is, they are transmitted along a related line. The disease can develop with abnormal development of the joint, abnormal structure of cartilage or tendon tissue, and the progression is slow. In some cases, pathology manifests itself due to impaired metabolism, or at the time of progression of a chronic disease affecting the joint. Also, their development is associated with constant increased load on the knees, which is not natural.
Symptoms during dystrophic processes, due to slow progression, increase gradually. Patients experience more than one year, which is divided into phases of remission and exacerbation. The diseases presented are always difficult to treat, and therapy takes a long time.
Diseases associated with previous knee injuries can also be dystrophic or inflammatory. Let us consider in more detail the pathologies in which women may feel pain in the knee joint.
Joint with arthrosis
When a patient is diagnosed with this disease, symptoms often do not appear until early in its development. It takes some time for them to build up. In situations where knee pain appears after severe hypothermia, the pathology can provoke the development of an inflammatory nature that becomes chronic. When moving, the woman feels discomfort and it becomes difficult to stand for a long time.
All this can lead to the fact that after 50 years the patient will be diagnosed with arthrosis, accompanied by chronic pain in the knee joint. It is possible to identify the pathology in a timely manner and begin therapeutic measures to eliminate it only if you consult a doctor in a timely manner.
With arthrosis, the inflammatory process inside the knee is caused by pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria), and if the pathology is in the acute stage, then the following symptoms will be present:
The main cause of chronic arthrosis is salt deposition. In this condition, the patient experiences certain difficulties with movement, the joint loses its mobility, and may finally harden. Against the background of salt deposition, pain intensifies and muscle atrophy develops.
Joint with arthritis
With the development of the inflammatory process of all the constituent elements of the knee joint, we can talk about arthritis. In this case, the disease can develop in women at any age, but young girls and representatives of the middle age group are more often affected. The pathological process may involve either one knee or both, depending on the true cause of the disease.
The highest level of manifestation of painful and characteristic symptoms is the first days of arthritis progression. The pathology has a clear clinical picture: swelling of the soft tissues occurs in the area of the affected knee, the skin becomes red, there is always a feeling of pain, which always intensifies in the evening, then the patient feels as if his knees are bursting. A characteristic feature of arthritis is the almost complete absence of pain during night sleep. Sometimes this symptom helps confirm the diagnosis.
Women should also know that pain in this pathology is not associated with walking, running or body position. They can occur at any time, even at rest, and they cannot be reduced either by changing posture or by using a cold compress. The only thing that helps is taking anti-inflammatory drugs, but the effect is not long-lasting.
In some cases, knee pain in women occurs due to an old or recent injury, caused by excessive stress on the joint. Quite often, women who ride bicycles complain of similar sensations. It should also be said that every girl who is interested in any type of sports activity automatically falls into the risk group for injuries and the development of pathologies of the knee joints. Most often, during exercise, you can get a rupture or sprain of the tendons; against this background, inflammation of the joint capsule develops, formations form in it, which provoke the appearance of pain in the patella.
External meniscus tear
The disease is formed as a result of various damage to the meniscus. The risk group includes women who lead an active lifestyle, go in for sports, including extreme activities. But there is a risk of injury in everyday life, for example, if you make a sudden movement or move very quickly (running, jumping, walking).
When the meniscus is injured, at that moment the woman will feel a sharp pain in the knee area, which will force her to stop moving. If the damage is minor, the discomfort will go away in a few minutes, and the patient will be able to continue doing what he was doing. But if the injury is serious, the pain may not go away. Over time, visible swelling of the knee appears, and a hematoma (hemarthrosis) may form under the patella if the blood vessels have been damaged. In this case, movement of the joint will be impossible, or unnatural clicks will appear.
The feeling of pain can persist for 14-21 days, after which it becomes less intense or disappears completely. Unfortunately, if correct treatment is not carried out, it will be impossible to fully restore all the functional abilities of the knee. Against this background, a chronic disease may develop, in which pain will always appear when exposed to provocateurs.
Here we will also consider tendonitis in aggregate. The difference between these two diseases is that with bursitis, inflammation of the joint and tendon capsule occurs, and with tendinitis, this process is localized in the ligaments and tendons. The main reason for the development of both pathologies are injuries or abnormalities in the functioning of the musculoskeletal system. Tendinitis sometimes occurs when the tendons in the knee are not formed properly or become weak. It is also worth noting that the presented pathologies are practically not diagnosed in women, but there is still a share of clinical cases.
