(866) 552-4866 You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn't experienced leg pain at some point in their lives. Maybe it is a sore muscle after a workout, a pinched nerve that shoots down one leg, or even aching, heavy legs and feet after a long day on your feet at work. Clearly, not every type of leg pain has the same cause, and while some symptoms go away on their own, others, such as vascular leg pain, follow a different and more concerning pattern. So, what type of leg pain are you experiencing—is it your veins, muscles, joints, or nerves?
Different types of leg pain typically follow a distinct pattern. Vascular leg pain is often tied to standing or walking: heavy and achy by day's end or cramping mid-walk that eases with rest. Conversely, muscle pain often relates to overuse, exercise, or injury and improves within a few days; joint pain involves the knees and hips; and nerve pain presents as shooting pain or burning down one leg.
Knowing these differences can help you recognize when leg pain may signal a vascular problem that deserves medical attention.
Could your leg pain be vascular-related? Schedule a consultation with a StrideCare vascular specialist today to learn how advanced treatments can help.
Is Your Leg Pain From Your Veins or Arteries, or From a Muscle, Nerve, or Joint?
Leg pain can have several causes, and understanding where discomfort originates can offer helpful clues about what may be behind it. The sections below explore the most common patterns associated with muscle, joint, nerve, and vascular pain—and what to watch for with each.
When it is muscle pain
Muscular leg pain is often dull or achy and localized to a specific area. For instance, you strained your calf muscle during an aggressive hike over the weekend, or you injured your upper leg while doing heavy squats at the gym. But muscular pain doesn't only impact athletes or active adults. It can be caused by stress, anxiety, infections, illnesses, or car accidents.
Many minor muscle injuries improve with time and appropriate care. Depending on the injury's severity, treatment may include rest, ice, activity modification, or physical therapy. During the body's repair process, inflammation can cause several symptoms, including many of the following:
- Short-term achy or dull pain in the affected muscle
- Tenderness, throbbing, and stiffness
- Muscle cramping and spasms
- Inflammation or swelling
- Limited range of motion in the affected area
- Muscle weakness
- Stiffness that worsens with inactivity
- Pain that worsens with movement or activity
If you think your leg pain is muscle-related, think about what happened before the pain started. Did you increase the intensity of a workout? Did you lift something heavy at work, or were you in a car accident? Did you take a long hike? Generally, you can look at recent events to pinpoint if what you're experiencing is muscular.
When it might be joint pain
One of the easiest ways to tell joint pain apart from other types of leg pain is by location. Joint-related pain tends to center around a specific joint, such as the knee or hip. For instance, you may notice pain directly in and around your knee, along with stiffness, swelling, and reduced range of motion. Joint pain in the knee or hip can also get worse with certain movements or activities.
Common examples of this include knee pain while walking or climbing stairs.
When it might be nerve-related leg pain
Nerve-related leg pain can feel very different from typical muscle soreness because it often follows the path of one or several nerves. For instance, sciatica pain starts in the lower back or buttocks and travels down one side of the leg. Neuropathy, on the other hand, affects a network of nerves called the peripheral nerves that run throughout the head, neck, and body. When these nerves are damaged, they send pain signals even when you cannot point to a specific reason.
The traveling pattern and specific pain symptoms can be important clues. For instance, nerve pain often follows the path of the nerve. Also, the sensations that come with nerve pain are often described as:
- Burning or tingling pain
- Shooting pain, which may occur at rest
- Numbness
- Muscle weakness
- Electric shock-like sensations
- Increased sensitivity to touch
As you will see later in this article, many symptoms associated with nerve pain such as neuropathy overlap with artery diseases such as peripheral arterial disease (PAD). While this can cause confusion, one tip is to pay attention to when symptoms occur. Pain that predictably appears with activity and improves with rest is more characteristic of PAD, while burning or tingling that occurs even when you're sitting or lying down is more consistent with neuropathy.
Why Your Symptoms Could Mean Vascular Leg Pain
Believe it or not, leg pain is a common symptom of vein and artery diseases. Failing vein valves prevent blood from flowing in the correct direction, causing it to pool in the legs and pressure to build in the veins. Conversely, arteries can narrow or become blocked, reducing the amount of oxygen-rich blood that reaches the muscles and tissues in your legs. These two vascular problems can produce very different patterns of leg pain.
Vein-related pain is often described as a heavy, aching, or tired feeling in the legs that becomes more noticeable after long periods of standing or sitting. You may also experience swelling, itching, skin discoloration, or a feeling that your legs are unusually heavy by the end of the day. Elevating your legs may help relieve some of these symptoms.
Artery-related leg pain, such as the pain associated with PAD, often follows a different pattern. You may develop cramping, aching, or fatigue in your calf, thigh, or buttocks after walking or exercising. The discomfort may go away after you stop and rest, then return when you start walking again. That connection to activity is an important clue. If your leg pain consistently appears after walking a certain distance and improves within a few minutes of resting, it could indicate that your leg muscles aren't receiving enough blood flow during activity.
This is why it is important to consider the entire pattern of your symptoms, including when the pain occurs, what it feels like, and whether you have other signs of circulation problems. If your leg pain is persistent, unexplained, or accompanied by swelling, skin changes, cold feet, wounds that don't heal, or pain at rest, it may be time to talk with a vascular specialist.
