Often, pain in the muscles of the legs appear due to strong physical exertion. However, there is nothing to worry about, as it is a natural reaction of the body. Seeing a doctor is pointless. Legs after a while, as soon as a person rests, they will stop hurting. However, there are cases in which discomfort appears for serious reasons. That's when you need to see a doctor.
Which muscles hurt?
In order to find out the reason why the muscles of the legs hurt, you need to know which muscles are affected. For a correct diagnosis, the doctor should clearly indicate the place of discomfort.
Muscles are divided into 4 types. Some refer to the lower leg, others to the pelvis, to the thigh, and also to the foot. The main thing is to understand whether a person really has muscle pain. Sometimes it can be confused with articular or with discomfort in the bones. It happens that it hurts all at once.
Symptomatics
If a person has pain in the muscles of the legs, then he feels specific sensations. Discomfort is present both during rest and while walking. Limbs may swell, as well as inflammation.
In myositis, the problem lies in the skeletal muscles. In this case, pain will appear even with the most insignificant loads. This pathology must be treated in any scenario, because in the absence of therapy, a person will remain disabled.
Polymyositis is an inflammation of the skin and muscles of the striated type. Very often, this disease manifests itself along with tumors.
Fibromyalgia is a pathology in which pain is felt most when the muscles are felt.
Reasons
To understand what to do if the leg muscles hurt, the reasons should be established immediately. There are a lot of factors that provoke like symptoms, you need to consider most of them.
Often, pain occurs during physical exertion. Especially if a person has untrained muscles. A long walk or run for him will be almost fatal. Many people think when their leg muscles hurt after a workout: what to do? It must be understood that unpleasant sensations appear due to the presence of lactic acid in excessive volumes in the tissues, due to huge loads, it does not have time to be excreted. Therefore, a person experiences pain.
The only thing to advise is to make a training plan for yourself so that the load is not excessive.
Movement problems
A fairly common cause of pain is immobility during the day. For example, the patient has a sedentary job or he flies somewhere on an airplane for a long time. As a result of this, blood stasis occurs. Due to the fact that the pump is not working, the plasma does not flow from the legs to the heart. Endotoxins accumulate, cells lack useful substances. Accordingly, the legs begin to swell and hurt very much. In order for the unpleasant sensation to pass, you just need to rest.
If you need to quickly get rid of discomfort, you can raise your legs to the level of the heart. It should be noted that if a person works constantly in the same position, then varicose veins may occur. In order to prevent it, it is necessary to do daily prevention.
Flat feet and parasites
Very often, people who suffer from flat feet experience pain in their leg muscles. The reason for this is that due to a different shape of the foot, there is a huge load on the body. Most often, the pain extends to the knee. In order to prevent this, you must wear special shoes or constantly engage in physical therapy.
In the human body live parasites that do not manifest themselves until a certain time. However, if their population begins to increase sharply, they can penetrate into any organs and cause harm. One of the most common diseases is trichinosis. It is characterized by the fact that the larvae penetrate the muscles and directly affect them. A person experiences not only pain, but alsoalso an allergic reaction.
Additional reasons
Sometimes it seems that the muscles of the legs hurt for no reason. In this case, you need to pay attention to the state of your nerves. They affect pain.
If a person has problems with the presence of calcium, magnesium, potassium and so on in the body, then vascular diseases may occur. Sometimes a cramp is caused in the muscles, which affects the condition of the person. Most often, in this case, pain is manifested in the calf muscle of the leg.
Unpleasant sensations can also appear in diseases of the spine. Due to the fact that a person's load on the legs changes, then, accordingly, they are most affected. At the same time, it should be noted that often in such cases the spine does not bother.
When a person is overweight, the muscles can also hurt. If a patient has cellulite, then most often there are pains in the muscles of the legs.
Myositis
If myositis develops, the muscles of the lower extremities become inflamed. This disease has severe symptoms. It arises due to the fact that in a person’s life, new strong loads abruptly appear, which greatly affect the condition of the legs. Sometimes myositis has a parasitic origin. Treatment should begin immediately in order to prevent terrible consequences. Pain can be aggravated not only with active physical exertion, but also with rest. If you feel your muscles, you can notice the presence of seals. Redness is also formed.
This disease is still purulent. It appears ifa person, for example, an open fracture of the leg occurred and an infection got into the tissue. Sometimes pain in the muscles of the legs can provoke squeezing of the skin and muscles. If an object presses on a person, then an unpleasant sensation arises. Especially often there is internal bleeding. Nerves are also affected.
Prevention
In order to avoid the treatment of pain in the muscles of the legs, it is necessary to take preventive measures. It is necessary to completely eliminate fatty foods from your diet, especially if a person has problems with the cardiovascular system. You need to watch your weight. It is advisable to do exercises in the mornings or in the evenings, which will strengthen the muscles of the legs. If a person has a sedentary lifestyle, then it is best to play sports, go to the gym or just do exercises at home.
Therapy
If a person has muscle pain due to problems with the spine, then you just need to go for a special massage. In the event that the causes are more serious, you should consult a doctor. He will be able to choose the right technique and drugs. Self-medication is not worth it, as the condition is likely to worsen.
Sometimes it happens that surgery is prescribed. In order to prevent pain, you need to eat right, exercise, and also limit yourself from bad habits. You should warm up more often at the workplace in order not to sit in one position for several hours.
To get rid of pain inmuscles using shock wave therapy. This method is quite popular at the moment. It generates ultrasonic-type waves that enter the tissue and increase blood flow. Thanks to this method, swelling and inflammation can be removed. After several procedures, the muscles will stop hurting. In this case, the patient should not be admitted to the hospital. The therapy lasts 7 sessions, each of them 15 minutes. This method is considered painless and also it does not have any side effects. If a person has tumors, or if it is a pregnant woman, then this procedure should not be performed.
In order to get rid of the pain, the doctor may inject an anesthetic. Less commonly used analgesics, as a rule, they are prescribed in the form of tablets. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen may be used. If desired, warming ointments can be used to improve the effect of the treatment.
If the patient was hospitalized, then he must be injected with vitamins, especially group B, since they are responsible for the strength of nerve tissues. There are also drugs that can reduce leg muscle spasm. Manual therapy helps a lot. Thanks to her, the muscles cease to contract strongly, they relax, respectively, the pain subsides.
Folk treatment
If a person's legs hurt due to fatigue, it is necessary to slow down the pace of life at least for a couple of days. During this time, the muscles will recover. You can make compresses from mountain arnica. You need to use three tablespoons per glass of water. Required in this solutionmoisten a napkin and wrap the leg. You need to fix it for a while with a bandage. The same tincture is allowed to be added to the bathroom when bathing. Therefore, if the muscles of the legs hurt, what to do for a long time is not worth thinking about. This procedure must be carried out immediately.
In the event that the pain appeared due to any disease, you can use butter and dry horsetail. You should combine two tablespoons of the first and 1 teaspoon of the second. It is necessary to mix thoroughly and anoint the sore spot. Next, it is desirable to wrap the leg with plastic wrap and cover with a blanket. Such a compress should be kept for about an hour.
If your legs ache due to a cold, you can use tea that is made from creeping thyme. It is necessary to pour one teaspoon of herbs. It should be brewed in a glass of boiling water. The infusion will be ready in just 30 minutes. You need to drink this decoction two to three times a day.