Speaking of bursitis, it is often a complication of arthritis, due to the fact that infectious bacteria from the joint cavity penetrate into its capsule. But it also happens that arthritis develops against the background of bursitis. The main difference between the symptoms of these diseases is the increased severity of pain in the knee area with bursitis. It is always present, even if the person is at rest, which is due to the stretching of the capsule by inflammatory or purulent contents, with their subsequent impact on the nerve endings.
In some cases, bursitis affects small tendons, and then the disease is called a cyst, for example, a Baker's cyst. Painful sensations in such pathologies are less pronounced, but at a certain point they are quite acute. When palpating the skin, you can find a lump.
Tendinitis also causes pain and swelling in the affected knee. The pain can become stronger at those moments when the muscles contract and when bending (extending) the knee, and it also radiates to the muscles of the lower leg or thigh.
Ischemic knee pain
If the blood circulation in the knee joint is impaired, then women may feel ischemic pain. The reason for this phenomenon is a change in weather conditions, hypothermia, and increased physical activity. A characteristic feature of pain is that it appears symmetrically, in both limbs at once. Its intensity is always the same, and there is no connection with human movements.
With this condition, women often use the expression “twisting their knees.” There is no special therapy for ischemic pain, and to relieve discomfort, ointments with a warming effect, taking or rubbing with agents that dilate blood vessels are suitable.
When a woman is diagnosed with an inflammatory process in the periarticular tissues, the doctor will make a diagnosis of periarthritis. Middle-aged women (over 40 years old) should be considered at risk. The pain is usually located on the inside of the knee (under the kneecap), and most often appears at the moment when the center of gravity is transferred to the sore leg: if a woman goes down the stairs or goes up, or carries heavy weights. Similar discomfort can be observed during squats.
Discomfort does not occur if the patient moves calmly and on a flat surface. It is worth saying that with periarthritis there is no disturbance in the motor activity of the joint, due to which the normal amplitude of movements is maintained. There are also no external signs of pathology, no redness or swelling, and no deformation is observed.
Women of the middle age group, starting from 35 years old, should not forget to monitor their health. If you feel pain of unknown origin in your knee joint, then you should immediately go to see a doctor. Careful diagnostics and a correct diagnosis will help maintain motor activity in the joint, and also protect against the development of serious complications that can lead to disability.
Women's calves hurt, the reasons for their occurrence, of course, each of them wants to know, cure and forget.
Pain does not just arise anywhere, especially when you need to walk a lot, you need to get rid of it before everything is completely neglected.
Whether you like it or not, this reason is excess weight. When our bones and muscles are loaded 1.5 - 2 times more than a person’s normal weight, no one can stand it and get sick.
So are the calves, because they are muscles. Carrying the weight of an entire person, plus another half, think for yourself.
How to help? Lose weight and only lose weight. It will get even worse over the years.
Getting rid of excess weight is not at all difficult if you do it correctly, in detail “How to lose excess weight correctly” is written in accessible language.
We overstrain our muscles after inactivity, for example, we walk a lot after the winter period, we started playing sports, and our calves will definitely hurt.
The reason is an increase in the formation of lactic acid in the blood.
If your calves hurt in the morning after yesterday’s exercise:
Pain at night occurs due to problems with the veins; varicose veins occur in women with age during menopause; read more in “Varicose veins in women”.
The pain is felt under the knee and is bursting, boring, like a toothache.
It will help: drugs to strengthen the vascular wall of the veins:
You move little, sit a lot. It is clear that for some, work involves low mobility and sedentary work.
But let's think, because we all realize that this will not add to our health. So, walk home from work, no matter how tired you are, you want to live long, right? There is no way without this.
Over time, deviations will make themselves felt by swelling of the legs, veins will pop out, and constant goose bumps in the legs (osteochondrosis and poor circulation will be added).
Remember, you will move, you will live!
Once the development of osteochondrosis is affected, sciatica is added along with its disorders (the sciatic nerve suffers).
Hernias, protrusions of the spine, pain along the nerve radiates to the legs, thighs, calves, feet.
The pain can be so severe that it cannot be relieved with painkillers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and they resort to injections of hormonal drugs.
Salvation from all pain in the joints of the spine, daily gymnastics (namely daily without breaks).
There is such a disease, thrombophlebitis of the legs, you can read “All about thrombophlebitis of the legs”, the causes and treatment are described in detail.
