Leg pain

 

WHY DO I SUFFER FROM LEG PAIN?

Heavy legs? Painful legs? Swollen by the end of the day? Increasing with hot weather? Or after a day on your feet?

Venous blood in your legs flows up to the heart. Venous insufficiency is a condition whereby the veins in your legs have difficulty in sending blood up to the heart. This condition affects the valves in your veins whose primary function is to prevent blood from flowing backwards. Problems with these valves cause blood to remain in the legs7.

Here is a short animation to explain what is heavy legs. You can learn more on actforlegs.com7.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

Some types of venous insufficiency have no symptoms whatsoever. However, there are usually a wide variety of symptoms including:

  • a feeling of heaviness in the legs, especially at the end of the day, soothed by putting feet up or by walking
  • swelling in the legs, particularly around the ankles and calves
  • tingling or numbness
  • muscle cramps
  • itching, restlessness, etc.

These symptoms are most commonly felt in the calves and tend to increase as the day goes on and during hot weather7.

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES?

When the condition develops, and particularly if it is not treated, you may observe8:

The formation of visible and unattractive varicose veins, often painful to begin with …

… followed by debilitating complications, such as edema and serious skin complaints with changes to skin color, even resulting in the formation of skin ulcers.

WHO IS AFFECTED?

Men, Women, teenagers, everyone of us can have the sensation of heavy legs. However, some people are more at risk9:

Pregnant women
Overweight people
Workers who keep standing for a long period of time (pharmacists, bakers, teachers...)
People who have a family member suffering from venous insufficiency

ADVICE AND EXERCISES TO RELIEVE LEG PAIN

Here are eight tips to help you relieve leg pain9,10:

Wear loose clothings and shoes with heels neither too low nor too high
Avoid exposing legs to heat sources (sun, bath, sauna, jacuzzi)
Walk, do not remain sitted for a long period of time, avoid stagnation
Avoid tobacco and food that favor vein' congestion, e.g coffee, tea, spices...
Adopt a regular physical activity (biking, swimming, fast walking...)
Shower and massage legs with cold water
Lift legs up whenever possible, especially when sleeping
Avoid excessive weight gain

MY SYMPTOMS PERSIST, WHICH TREATMENT TO RELIEVE MY HEAVY LEGS?

Besides observing hygiene and nutrition, medical treatments can also help relieve heavy legs11:

SUPPORT STOCKINGS

Compression, in the form of support stockings: it allows to rebalance the venous pressure to relieve the symptoms of the venous disease. It must be regularly worn.

VENOTONICS

As a supplement to the hygiene and diet measures and to the compression, they favor the blood circulation and relieve the symptoms of venous insufficiency such as the sensation of heavy legs.

These two treatments can be simultaneously used to strengthen the venous health.

Ask for advice from your pharmacist or your doctor who will advise you the most adapted treatment to your symptoms.

DAFLON 500mg – MICRONIZED PURIFIED FLAVONOID FRACTION (MPFF)

Daflon 500mg is a drug recommended in the treatment of the symptoms of the lower limbs (feeling of heaviness, pain, night cramps) and anal pain1,3.

Ask advice from your pharmacist. Read attentively the instructions before use. If the symptoms persist, consult your doctor.

References : 1- Nicolaides A et al. Int Angiol.2014 ;33(2):126-139. 3- Cospite M. Angiology.1994; 45(6-Part 2):566-573. 7-https://www.advancedveincarecenter.com/why-do-your-legs-hurt-more-in-the-summer/ 8- Eklof B et al. J Vasc Surg.2004;40(6):1246-1252. 9- The Assurance Maladie health informative website : http://www.ameli-sante.fr/  10-Phlebotonics guidance from the ANSM. 11- La Société Française de Phlébologie website : http://www.sf-phlebologie.org/