Sick feet - a problem relevant to most modern people. After all, some people walk and stand a lot, while others, on the contrary, spend most of their time. In addition, there are many other factors that can cause pain in the legs.
Introduction
Such pain is familiar to many. It can be soreness in the hip joint or knee, or the joints of the toes can hurt . The pain is aching and acute. And in each case we can talk about various ailments.
If you choose the wrong shoes, then it can cause pain in the legs.
But the main reasons are overstrain and injuries.
Pain caused by recent physical labor
They occur after intense physical exertion in people of any type, without exception. The help of doctors in this case is not needed. The pain in the joints of the legs is mild, is aching in nature, may increase with movement, and with rest it passes. Slight hyperemia of the skin in the area of a joint can sometimes be observed.
Such pains disappear on their own after a short rest. But if they are strong, then you can resort to creams and ointments with the effect of pain relief (Indomethacin, Ibuprofen, Diclofenac drugs). The medicine is applied in the joint area to the skin with massaging movements two to three times a day.
Injury
Pain in the joints of the legs, the causes of which are injuries, arise, as a rule, after this same injury (immediately or some insignificant time later). In this case, cartilage, capsule or ligaments are damaged. The pain will be permanent. It is felt at rest, but intensifies when moving. It is accompanied by hyperemia of the skin in the joint area, limited by its movement and edema.
If the pain symptom is not pronounced, swelling is absent, the contours of the joint are not changed, then it is enough to give him rest, to limit the limb in movement. For these purposes, an elastic bandage is specially created. It needs to be wrapped around the affected area, capturing the area below and above the joint - this will help the bandage hold better.
The first twenty-four hours after the injury, to avoid severe swelling, you can apply a compress with cold, but not more than half an hour. To prevent frostbite, a cold compress should be applied through clothing. The next day, warm but not hot compresses are applied to the joint. They will enhance blood circulation and accelerate the restoration of damaged areas.
In the first 24 hours after the injury, the joint should be given an elevated position (pillow for a damaged knee joint).
For severe pain, creams and ointments with anesthetic effect are used. If the measures taken did not reduce the pain in the joints of the legs, then the reasons may be more serious, and in this case, it is worth making an immediate visit to a trauma specialist to prescribe the appropriate treatment after the examination.
Joint pain in adolescents, children
This age group has many ailments, the symptoms of which are pain in the joints of the legs. Causes and treatment, only a doctor is able to establish and prescribe. But any parent, paying attention to some points, will be able to establish a hypothetical cause.
During the period when the child is growing rapidly, he may experience some discomfort, pain in the joints of the left leg and right leg, in the muscles and bones. These “growth pains" should not be taken as something terrible. They will not have consequences, and they do not require treatment. More often, girls of eight to fourteen years old suffer from such troubles. If the child’s activity is not reduced, he has a good appetite and mood, then, most likely, growth pains are observed.
How then to help your child?
He needs to tell what kind of pain in the joints of the legs. The reasons are related to growth, and in most cases they will pass on their own. Relief can bring a warm heating pad or a light massage.
But if joint pain is accompanied by additional symptoms, then the child should be shown to the doctor. After all, he can have a serious illness.
Pain in the joints of the left leg, right leg, other joints, together with a skin rash, general hyperthermia, local edema and redness can be with such ailments as:
- Acute rheumatic fever. It is characteristic that there is inflammation of the connective tissue in the joints, internal organs, which is fraught with quite serious complications (damage to the heart valves). One of the signs of acute rheumatic fever is rheumatoid arthritis.
- Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. A chronic disease in which a progressive inflammatory reaction develops of various joints, including legs. It appears in children under sixteen years of age.
- Infectious arthritis. As a rule, it acts as complications of a number of infectious diseases. Ill one or several joints in a row. There will be severe pain in the joints of the legs or other affected joints, along with fever. May be vomiting, nausea. The affected joint reacts with pain to touch.
- Reactive arthritis. Inflammation occurs as a response to an infectious onset. Often manifested against a sore throat, flu and other diseases. Often combined with conjunctivitis and urethritis.
- Long-term severe pain in the joints of the legs in children can indicate the presence of bone tumors.
Joint pain in adults
The cause of joint pain in adults can also be a great many diseases. That's why it is important to immediately pay attention to the manifested pain in the joints of the legs, the causes and treatment of which the doctor can determine and prescribe.
To make an assumption before a visit to the doctor, it is worth examining all the accompanying symptoms. So, aching pain in the joints of the legs or acute in combination with fatigue, weakness and hyperthermia of the body can indicate a number of diseases.
