Leg pains

Leg pain is often a harbinger of a serious health problem. These are usually vascular, nerve or joint origin. However, since these diseases are often confused with each other, important problems are seen in diagnosis and treatment.

For example, it was found that the pain in the legs was caused by varicose veins, and advanced examinations in the patient resulted from an important problem in the waist. Sometimes the problem has been shown to overshadow severe vascular occlusion in patients who have undergone hernia treatment due to hip and leg pain. Therefore, it is of great benefit to carry out extensive research to find out the real cause of leg pain.

When evaluating leg pain, it sometimes occurs as a pain that develops after a certain distance by walking and passes at rest, sometimes it increases with standing still and decreases with walking.

Pain that disappears at rest, which develops by walking the road, usually develops in artery diseases or stenosis of the spinal canal. In arterial stenoses, generally walking unilaterally starts pain at a certain distance and makes it unable to walk after a while. After about 5 minutes of rest, walking begins again. These patients often describe the feeling of walking barefoot on the gravel. In these, complaints are revealed more quickly by going uphill or carrying loads. The affected leg is cold, pale, and hair loss, cracks in the soles of the feet, and thickening of the nails.

Another important cause of leg pain is vein diseases. The internal heir (venous insufficiency) and varicose veins develop due to the valves that allow unidirectional flow in the vein. Standing still increases complaints and decreases with walking. These patients do not complain early in the morning, but pain and swelling appear towards the end of the day. Burning and leg cramping develops in the sole of the foot.

Nervous system problems are caused by herniated disc, tumor in waist bones, infection, and narrowing of the spinal canal. In stenoses in the canal where the spinal cord passes, pain increases with standing or walking, while regressing with lying. Generally, both legs experience aggravation, fatigue, numbness and pain. 80-90% of the patients are male patients. In these, the walking speed decreases gradually along with the distance and forward bending starts. The patient rests leaning forward like lacing shoes and can start walking after 2 minutes. In other problems, complaints such as numbness in the waist and leg, incontinence, and incontinence occur during sitting or resting.

As a result, our leg pains may be at rest due to various reasons, decreasing with walking or starting after a certain distance with walking, and increasing gradually. The pain pattern of each disease varies, but the most important fact that does not change is that there is an important cause of any type of leg pain.

Prof.Dr.ilhan Gölbaşı