Painful legs when sleeping
Leg Pain at Night. Is it a Warning Sign of Vascular Disease?
Is leg pain at night often interrupting your sleep? It could more than a normal sign of getting older. Pain in your legs and feet at night, or when trying to sleep, is often a symptom of peripheral artery disease (PAD).
Peripheral artery disease leg pain can occur anywhere in your leg, but the most common places to feel pain are in the muscles of your calf, thigh or buttocks. The pain can range from mild to so severe you can barely walk a very short distance. PAD is a progressive disease. For some people, pain only occurs during the daytime. Others have pain when resting or at night.
The leg pain or muscle cramping caused by PAD is known as claudication. Symptoms of claudication can be triggered by activity, especially walking or climbing stairs. However, once you stop and rest for a few minutes, it’s not uncommon for the pain to subside.
Nighttime leg pain could be a sign of the worst form of PAD – critical limb ischemia (CLI). With CLI, the pain attacks in your legs or feet can persist for minutes to hours. Leg pain at night can be a sign of a serious condition, and only a healthcare professional can diagnose you with PAD.
What is Peripheral Artery Disease?
Peripheral Artery Disease is a circulatory disease in which blocked arteries reduce blood flow to the extremities, most commonly, the legs and feet. PAD is a relatively common condition – in fact, an estimated 8.5 million people, and nearly 15% of people over the age of 70, in the United States have been diagnosed with it. i,iii
What Causes Peripheral Artery Disease?
PAD is caused by atherosclerosis, or of the arteries. Hardening of the arteries is a condition that causes both coronary artery disease, which can lead to heart attacks, and PAD, which, if severe enough, can lead to amputation of a limb, or even death.2 And like coronary artery disease, PAD is a serious condition.
So…What is Atherosclerosis?
Atherosclerosis is a condition that’s common in older people in which fatty deposits accumulate inside the arteries, creating blockages. Theses blockages are made up of fats and cholesterol, and is referred to as plaque. As plaque builds up in the artery, the walls of the blood vessels begin to thicken, impeding blood flow.ii
It’s uncertain exactly what causes atherosclerosis, but many scientists and doctors believe that damaged arteries cause the plaque to form. Damage to arteries can be caused by:
- High cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Smoking iv
Other Signs of PAD
Know the warning signs. Leg pain is not the only symptom, there are a number of other signs that could indicate that you have PAD, including:
- Cramping or aching after walking or climbing stairs that subsides with rest
- Numbness or weakness in your legs
- A cold feeling in your lower leg or foot
- Sores that won’t heal on your legs, feet or toes
- A weak pulse in your ankles or legs
- Shiny skin and/or a bluish tint to your legs
- Loss of hair on your legs
- Slow growing toenails v
Just like with other cardiovascular conditions, there are things you can do to help manage PAD, such as:
- If you smoke, quit
- Exercise if your doctor says it’s okay
- Lower your cholesterol level
- Eat a healthy diet, including foods low in saturated fat
- Avoid over the counter cold medications that include pseudoephedrine (Advil® Cold & Sinus, Aleve-D® Sinus & Headache, Claritin-D®, Sudafed®, Tylenol® Cold, Zyrtec-D®, others) because they constrict your blood vessels and may increase your PAD symptoms. v
If you think you may have peripheral artery disease, don’t put off seeing your doctor to discuss testing and PAD treatment options if needed. The sooner you get diagnosed, the sooner you and your PAD specialist can determine if you are a candidate for minimally invasive treatments to slow down or stop progression of the disease. Things can get serious if PAD is left untreated, including amputation, stroke or death. Finding PAD early can lower your risk of heart attack or stroke and save your limbs.
Sources:
i Selvin, E., Erlinger, T.P., Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Peripheral Arterial Disease in the United States Results from the National health and nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2000. Circulation, 2004, 110: p. 738-743.http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/110/6/738.full (accessed 8/18/2016)
ii American Heart Association (2017). Retrieved from www.heart.org.
iii Allison, M. A., Ho, E., Denenberg, J.O., Langer, R.D., Newman, A.B., Fabsitz, R.R., Criqui, M.H., Ethnic-specific prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in the United States. Am J Prev Med, 2007, 32(4): pp. 328-33. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17383564 (accessed 8/18/2016)
iv The Mayo Clinic (2017). Peripheral artery disease. Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peripheral-artery-disease/symptoms-causes/dxc-20167421
v Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). (2015) Retrieved from: https://www.drugs.com/mcd/peripheral-artery-disease-pad
Should I be Worried if my Legs Hurt at Night?: Jonathan J Ellichman, M.D.: Vascular Surgeon
Should I be Worried if my Legs Hurt at Night?: Jonathan J Ellichman, M.D.: Vascular SurgeonSome people write off nightly leg pain as a symptom of getting older, but if you are experiencing nightly leg pain that is interrupting your sleep that could be a symptom of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD).
