If you haven’t overexercised or pulled a muscle, there’s a good chance your aching legs are due to a blood vessel problem. And if a vascular disease is responsible, your aching legs may signal advanced disease needing medical care to restore circulation.
No matter what causes your leg discomfort, our Centers for Pain Control and Vein Care team, with offices throughout the Region in Hobart, LaPorte, Munster, Valparaiso, and Merrillville, Indiana, will find solutions personalized to treat the problem, ease your leg pain, and help you get a good night’s sleep.
Aching is a telltale sign of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and chronic venous insufficiency (CVI):
PAD develops when cholesterol builds up in the artery wall (atherosclerosis). The plaque keeps enlarging and hardening as it continuously collects more fats, inflammatory cells, and calcium deposits. The larger it gets, the more it limits blood flow through the artery.
The earliest sign of PAD is aching, painful leg muscles. This problem begins when you’re active because the restricted blood supply can’t provide enough oxygen for muscles to function. The discomfort improves when you rest because the muscles use less oxygen.
Eventually, the plaque gets large enough to block leg circulation significantly. When that happens, the muscles don’t get enough oxygen even when you rest. As a result, they ache throughout the night.
The muscle ache is further magnified at night because your heart rate and blood pressure naturally decrease when you sleep. The drop in blood pressure can further reduce leg circulation, adding to the blocked blood flow caused by atherosclerosis.
CVI is the underlying cause of varicose veins. This condition limits leg circulation when valves in the vein get too weak to function.
A damaged valve allows blood to flow down the leg (instead of up the leg toward your heart). As a result, blood accumulates and causes twisted, bulging varicose veins.
Varicose veins alone can cause aching legs. They may also cause pain, itching, or a heavy feeling. These symptoms are more likely to occur when sleeping because your leg muscles are inactive.
Muscle contractions push blood through the veins and up your legs. If your muscles aren’t active, more blood pools in the vein. The extra blood increases pressure and discomfort.
Muscle and bone problems frequently cause leg aches and pain. Your symptoms may flare up at night in response to the stress of daily activities that aggravate the problem.
When you exercise or enjoy athletic activities, tiny muscle tears and inflammation develop. You may not feel the muscle strain until you lie down and try to sleep.
In addition to daily muscle strain, you could have an overuse injury or stress fracture:
Overuse injuries occur when you engage in the same activities. Frequently repeating the same muscle movements doesn’t give the tiny tears enough time to heal. Then, the tears slowly enlarge, causing more inflammation, aches, and pains.
A stress fracture is a small crack in the bone that develops when you frequently engage in the same activities. Without rest, a stress fracture can turn into a complete fracture.
Several medical conditions, ranging from thyroid and kidney disease to restless legs syndrome (RLS) and neuropathy, can cause aching legs at night. However, these conditions have other identifying symptoms. Two conditions we frequently treat include:
Restless legs syndrome causes an uncontrollable need to move your legs. You also experience aching legs and unusual sensations like crawling, pulling, and throbbing. These symptoms appear when you lay down to sleep at night or after sitting for a long time.
Injuries, inflammation, and health conditions like diabetes can damage the nerves in your legs (peripheral neuropathy) and lower spine.
Nerve damage typically causes pain, tingling, and burning that travel along the nerve. For example, a pinched nerve in your lower back may send pain down your leg (sciatica). However, your legs may also feel achy.
Peripheral neuropathy is notorious for being worse at night and disrupting sleep. There are several possible reasons. The nerves may be hypersensitive to the touch of a blanket or the pressure on your leg when lying down. Cooler temperatures at night may also trigger nerve pain.
Help is available for aching legs. In addition to easing the aches and pains and restoring your sleep, treatment can heal the cause of vascular disease and prevent it from worsening. Call the Centers for Pain Control and Vein Care or book online today to get started.
