Pain, a sensation that varies from mild, moderate to severe and at times even chronic, causes a lot of discomfort and irritation to several people during various phases in their lifetime. Often, people complain of a shooting pain that usually lasts for only a few seconds or a nagging pain that is constant and may range from mild to moderate in intensity. Excruciating pain that lasts for several months at a stretch is another type that comes with chronic pain.

Leg pain can result from a whole bunch of reasons from brittle bones to sore muscles. Leg pain can also result from conditions that affect joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, nerves, or just the skin. Leg muscle pain is one of the most commonly occurring aches that may cause discomfort in the foot, knee, ankle, calf, thigh, or in any other part of the leg.

The most muscular discomfort that stems from tissue inflammation may be caused by injury or exertion. Most leg muscle pain is caused by temporary reasons and may be relieved by some medication or home remedies. While leg muscle pain may not be a fatal problem, it often shows several signs and symptoms. These may include weakness, numbness, throbbing, cramps, ache tingling sensation, and the like. If you are someone who experiences these sensations often, here are some of the reasons behind these.

Cramps
A muscle spasm, commonly called a cramp, can be the main cause of leg muscle pain. Such a sharp and sudden pain that is triggered by a cramp is called a charley horse. Often the tightening of muscle may result in some inflammation or lump beneath the skin. Some people may also have redness and swelling in the area around. Many people also experience frequent cramps in the calf that may be caused by muscle exhaustion and dehydration.

Injuries
Often, leg muscle pain can be caused because of an injury.

Listed below are some of the potential signs of injury.

• Muscle exertion
  One of the most common signs of an injury may be muscle strain caused by wear and tear of muscles, or activities like overstretching. Muscle strains cause leg muscle pain and usually occur in bigger muscles like quadriceps, calves, and hamstrings.
• Tendinitis
  An inflammation of the tendon chords that join the muscles to bone makes joint movement difficult. This usually affects the areas near the hamstring or the heel bone.
• Knee bursitis
  When the sacs or bursa filled with fluids surrounding the joints become inflamed, it causes bursitis. The inflammation may have been a result of injury, overuse, or a direct blow.
• Shin splints
  Overuse and exertion that causes injury to the tibia or shinbone leads to a condition called tibial stress syndrome. Some of the common causes of shin splints may be due to activities like running, dancing, jumping, and the like.
• Compartment syndrome
  This is a medical condition when there is excessive swelling around the muscles of the leg. This kind of leg muscle pain may be a result of excess blood supply within the leg compartment. Once the pressure in the compartment becomes greater than the blood pressure, it may cause serious consequences like numbness, inability to move, and the like. This condition is a real emergency that can only be corrected by surgery.

Medical conditions
Atherosclerosis, deep vein thrombosis, arthritis, gout, varicose veins, infection, nerve damage caused by diabetes (diabetic neuropathy), and the like are some of the medical conditions that may commonly lead to leg pain coupled with swelling, cramping, redness, stabbing sensations, and the like.

Other causes
Apart from disease and injury, leg pain may also be caused by a combination of other muscular conditions. Some of these causes may include slipped or herniated disk, Osgood-Schlatter disease, Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, etc. Other muscle pain causes also include dermatomyositis, electrolyte imbalance, fibromyalgia, lupus, Polymyalgia rheumatica, polymyositis, rhabdomyolysis, etc.

Leg muscle pain caused by overuse and stress can be effectively treated by some easy home remedies. Some of the steps that can prove to bring some relief are listed below.

• Elevation
  One of the most common remedies for alleviating muscular cramps and fatigue is elevating your affected leg with a pillow and letting it rest.
• Wear compression socks
  Another effective solution to leg muscle pain is wearing compression socks and stockings for adequate support and pain management.
• Fomentation
  Fomentation is a great remedy for leg pain. You can choose to apply ice to the affected area for about 15 minutes or use hot water bags around the painful area. Hot or cold therapies are known to work wonderfully well in case of injury, soreness, and inflammation.
• Hot water bath and stretching
  Muscle pain can be easily relieved by taking a warm water bath and gently stretching your toes, upper part of the leg, and calf muscles.