A very dangerous disease based on blockage of veins by blood clots; if they break off, they can block the heart, lungs, and brain.
Timely treatment and timely diagnosis of the blood condition will help. If fibrinogen is elevated (the norm is 2000-4000), thinning medications are needed:
Diseases of the vascular system:
Treatment of the underlying disease and control of blood cholesterol levels will help:
Who among us has not experienced leg cramps? Rarely anyone. Usually this symptom makes itself felt at night.
Why does it happen? Lack of magnesium, calcium.
The calf muscles may become inflamed (myositis). The pain is very strong, if you feel the calf of your leg, you will notice nodules. They talk about the correct diagnosis.
There is such a disease - trichinosis, a parasitic infection of our muscles.
You can become infected by eating pork that has been poorly cooked.
Symptoms of this disease can be mistaken for poisoning:
It is important to consult a competent doctor in time and talk in detail about the symptoms. The doctor is treating you as an infectious disease specialist.
Neurogenic pain: neuritis, polyneuritis.
The pain is intense along the nerve, pulling, tearing, unbearable.
Diabetes mellitus and chronic alcoholism are common causes of polyneuritis; they are known to provoke pain in the calves.
If you press on your calf, you will feel pain. Contact a neurologist or endocrinologist.
If you have alcoholism, contact either a narcologist or a psychiatrist.
If this disease is of infectious origin, you can also ask a therapist for help.
Treatment of the underlying disease will help, in this case normalizing the condition of diabetes mellitus, stopping drinking (you won’t drink it all, there’s no point).
After operations or serious treatments for blood diseases, changes in the fluidity and composition of the blood occur. Pain appears in the legs, calves, and throughout the body.
Only treatment of the underlying disease and normalization of your condition (recovery) will help.
There is such a disease: obliterating endarteritis, but it is little studied.
A hereditary predisposition is suspected mainly in women over 40 years old.
The causes may be colds, harmful production, nicotine, infections, viruses.
Treatment is prescribed only by a specialist. You can contact any doctor.
The causes of unpleasant pain in the calves are:
We remove excess weight, your body will come to life:
If we follow these simple rules, we will live a long time.
It turns out that there are a lot of reasons why women’s calves hurt.
Install it, heal and run for a long time without pain in your calves.
Sincerely, Tatyana Nikolaevna, author. Check in with me more often, write, I’m waiting!
Watch the video, reasons why women's calves hurt:
Critical days pass in different ways: some women have practically no pain, and their usual way of life remains almost unchanged. Others experience mild ailments, headaches, and stomach upsets. Still others experience severe and sometimes unbearable pain in the limbs, abdominal area, and other organs. As a rule, all these unpleasant sensations are caused by hormonal changes, and they disappear after menstruation. The purpose of this article is to consider the reasons why legs often hurt before menstruation, what causes this, and how to relieve the feeling of discomfort.
Why do my legs hurt during menstruation? More often this is due to premenstrual syndrome, which is individual for each woman. Usually such phenomena disappear after menstruation. The situation is different if pain in the lower extremities occurs as a consequence of other diseases or disorders that worsen on critical days.
Such reasons, in addition to the leg diseases themselves and circulatory disorders in the extremities, include:
A fairly common reason why legs hurt before menstruation is dysmenorrhea. Approximately a day before the period, symptoms of this pathology begin to appear, which are clearly pronounced during the menstruation process, but disappear after the end of the critical days.
Gynecologists determine the cause of the disease due to menstrual irregularities and changes in hormone levels during PMS. In addition, experts have proven that the cause of dysmenorrhea may be due to heredity, i.e. if the mother’s critical days were complicated by many exacerbations, it is possible that the daughter will also suffer from painful manifestations during menstruation.
Dysmenorrhea can have either a mild form (the ailments are practically not felt and do not affect the usual routine of life), or a more severe form, up to severe acute pain that interferes with normal life activities. When the disease is severe, there is often an exacerbation of other ailments (pain in the joints, stomach, back, migraines).
It happens that dysmenorrhea is caused by other chronic diseases, congenital features of the uterus and vagina, and side effects of intrauterine contraception. For many years, the disease can be asymptomatic and suddenly appear with age, increasing in its manifestations from year to year.
Symptoms of dysmenorrhea include:
Timely treatment of pelvic inflammation will help to avoid this disease. It is also necessary to pay enough attention to a healthy lifestyle and your well-being.
