There are several reasons for pain in the lower leg area. Here are some of them:
- injury,
- spasm,
- stretching,
- muscle pain after exercise,
- flat feet,
- varicose veins of the lower extremities,
- thrombosis of the veins of the leg,
- obliterating atherosclerosis of the arteries of the lower extremities,
- arterial thrombosis.
The most common causes of acute pain in the lower leg are:
- injury,
- spasm,
- sprain of the musculo-ligamentous apparatus of the leg,
- muscle pain after exercise.
As a rule, in this case, pain in the lower leg appears immediately or after a short period of time after an injury or physical effort. As a rule, such pain goes away within a few hours or days, without leaving any serious consequences. If the pain in the lower leg does not subside over time and does not go away within several days, then it is recommended to contact a general surgeon or traumatologist, who will prescribe the optimal examination and treatment plan.
Causes of discomfort in the lower leg muscles
Why does my leg hurt below the knee in front? It is often very difficult for a person to distinguish between pain in a muscle from overwork and pain in the leg due to some pathology, so it is very dangerous to make diagnoses while sitting in the kitchen with friends; it is better to go to the doctor once and once again make sure that everything is in order.
Interesting! In medicine, muscle pain is called myalgia.
Physical exercise
Still, the main cause of myalgia in the lower leg muscles is physical fatigue. Pain in the front of the knee can occur for the following reasons:
- Staying without moving your legs for a long time, for example, on an airplane or in a car. This type of myalgia is caused by stagnation of blood in the extremities, and there is a risk of developing varicose veins. The pain is usually aching and stabbing. It usually goes away after rest; it is especially useful to hold your legs above your head, for example, by leaning them on the back of the sofa.
- Physical activity, especially running or long walking. This phenomenon in athletes is called sore throat and is a consequence of microdamage in the muscles and stagnation of lactic acid in them. As a rule, the sore throat goes away without a trace after rest.
Some even believe that if after physical activity the muscles do not hurt the next day, then the training was ineffective. Of course, this is an erroneous opinion, since there should be no soreness in trained muscles.
Pain in the front of the leg
Separately, it is worth considering myalgia in the front of the lower leg. The bone below the knee in front hurts when running or walking, after a long break, or if a person has never been involved in sports at all. It feels like pain in a bone, but it is not the bone that hurts, but the periosteum - the tissue covering the bone. This discomfort is especially unpleasant for athletes preparing for competitions; they may experience such pain as a result of increased loads.
Shinsplit treatment
Treatment for shinsplit depends on its cause. Active rest, icing the injury site, and elevating the leg at rest are common treatments. Active rest allows time for healing and reduction of inflammation. Athletes can maintain their fitness by using other forms of exercise, such as swimming or cycling. It is highly recommended to avoid weight-bearing exercises. Cold and elevation reduce inflammation and pain. Calf taping helps reduce tension on the soleus and digital flexor muscles, which promotes bone remodeling. Stretching all tight muscles around the ankle and lower leg increases the shock absorption capacity of the muscles, with the exception of the soleus and flexor digitorum muscles. Straining the soleus and flexor digitorum muscles increases traction stress on the tibia, exacerbating the problem.
The hip controls the function of the knee. The knee should bend enough to enhance the shock absorption effect. The knee also controls the function of the ankle. Therefore, eccentric (yielding) tension of the ankle, knee and hip muscles is of paramount importance in the treatment of splintsplit to control body descent on the affected leg. Strengthening these muscles helps the bone resist the bending effects of walking and running.
Correcting biomechanical defects such as overpronation of the foot and leg length inequality is essential to proper running technique. Practicing safe running technique is important to improve shock absorption, bone flexion resistance and proper function/control of the hips, knees and ankles.
There is no evidence to support any single method for preventing tire splitting. However, the most promising results support the use of shock-absorbing insoles. Other prevention methods based on the above understanding include wearing suitable running/walking shoes with a firm heel support to control the heel bone during planting.
In addition, athletes should balance running on hard and soft surfaces to reduce the repetitive deforming effect on bones. Research has shown that the shock waves generated during running depend on the surface. The grass surface resulted in a 25% reduction in shock wave compared to asphalt. The artificial road is 5% lower than asphalt. (In the original it is written on the contrary about an increase in the shock wave, I tried for a long time to figure out why it was written this way, but most likely it was just a typo