Peripheral Artery Disease is a circulatory disease that is caused by fatty deposits in your artery walls. Those deposits build up and reduce blood flow to your legs or arms. With reduced blood flow, your legs do not get the oxygen they need, and they start to hurt.
More serious cases of PAD can lead to heart attack, stroke, infection, and possible amputation. Ellichman Vein and Vascular Centers are here to help. If you are experiencing leg pain that lasts longer than a few days, you should seek the advice of a medical professional either your primary care doctor or a specialist like Dr. Jonathan Ellichman.
Below you can find more information on PAD as well as Ellichman Vein and Vascular Centers state of the art treatments that will have you feeling better in just 24 hours.
Click here to set up your appointment or call Dr. Ellichman’s office today (901) 479-1063.
What is Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)?Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a circulatory disease in which fatty deposits in your arteries reduce blood flow to your legs or arms. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, an estimated 8.5 million people suffer from PAD and nearly 15% of Americans over the age of 70 have been diagnosed with it.
Symptoms of Peripheral Artery Disease include:- Leg Cramps
- Legs feel weak
- Legs feel numb
- Legs feel cold
- Legs are an odd color
- Legs feel tight or tingly
- Sores on toes, feet, legs that will not heal
- 50 years old or older
- History of diabetes
- History of high blood pressure or hypertension
- History of high cholesterol
- History of smoking
If you are experiencing these symptoms you should speak with your primary care doctor, or a specialist like Dr. Jonathan Ellichman. Click here to set up your appointment or call Dr. Ellichman’s office today (901) 479-1063.
At Ellichman Vein and Vascular, we can diagnose artery blockages with a noninvasive ultrasound screening, or Ankle Brachial Index. If these tests show that you could benefit from treatment, Dr. Ellichman’s office can schedule you for a minimally invasive treatment in our own office.
The treatment can take as little as 30 minutes and you could be back on your feet feeling pain free in as little as 24 hours.
Click here to set up your appointment or call Dr. Ellichman’s office today (901) 479-1063.
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What legs dream about: interpretation of dreams about legs values
. If you noticed how beautiful and graceful your legs were, then you will have a happy future and strong friendship.A dream in which your third leg (or even more) has grown calls for you to descend from heaven to earth - you are very enterprising in your fantasies, but not in real affairs.
Washing feet symbolizes the cunning behavior of others. Their actions will discourage you and confuse your plans.
Have you admired slender female legs? Do not lose your head in reality, otherwise your recklessness, frivolity and unworthy behavior will negatively affect your relationship with a certain lady. If a girl begins to admire her own legs, then this is a warning - boundless vanity will ultimately repel a truly dear person. And if she sees a lot of hair on her legs, then she will get the role of commander in the future family.
The repulsive appearance of the legs symbolizes activities that will not be useful, and irritable friends.
Any problems with the legs are connected with real troubles. If your legs did not obey you in a dream, then you will find yourself in a difficult financial situation. Ulcers also indicate material problems, their source will be to help other people. Red, swollen legs are associated with humiliating situations, family quarrels and too abrupt changes in business. Injury or injury to the leg portends loss and illness. Losing a leg in a dream is equivalent to losing friends. If instead of a leg there was a prosthesis, then you are going to dishonestly deal with loved ones. Think about the consequences.
Vanga's dream book: interpretation of dreams about legs
The clairvoyant did not consider legs as a separate significant symbol. Remember all the details of the dream and refer to the interpretation of these images. For example, were there hairs on the legs? What about scars and wounds? Were the legs exposed or hidden by a towel, pants, skirt? Did your feet walk on the ground, on the grass, on the sand, or splashed through the puddles? Maybe they (more precisely, their owner) went on a pilgrimage? If in a dream about legs there were no bright, memorable images, then do not attach much importance to what you saw.