One of them is rheumatoid arthritis. Chronic disease accompanied by inflammation of the connective tissue. In this case, the pain occurs suddenly and within one to two weeks will increase. The pain effect will be felt both in the joint itself and in the muscles surrounding it. In the morning hours and at rest, unpleasant sensations increase. It can be affected by several or one joint. The inflamed joint becomes larger, the skin reacts to touch. Hyperthermia and redness are noted. Limited mobility. Morning stiffness is characteristic, when the joint does not work well for about an hour, while a person wakes up.
Joint pain in office workers
Joint pain in overweight and elderly people
This type of pain is usually associated with chronic ailments, due to which there is a slow destruction of cartilage. They are called degenerative.
Aching pain in the joints of the legs will be prolonged and gradually progress. Osteoarthritis (osteoarthritis) is one of such twigs. The pain at first is slight, and later - more pronounced. The disease affects those joints, the load on which is maximum. Because pain in the hip joints of the legs, knee, ankle most often indicates this disease. It can intensify in the evening, arise in a dream.
Joint pains and individual joints
The hip joint begins to react painfully when it is affected. It is worth examining the attendant symptoms. Fever, rash, inflammation of other joints - rheumatoid arthritis. Uncertain pain radiates to the lower back, buttock, inguinal region, to the knee, along the back of the thigh - similar to avascular necrosis of the femoral head. Soreness appeared long ago, progressed slowly, aggravated by walking and long standing, disturbed gait - osteoarthritis. Pain in the joint itself proceeds with severe pain in the lumbar part, while it gives to the knee, to the back of the thigh - it is characteristic of lumbosacral radiculitis.
A broken knee can seriously adjust work plans and daily activities.
Pain in the knees for an elderly or obese person, which intensifies when walking, as with prolonged standing, moving up and down the stairs, indicating osteoarthritis as a probable cause.
Together with the pain, redness, swelling of the skin at the site of the affected joint, skin rash, and body temperature are increased, and there can be a whole galaxy of arthritis (reactive, infectious, rheumatoid).
The pain came suddenly, the mobility of the joint was impaired, it was not possible to lean on the leg - it could be gout.
Toes and joint pain
Pain in the joints of the toes occurs in many diseases.
Gout is a disease characterized by a recurrent inflammatory reaction of the joints. The joint at the base of the thumb is affected first, but others (the ankle, knee) can be involved later. The pain comes suddenly, often at night or in the morning. It is pronounced and therefore the movement of the entire joint, and more often the entire limb, is disturbed. The affected joint swells, skin hyperemia is observed, the skin reacts to touch with soreness. After some time, the inflammation goes away on its own, so that after a couple of months or years it will reappear, in the same joint or in several.
Hallux valgus deformity of the first finger. The disease is characterized by a deviation of the base of the first finger outward. At the same time, the foot is deformed, a kind of bump appears, which increases with time. In the affected area, severe soreness.
Pain in the joints of the toes can be associated with rheumatoid arthritis, which was described above.
Treatment
If a person has pain in the joints of the legs, the reasons and treatment will be prescribed and determined by the doctor. That is why you should visit it as soon as possible. He will not only hear the symptoms that the patient will describe to him, but also prescribe additional studies to identify what has gone unnoticed. So it will be easier for the doctor to make the correct diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate treatment.
The basic therapeutic principles
Resting will help reduce pain in a diseased joint and speed recovery. In some cases, an elastic bandage should be applied for this. The patient is shown complete rest so that the affected joint is not burdened with work.
Pain in the joints of the foot and other joints can be eliminated with the help of painkillers, which can be in the form of ointments, injections, tablets. Ointments with analgesic effect and relieving inflammation - Efkamon, Viprosal B, Indomethacin, Ibuprofen, Voltaren. Each such remedy has its own pile of contraindications, and they should be studied before using the remedy. The ointment is applied to the affected area with a thin layer and rubbed with massage movements. The procedure is repeated two to three times a day.
The best pills to treat
Pain in the joints of the legs, the causes and treatment of which was established and prescribed by Aesculapius, is best treated with the following drugs:
- "Arthra." Country of origin - USA. As a part - glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate. Two pieces per day are taken. The course is three to six months.
- Structum. Country of origin - France. In the composition - chondroitin sulfate. Take two to four pieces a day. The course is three to six months.
- "Don." Country of origin - Italy. In the composition - glucosamine. Four to six pieces are consumed per day. The course of treatment is three to six months.
- Teraflex. Country of origin - United Kingdom. As part of chondroitin sulfate. It is taken two or four pieces a day. Treatment with a similar course.
- Chondroitin AKOS. Country of origin - Russia. Contains chondroitin sulfate. It is consumed two to four pieces per day. The course, as in the above.
There are contraindications. It is necessary to consult with a specialist.