Leg pain is not unusual in humans as it is the effect of certain activities; banging your shin against a chair, intense cramp in your thigh or calf muscle which hurts for a while and then you get relief. These are normal pains, but when leg pain seems severe, ongoing or out of the ordinary, it is no longer natural; such prolonged and excessive pain may be a sign of an urgent problem that could be eternal or get worse without treatment.
There are some leg pains that should not be ignored:
If your lower leg or thigh feels painful, swollen and warm, it could be a sign of blood clot known as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). The skin in the area may be sensitive to touch and reddish in color but at times, DVT has no symptoms. DVT can be caused by pregnancy, use of birth control or hormone replacement therapy, certain cancers or cancer treatments, prolonged blood rest, had DVT before, older than 65 or had a major surgery.
DVT blood clot is dangerous because it can break loose, travel to your lungs and get caught in an artery; leading to pulmonary embolism (PE) and it has symptoms like chest pain, trouble breathing or a cough that may bring up blood
Ongoing leg cramps and fatigue in the calf or thigh while walking which may get better with rest may be a sign of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), a situation where plaque gradually builds up in the arteries that carry blood to your limbs and prevents the legs from getting enough blood. This is likely when you smoke, have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or kidney failure, 65 or older or you are obese
If not well treated, PAD could eventually bring on problems like sores, pain while immobile, serious infections or gangrene.
When you feel pain like electrical or burning pain which starts in your lower back or hip and runs down the back of one leg, it may be due to a condition called sciatica. Symptoms of this include more pain when you move, sneeze, or cough; “pins and needles” sensation, bad, long-lasting leg cramp or weakness or tingling in your leg
Without treatment, complications like bowel or bladder problems, loss of feeling in your leg, permanent nerve damage or sudden sharp pain
Achilles tendon tear is another source of pain. Your Achilles is a tough band of tissue that connects your calf muscle to your heel bone. If you tear it partially or completely, you might hear a popping sound along with the pain. Your knee may give out on you and become unstable or wobbly. Hours later, it could swell.
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