Lower leg pain can have various causes.
Some of the diseases that may start with leg pain include tendonitis, diabetic neuropathy, and shin splints.
Muscle cramps can also cause pain in the lower leg.
Verywell / Emily Roberts
The calf muscle is a common area for muscle cramps.
This is often referred to as a “charley horse.”
Muscle cramps can be mild and feel like a tiny twitch.
They can also be severe and intensely sharp or stabbing.
In the lower leg, a muscle cramp can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes.
Rarely, muscle soreness after a cramp may continue for days.
Causes
There are manycauses of muscle cramps.
Lower leg pain at night is often brought on by muscle cramps.
Statinsare medications that lower your cholesterol.
They may cause muscle cramps too.
This is generally enough to diagnose muscle cramps.
For example, you might have an electrolyte panel if you are at risk of dehydration or electrolyte imbalance.
Treatment for leg crampsoften involves:
Sometimes doctors recommend you takeoral magnesiumand/or calcium.
Getting adequate treatment for any underlying medical condition is also key to easing your muscle cramps.
Muscle Strain
A strain is a common cause of leg pain.
It’s a muscle tear that often results from overstretching the muscle.
Thegastrocnemius muscleof the calf is a common area for strains and tears.
Muscle strainsusually cause mild soreness.
You may also experience cramping or a sharp, tearing sensation.
A sudden change in direction, like when playing tennis or basketball, may also cause acalf muscle strain.
Overuse injuries involving the lower leg can also lead to muscle strains.
Stressing a muscle again and againfor example, due to daily runningcan cause damage.
A medical history and physical examination are generally enough to diagnose a muscle strain in the lower leg.
Doctors recommend the R.I.C.E protocol to treat a muscle strain.
4 Steps of the R.I.C.E.
Method
In addition, your healthcare provider may also recommend that you take anonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID).
This can help control inflammation and pain.
Physical therapymay help you ease back into activity after your muscle strain heals.
It is a common sports overuse injury, but it can affect anyone, regardless of activity level.
If this occurs, seek medical attention right away.
These tiny tears trigger swelling and irritation.
As with muscle strains, doctors recommend the R.I.C.E.
protocolrest, ice, compression, and elevationfor tendonitis.
Anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy, and/ororthoticsare also often helpful.
Shin splints usually cause lower leg pain when running or during or after other types of physical activity.
Shin splints are common exercise-related injuries.
They often affect runners and people who participate in sprinting or jumping sports.
It can be triggered byhigh-arched feetas well.
Improper or worn-out footwear can also increase your chances of developing shin splints.
A medical history and physical examination are sufficient to diagnose shin splints.
Your healthcare provider may order imaging tests to rule out other conditions like:
Shin splints are extremely uncomfortable.
But the good news is that you’re free to follow simple steps to treat them.
With proper management,shin splints resolvein around seven to nine weeks.
Bone Fracture
A stress fracture is a tiny break in a bone.
It can affect any bone, but it is especially common in the lower leg.
The hallmark symptom of a stress fracture is localized, sharp pain that improves with rest.
Stress fractures are overuse injuries.Basically, the muscles surrounding the bone become fatigued from using them too much.
They eventually transfer the stress onto the bone.
This leads to a tiny break.
A risk factor for this punch in of fracture is sports that place repetitive stress on the leg.
Sports that involve running and jumping, like gymnastics, basketball, and tennis, may cause stress fractures.
An X-ray is usually enough to diagnose a stress fracture in the lower leg.
However, sometimes it’s difficult for the doctor to see the fracture very well on an X-ray.
Stress fractures may also not show up on an X-ray for several weeks.
In these cases, your healthcare provider may order a computed tomography (CT) scan or an MRI.
The main treatment for stress fractures is rest, usually for six to eight weeks.
Doctors also recommend placing ice on the injury.
It may also happen after long periods of sitting, such as on an airplane or a long drive.
Immobility, long hospital stays, and obesity prevent venous blood from flowing properly.
All of these factors increase your risk of developing a DVT.
Treatment of a DVT involves taking ananticoagulant, or blood-thinning medication.
This helps prevent the current clot from getting bigger and prevents new clots from forming.
Chronic Venous Insufficiency
The veins of the legs are vessels that return blood back to the heart.
The valves inside the veins help direct blood flow and control pressure.
Over time, this can lead to increased venous pressure.
This condition is calledchronic venous insufficiency.
This can cause chronic venous insufficiency.
This may ultimately result in valve damage.
A history of leg trauma can lead to chronic venous insufficiency.
A clot within a vein may block blood flow and damage the valves.
This may also lead to chronic venous insufficiency.
Diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency involves:
Treatment of venous insufficiency involves elevating the leg and wearing compression stockings.
This interferes with blood flow to the leg.
PAD can cause lower leg pain when walking or engaging in other physical activities.
The pain is generally cramp-like and occurs in the calf, thigh, or buttock.
It feels better when you rest.
In some cases, there may be pain in both legs from the knees down.
This condition is calledatherosclerosis.
This test measures theblood pressureof your ankle.
In more severe cases,angioplastyis necessary.
During this procedure, the doctor uses an inflated balloon to bring up the blockage inside the artery.
They then place astent, which is a tube, into the artery to keep it open.
Bypass surgerymay also be considered.
With this, the surgeon uses a graft to re-route blood flow from a blocked artery.
Peripheral Neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathyoccurs when the nerves in the limbs are damaged.
It can also cause hypersensitivity, pain at rest, and weakness.
A physical examination will generally show impaired sensation and diminished reflexes in the lower limbs.
Hypersensitivity to touch can be part of this as well.
Sometimes an EMG is used to confirm the diagnosis.
Sometimes the pain of peripheral neuropathy is severe, and treatment can help alleviate the pain.
Medications that are sometimes used totreat peripheral neuropathyinclude:
Lumbosacral Radiculopathy
Lumbosacralradiculopathyis often calledsciatica.
Spinal stenosisoccurs when the area around a person’s spinal cord is narrowed.
This may also lead to nerve compression in the lower spine.
Less commonly, an infection or tumor may be the cause of lumbosacral radiculopathy.
This is a rare but very serious lumbar/sacral nerve condition that causes bladder, bowel, and/or sexual dysfunction.
Visiting your doctor for a physical examination and imaging tests can help determine what’s causing it.
Treatment will depend on the cause of your leg pain.
It’s important to avoid self-diagnosing your injury or medical condition.
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