The course of menstruation, as well as the answer to the question of why legs hurt during menstruation, depend on the woman’s age. Sometimes this is caused by individual characteristics of the location of the uterus, or even serious diseases of the legs.
In adolescents, leg pain can be caused by physiological factors and puberty. At the same time, accelerated growth of the skeleton and muscles is observed. Vessels and nerves grow more slowly, physical activity increases, and pain in the legs occurs, worsening during menstrual periods due to hormonal imbalance. Sometimes the pain is accompanied by swelling, trembling, cramps, and numbness. Possible underdevelopment of the uterus, the bends of which cause pain during contraction during menstruation, radiating through the spine to the lower extremities.
It is likely that pain in the legs will increase upon reaching childbearing age, in particular due to divergence of the pelvic bones after childbirth, displacement of the vertebrae, and the presence of scars after cesarean section. As a result, disturbances occur in the nervous regulation of the legs, pain, numbness, and swelling appear. Pathologies in certain systems (genital or urinary) can also cause serious discomfort. Why do my legs hurt during my period? Staying in an upright position for a long time, sedentary work or a sedentary lifestyle significantly increase the load on the legs and provoke pain.
After fifty years, a woman’s ability to conceive is gradually lost. Menstruation is irregular. It happens that all the symptoms of PMS are present, including pain in the joints and legs, but there is no discharge during menstruation. Or, conversely, menstruation begins without the slightest signs inherent in this process. During menopause, blood circulation in the legs decreases, discomfort and unpleasant sensations appear.
Pain in the legs should not be taken lightly, because, being a sign of PMS, they are also symptoms of the development of a number of dangerous diseases of the spine, joints, pelvis, gynecological, neurological and oncological diseases. If your legs hurt during your period, your doctor recommends undergoing the following examinations:
You should also visit an endocrinologist, neurologist, or traumatologist. Only after examinations can the true cause of pain in the lower extremities be determined and the necessary therapy be chosen that will help prevent the development of other serious diseases. Any discomfort in the legs should not be ignored.
It must be remembered that any treatment must be agreed with a doctor; self-medication can lead to serious consequences. To determine the correct therapy, consultation with a gynecologist, neurologist, traumatologist or oncologist may be required.
If your legs hurt during menstruation, the doctor may prescribe medication, which involves taking sedatives, hormonal drugs, a complex of multivitamins, minerals, and fatty acids.
For aching pain in the legs, the doctor prescribes Diclofenac, Menalgin, Ketoprofen. Menalgin, being a natural medicine, according to numerous reviews from patients, not only reduces pain, but also has a calming and relaxing effect without irritating the gastrointestinal tract.
What to do at home to relieve leg pain during menstruation? Traditional medicine offers a number of recipes that work no worse than medicines:
Pain in the legs can be associated both with PMS and with the individual physiological characteristics of a woman and is temporary. It can also be caused by previous injuries, surgical interventions, or may cause the development of more serious diseases. In any case, you should seek advice from a therapist, gynecologist, and other specialists. Only after conducting the necessary examinations will the doctor prescribe the correct treatment for each specific situation. But the woman herself should not forget about a healthy lifestyle, proper diet and sufficient physical activity.
There are many reasons why women's feet swell after 50, but the consequences are the same - an unpleasant feeling and stretched shoes. Unfortunately, swelling of the leg at the age of 50 in women can be a symptom that foreshadows a certain disease. Therefore, in this article we will look at the causes of unpleasant swelling of the legs in women after 50, an action plan, prevention and home treatment.
It's no secret that a light gait makes a lady look very young and completes her image. And when your favorite shoes become shackles due to swelling, you need to do something urgently. Often, when everything is in order with the body and its vital functions, the removal of fluid is correctly regulated by itself (mainly by the venous system). The causes of swelling of the legs in women after 50 can be either the simplest solvable ones (for example, static load - if you have been in one position for a long time), or a harbinger of the disease (if swelling at 50-55 years old occurs regularly and without an explainable reason). Moreover, age may not matter, so every lady and girl will learn something new.
When asked why exactly the legs swell in women over the age of 50, the answer may be one of the following diseases:
It is important to understand that swelling of the legs of women after 50 is not a cause, but a consequence of some disorder or damage to the body. And complex treatment is required, according to the doctor’s recommendations.
