Is pain in your legs causing you to have restless sleep? Is it preventing you from falling asleep easily? It’s a very common and frustrating issue, and not something you should just put up with.
Your legs carry the load of your body throughout the day, but that doesn’t mean they should be causing you pain, especially at night.
Stabbing pain, dull aching or a strange tingling sensation are common complaints heard by our podiatrists. These are often symptoms of an issue, rather than the issue itself, and a medical professional can help to diagnose and treat your troublesome legs.
We’ve compiled a list of common issues that could be causing your aching legs at night, and come up with helpful suggestions that can help to manage your symptoms. If you continue to experience pain, book in to see one of our podiatrists.
Musculoskeletal pain
1. Cramps
When your muscles are fatigued, certain body movements can trigger cramps. If you’re experiencing cramps at night, this could be from restlessness and turning over in bed. This triggers the muscle causing it to cramp. Interestingly, they can also be caused by a lack of movement, specifically if you hold a position for a long period of time.
Dehydration and a lack of salts in your body fluids are also common causes of cramps. If you’re exercising and using all the water sources in your body, this can change the salt levels in your fluids. This change in levels results in altered signals sent between the nerves and muscles, causing your muscles to twitch or cramp.
To avoid this, we suggest making an active effort to keep hydrated and well fed. We may also recommend magnesium supplements, however this is only after our podiatrist has assessed your issue and medical history.
2. Inflammation of muscles/tendons
You may experience pain and inflammation in your muscles and tendons during the night as these muscles are healing while you sleep, especially if you have an injury. However, it is not a common symptom of injury pain and may indicate a greater severity of the injury or problem at hand. Hence, it is important that if this is happening to you to seek professional advice.
A couple of at-home treatments you could try initially include anti-inflammatory medication (if you can take it), making sure you find a comfortable position while sleeping, and applying cold or heat packs to help reduce your symptoms. Please be careful in regard to heat and ice burns.
3. Bone Fracture
