What Causes Leg Pain at Night & What Can I Do About It?
While leg pain can be caused by obvious things like accidents or injuries, there are other possible underlying causes that can be more serious. If you have leg pain, especially at night, your body might be trying to warn you of a more serious medical condition.
What does “leg pain” refer to?
The term “leg pain” refers to any pain, burning, tingling, burning, aching, or numbness occurring anywhere between the ankle and the pelvis. The pain can be either short term or long term, and can happen at any time, but occurs most frequently during the night when circulatory problems are involved. It’s important to note that leg pain is the result of the leg nerves responding to a specific stimuli, and not a normal part of aging.
Why do my legs hurt at night?
Nighttime leg pain or cramping can be caused by many different factors including rigorous exercise, pregnancy, diabetes, or injuries, but one of the most common causes of nocturnal leg pain is Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI), a condition characterized by faulty blood valves in the leg that are no longer able to pump blood back to the heart efficiently. Early symptoms of CVI include leg cramps (especially at night) a heavy feeling in the legs, burning or itching, or discoloration of the skin.
How do I know if I have CVI?
Only a vein specialist can confirm whether you have CVI with an inspection of your legs and an ultrasound exam. CVI will not go away or get better on its own, so it’s important to know when to seek treatment. If left untreated, CVI can lead to bulging varicose veins, swelling, or painful venous ulcers.
What is the best way to treat CVI?
Until recently, treatment for leg pain caused by CVI involved heat or laser therapy. However, the newly introduced ClariVein Ablation technique offers quicker, safer treatment with virtually no downtime. ClariVein is a new treatment for varicose veins that uses a newly patented catheter that is several times smaller than any other on the market. This technique only requires a pinhole sized opening, and the rotating tip evenly applies a liquid or foam sclerosing chemical to seal veins with faulty valves to redirect blood flow to healthy veins. Since ClariVein Ablation does not use heat, there is no risk of damage to the surrounding nerves (a problem associated with other varicose vein treatment techniques). Also, because there isn’t any heat involved that means that there is no need for tumescent injection. So the discomfort from the tumescent pressure inside the leg is being eliminated as well. This results in less pain, less bruising, a shorter procedure, and quicker return to normal activities. In most cases, the procedure only takes about 20 minutes, and patients are usually able to drive home themselves afterwards.
Dr. Kaveh of Alpha Vein Clinic is one of the only doctors in Nevada trained to perform the ClariVein Ablation procedure. To learn more about leg pain treatment, or to find out if ClariVein is right for you, contact the office of Dr. Kaveh at (702) 233-1849 to schedule your consultation!