Leg Pain 101: Causes and Signs It's Time to Get Help from a Physiotherapist
If you’ve ever dealt with leg pain, you already know how surprisingly debilitating it can be. Whether it’s soreness and tension after a big lower body workout, stiffness and discomfort after sitting through a long work shift at home, or pain caused by an acute injury, even a small issue in the legs can cause real difficulty in your daily life.
Despite how common leg pain is, it’s often unclear what the causes of it are. Plus, it can be very difficult to know how best to address it. We’re here to shed some light on leg pain, explaining its many possible causes, the physiology behind it, steps to prevent future issues, and how to know when it’s time to get help from a physiotherapist.
What Causes Leg Pain?
Firstly, it’s important to understand just how many things can possibly lead to pain in the legs. Each of our legs consists of several muscles throughout, as well as tendons, bones, joints, and blood vessels, making it difficult to diagnose the problem without the expertise of a professional. With that said, there are a few common culprits that we address through our work at Triumph Physio. These include:
1. Overuse
Overuse of certain muscle groups can lead to severe pain over time. This is because the muscles and surrounding tissues don’t get the chance to heal after being exerted, meaning they become weakened, painful, and less responsive. We most often see leg pain caused by overuse in athletes training at a high level.
2. Leg Injuries
This is likely the most obvious of causes for leg pain. It’s normal to experience issues ranging from minor discomfort to severe pain if you’ve sustained an injury to the legs. This could be anything from a sprained knee, to a pulled hamstring, to a broken bone.
3. Hip and Back Injuries
Because of the way your legs are interconnected with tissues in the hips, pelvis, and lower back, an injury in any of these areas can eventually lead to pain in lower areas of the body, such as the legs. This is usually caused by inflammation in the hips or back (typically from a trauma), which puts pressure on the nerves and muscles running to your leg, eventually causing pain. It’s most common for hip and back injuries to cause leg pain if they go untreated for longer periods of time.
4. Sedentary Lifestyle
When muscles aren’t used regularly, they begin to stiffen, becoming less flexible and more prone to becoming painful. For people who live a more sedentary lifestyle and don’t exercise frequently, it’s common to begin to develop pain in the legs, a symptom that tends to worsen over time. A sedentary lifestyle can also weaken the leg muscles, making them easier to injure in the future and possibly creating even more leg pain.
5. Joint Problems
There are a number of joint issues that can create enduring, severe pain in the legs if left untreated. These include osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout, to name a few. Joint problems are characterized by pain specifically within the joints—particularly in the knees and hips.
6. Nerve Problems
One of the most common sources of pain in the legs is the sciatic nerve. This long nerve runs from your lower back all the way down your leg. When the soft tissues surrounding this nerve become inflamed or swollen, it creates a pinching pressure which can cause severe, shooting pain down the legs. The nerve can become pinched by a number of issues, such as a herniated spinal disk, a muscle spasm, or a trauma to the hips or lower back.
How to Prevent Leg Pain
One of the most important philosophies of physiotherapy is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure—and this goes for leg pain as well. In the vast majority of cases, preventing leg pain is infinitely easier than curing it. Here are a few ways you can lower your risk of developing pain in your lower body:
Develop a pre-workout mobility and a post-workout stretching routine to avoid strains, sprains, and other issues when training
When stretching, be careful not to overstretch, forcing muscles and ligaments beyond their limits and creating a painful injury
Always take adequate time to properly cool down, rest, and recover after strenuously exercising your legs
Exercise frequently and avoid a sedentary lifestyle, ensuring you’re standing, walking, squatting, and bending at the hips and knees often throughout your day
If you do sustain an injury to your legs, commit to modifying your activity participation to allow active rest until you are completely healed
See a physiotherapist regularly to address any physical concerns and to develop a routine that will make you less likely to be injured or have pain in the future
When to See a Physiotherapist About Leg Pain
If you’re dealing with mild to moderate leg pain, it might be unclear what you’re ‘supposed’ to do. It can be easy to assume that these issues will resolve themselves with time. And while that’s sometimes the case, we can never know for certain until you’ve been examined by a professional.
A trained physiotherapist will take the time to understand your lifestyle and routine, working to find the most likely cause of your pain. From here, they’ll create a customized treatment plan that’s designed to work within your limits and help you recover more quickly. So how do you know whether it’s worth seeing a physiotherapist about leg pain?
Constant (Or Nearly Constant) Pain – If your legs are in pain all the time (or even most of the time) after the first couple of days, it’s a likely sign that you’ll need the help of a physiotherapist to recover. It’s normal to be a little sore for a day or two after a tough workout, however constant pain is never normal and is usually a sign of a more serious issue that needs addressing.
Unusual Types or Areas of Pain – If you’re experiencing pain you’ve never felt before (such as sharp, shooting nerve pain that you’ve never had in the past), it could be a sign of a more serious physical concern that needs treatment. The same goes for feeling pain in an unusual area—this could mean your issue is actually getting worse with time, rather than getting better.
Pain That Affects Your Daily Life – If you’re in so much pain that it’s getting in the way of your usual routines, it’s time to get some help. If your leg pain means you can’t walk or sit properly or is affecting your ability to do normal tasks, it’s more likely that your pain will persist, or worse, you will end up with other pain from compensating for your limitations without some kind of professional care. Physiotherapy is a great way to address debilitating leg pain.
Leg and Lower Back Pain – If you’re feeling pain in your lower back, hips, and legs simultaneously, it usually points to a more expansive issue. Often, this combination indicates an issue with spinal disks and/or inflammation around the sciatic nerve. It can be very difficult to fully recover from this kind of issue without the help of a physiotherapist and their treatment plan.
Time-Sensitive Recovery – If you have something coming up that you need to be pain-free for, such as a major sports event, a holiday, or even a wedding, a physiotherapist can help. Their expertise means they can help you recover at a much faster rate than if you were trying to heal all on your own.
History of Related Injuries – If you’ve had other injuries affecting your legs in the past, it’s worth consulting a physiotherapist. They can help identify why you’re experiencing the same kind of pain repeatedly, and help you develop a routine that makes future injuries much less likely.
Peace of Mind and Prevention – Lastly, a physiotherapist pays for themselves in peace of mind alone. When you regularly see a skilled physiotherapist (and keep up with the exercises they recommend), you’re at a much, much lower risk of experiencing painful injuries and conditions in the future. This is valuable for everyone, whether you spend your days on the field or at a desk.
If you’re looking for answers to your leg pain, Triumph Physio and Wellness is here to help. Our staff will take the time to learn about you, your medical history, your needs, and your goals, working hard to develop a tailor-made treatment plan that addresses your leg pain at the source. All the way, we’ll incorporate other exercises and treatments to help prevent future problems, meaning you can stride with confidence into a new, pain-free chapter of your life.
Contact us today to book your initial consultation!
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