Why do women's legs still swell after 50 - lack of physical activity! There is no need to exhaust yourself with heavy training (especially since it is harmful without special preparation), since swelling in women after 50 goes away with water activities. Water aerobics is a great way to lose weight, strengthen blood vessels (water pressure prevents blood vessels from expanding) and get rid of swelling of the limbs. Running and cycling are also good, and regular regular walking is also useful if you lead a sedentary lifestyle.
If you definitely want to get swelling in your legs, you need:
To continue the topic of maintaining and preventing health, do not forget about blood thinners after 50 years. Since the topic of metabolic rate and blood saturation with water becomes as relevant as we get older. Find out how to maintain health after 50 years for a woman: to be externally and internally healthy.
Have you ever lay in bed with the feeling that your legs seem to be twisted in different directions? Probably everyone has encountered such a problem at least once in their life. But some people experience similar sensations almost every night, and it becomes a real nightmare, reducing the quality of sleep and provoking neuroses. Moreover, doctors have noticed that women twist their legs at night several times more often than men.
Naturally, the question of why women twist their legs before going to bed, and whether there are effective methods for preventing and treating this problem, has become relevant. As with any problems in the body, in order to eliminate them, you must first determine the causes as accurately as possible.
They are similar in many ways for women and men. But women more often experience natural fluctuations in hormonal levels, and therefore are more susceptible to a disease called restless legs syndrome by doctors, in which they experience unpleasant sensations mainly at night.
The easiest way is to identify the physiological reasons why you spin your legs before bed. They are not associated with diseases and inflammatory processes in the body, but are provoked by external causes:
If aching pain and discomfort in the legs are caused by physiological reasons, then they appear irregularly. And after eliminating the negative influence of external factors, they disappear immediately and for a long time.
Things are worse with pathological changes in the body, the symptom of which is restless legs syndrome. They can be suspected by the regularity of twisting pain in the legs and their intensification over time in the absence of effective treatment.
Twisting legs at night mainly with the following diagnoses:
If the legs were once broken, then even with ideal fusion of the bones, they will always hurt after severe overwork, during sudden changes in climate or weather conditions. Nothing can be done about this, all that remains is to accept it and use anesthetics for severe pain.
Another type of purely female problem with legs is when they begin to swell and twist before bed in the second half of pregnancy. This cannot be called a pathology - expecting a child is one of the best periods in the life of every woman. But the legs hurt precisely because of the changes that occur in the body.
In later stages, the load on the legs increases significantly. Therefore, it is very important to give them time to rest throughout the day. The body weight is also distributed incorrectly - the main load falls on the bend of the lumbar region. A woman leans a little backwards when walking and because of this, her heels suffer greatly. By evening they may hurt and your feet may twist.
During this period, comfortable clothes and shoes become especially important, which should not interfere with blood circulation and limit freedom of movement. Pregnant women can wear shapewear only for medical reasons, if it has been recommended by the supervising doctor.
Treatment methods must be chosen with great care - even folk remedies are not suitable for everyone at this time. But after childbirth, the problem usually disappears on its own.
If nighttime leg discomfort is caused by pathological reasons, then it is likely that targeted comprehensive treatment of the underlying disease will be required. It may include: drug therapy, electrical procedures, manual or vacuum massage. And in rare cases (thrombosis, etc.), surgical intervention becomes necessary.
Methods of physical and mental relaxation such as physical therapy, yoga, and swimming are great help. But some types of exercise should be temporarily abandoned: running, jumping, weight lifting.
A lot of stress on the legs occurs with some dance styles - this is also worth paying attention to. Nightclub life may have to be limited for a while.
An excellent addition to traditional treatment are ways to prevent restless legs syndrome at home. Not all of them are useful during pregnancy - this should be clarified with your supervising doctor. But for others, the methods listed below will not only relieve discomfort in the legs, but will also give them deeper and more restful sleep.
Don't forget that most diseases are caused by stress. Therefore, it is very important to maintain a positive attitude throughout the day, and even more so immediately before bed.
Sometimes watching a movie that is too aggressive or emotionally intense can cause restless leg syndrome and prevent you from falling asleep normally.
If you cannot solve the problem on your own for a long time, seek medical help. Perhaps the reasons are hidden more deeply, and feet twisting at night are a symptom of a serious illness. It is better to undergo a timely examination and begin treatment than to neglect the disease and consult a doctor when it has already become chronic or provoked complications.