You do not have to let chronic leg pain impact your life. Schedule a consultation with a StrideCare vascular specialist today. Our collaborative approach ensures that you receive the care you need.
How Is Vascular Leg Pain Treated?
One of the biggest differences between muscular, joint, nerve, and vascular pain is whether it is chronic and whether there is seemingly no explainable reason for it. In other words, you haven't been exercising and can't point to a specific injury or illness. Leg pain may come and go but is still ongoing and constant. As a result, your legs may feel uncomfortable when you move, and they may even cause problems at rest. You certainly can't do all the things you used to love doing, and all you want is relief. For some people, the root cause is vascular.
To get to the bottom of your specific condition, our doctors at StrideCare generally turn to two vascular tests: Venous and Arterial Doppler Ultrasounds.
With venous doppler ultrasound, we use ultrasound technology to get a full view of the circulatory system and its structures beneath the skin to evaluate blood flow through the veins and identify problems such as venous insufficiency or blood clots. Patients can lie back during their procedure and relax. Based on your exam, one of our board-certified vascular specialists can tell whether treatment is necessary.
The same is true for arterial doppler ultrasounds, which provide a detailed look into the patient's arteries underneath the skin without any incisions, scarring, or anesthesia. The goal is to evaluate blood flow through the arteries and identify areas where circulation may be reduced.
Minimally invasive treatment options can provide the vascular leg pain relief you've been looking for. This includes:
- Angioplasty — This balloon system opens up narrowed or blocked arteries. A catheter is inserted through a small incision and advanced to the affected artery. There is minimal downtime.
- Atherectomy — This procedure uses advanced laser technology to erase plaque build-up in the arteries. It can be performed on its own but is often combined with angioplasty and stenting.
- Radiofrequency ablation — A thin catheter is inserted into the diseased vein through a small puncture. The catheter is guided up into the great saphenous vein in the thigh or the small saphenous vein in the calf. The radiofrequency energy is delivered to the inside of the vein, cutting blood flow and relieving symptoms.
- Sclerotherapy — Specialists inject a small amount of a specially formulated chemical solution full of sclerosing agents into the affected veins to reduce pain and discomfort caused by the enlargement or swelling of the veins. This solution irritates the vein walls and causes the vein to collapse and disappear.
- Stenting — A small mesh tube keeps a closed-off blood vessel or artery open long-term. This procedure greatly reduces the chance of a recurring blockage.
- Varithena Microfoam Ablation — With this procedure, your specialist injects a special microfoam into your affected veins to relieve symptoms without the use of heat or tumescent. The foam fills the desired section of the vein, and the diseased vein collapses. Blood flow then shifts to healthier veins nearby.
- VenaSeal — This minimally invasive procedure treats venous insufficiency, particularly varicose veins. Unlike traditional methods, VenaSeal™ does not rely on heat to seal the veins. Rather, a medical-grade adhesive is used to close them. This innovative approach is less invasive and more comfortable.
Featured in this video is StrideCare's expert Interventional Radiologist Dr. Danny Chan, MD, MBA discussing his experience at StrideCare and the many vascular procedures available to patients.
StrideCare Can Help With Vascular Leg Pain
Depending on the underlying root cause, vascular leg pain can only become worse and more frequent if left untreated. Vein disease does not cure itself. Therefore, it's important to recognize it early and seek help from a medical professional who can guide your next steps. StrideCare continues to lead the way in performing cutting-edge procedures to treat leg pain caused by vein disease. We are here to help you.
At StrideCare, our mission is to surround ourselves with the best in vascular and vein care so our patients never lack treatment options. Our doctors stay on top of the mist innovative techniques, helping patients avoid traditionally long, invasive surgeries used in the past to treat vascular disease. The vascular specialists and caring staff at StrideCare will recommend a personalized plan to help you achieve the best results. They diagnose and treat using advanced, minimally invasive procedures with little to no pain, short recovery times and high success rates.
At StrideCare, we are here to help, all while providing compassionate patient care. Please contact us at 866-552-4866 or complete the appointment form to schedule a consultation.
This information is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Before starting any new treatment or questions regarding a medical condition, always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health provider.
StrideCare Vascular serves South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia communities: Charleston, Orangeburg, Mount Pleasant, Murrells Inlet, Summerville, Walterboro, West Ashley, Addison, Allen, Anna, Arlington, Austin, Carrollton, Celina, Clear Lake, Craig Ranch, Dallas, Euless, Flower Mound, Forney, Fort Worth, Frisco, Garland, Houston, Irving, Katy, Kaufman, Mansfield, McKinney, Mesquite, including Midland, North Dallas, Odessa, Paris, Pecos, Plano, Prosper, Rockwall, Round Rock, Rowlett, Royce City, San Antonio, Sherman, South Dallas, Southlake, Stone Oak, Sugar Land, Sulphur Springs, The Woodlands, Waxahachie, Webster, Petersburg, Tappahannock, Richmond, Colonial Heights, Mechanicsville, Midlothian, Henrico, and more.
*Patient names and/or photos may be changed to protect patient confidentiality.