Islamic dream book: legs
Legs usually symbolize two things - a person's vitality and a difficult situation.
Cross your legs - to big and complex matters; walking barefoot - to burdens and fatigue; limp - to piety; break a leg in the region of the lower leg or ankle - life will be in danger, near the heel - get involved in a dubious business; lose a leg - lose half of the property, both - lose everything in life; exposing the legs - to the development and strengthening of faith for women and to the departure from piety and the loss of greatness for men.
Hairy legs betray the religious fanaticism of the sleeper; swollen with rough skin - a symbol of wealth, which will be obtained with great difficulty; iron dreams of longevity.
Legs covered with tattoos indicate problems in the family - from divorce to the loss of the second half. But the female legs dreamed of by a man, on the contrary, are a sign of an imminent wedding.
If a poor man grows many legs in a dream, then in reality he will become rich, the rich man will fall ill, and the traveler will return safely.
For a sick person to see fluid accumulated in his knees in a dream - to a severe course of the disease.
Why dream of legs according to Freud's dream book
The psychoanalyst considered the leg an obvious symbol of the masculine principle. A beautiful, powerful leg, as well as a large number of legs, indicate a rich personal life, and a thin, dirty or lame one hints at problems in it.
Leg injuries, scars or ulcers are commonly seen by people who enjoy being rude to themselves in a relationship.
A foot in shoes or clothes indicates that the main thing that worries the sleeper in the intimate sphere is safety.
Legs: Loff's dream book
The famous psychotherapist has no explanation for this symbol, but there is an interpretation of a number of images associated with it. For example, amputation indicates physical weakness or a destructive psychological attitude (as well as paralysis of the legs in a dream). It is necessary to understand the reason for the amputation, its impact on later life, what emotions does it cause: anxiety or, perhaps, relief? If you have amputated another person's leg, analyze your relationship with him.
Running symbolizes health and longevity, but also getting rid of potential danger. If the dominant feeling of what you see is fear, transfer the events in a dream to real life in order to understand in which area you feel pressure and what needs to be corrected.
The pursuit of someone is interpreted as a desire to protect this person from himself, to direct him in the right direction. Think about whether your help is really needed, or are you being imposed?
But if you had to run away in a dream, but not from a person, but from an animal, then you will have to do a lot of analytical work and figure out what this animal is hinting at? Maybe someone close to him had such a pet and certain memories are associated with him?
In general, the body is related to how you feel about yourself in real life. Any injury speaks of insecurity. Did someone else put them on? Someone is stopping you from being fulfilled. If your legs in a dream look much worse than in reality, you need to understand the reasons that prevent you from achieving your goal.
Interpretation of dreams about feet according to the dream book of Nostradamus
White shoes on the feet symbolize two things - a successful journey or a new family member.
The loss of a leg portends a solution to problems that previously prevented you from sleeping at night.
Leg hair indicates sadness and loneliness. People who are dishonest in relationships with their loved ones remove hair from their legs in a dream.
Why do legs dream: Tsvetkov's dream book
A leg symbolizes success and good luck, and two legs indicate an imminent romance. But if they were broken or had to be amputated, then you will have problems at work and the loss of a friend.
Esoteric dream book: legs
The main meaning of such an image as legs is support. Therefore, if you dreamed of your own legs, then someone is counting on you, remember responsibility. If you were walking, and your legs were tangled, do not lose your vigilance - one of your colleagues is trying hard to harm you.
Someone else's legs indicate that you are looking for support from other people, but you need to become more independent. The more legs there were in a dream, the more like-minded people will be in your life who will lend a shoulder at a difficult moment. Legs are tangled - one of the employees is actively interfering with your business.
Interpretation of dreams about legs according to Hasse's dream book
The medium gave an interpretation of a large number of characteristics of a dreamed leg. Slender, beautiful - there will be a reason for pride; the patient - to an incomprehensible situation; injured or wounded - unfortunately; swollen - at a loss; broken - to problems at work or untimely events; amputated or lost in any other way - to a quarrel with a good friend; wooden - to deception; thin - to treason; dirty - to a situation in which you will experience hostility or disgust.
If there were a lot of legs, then you will find what you have been looking for for a long time.
It also matters what you did with your leg in a dream. Washed - you have to do useless things; kissed other people's feet - you fall into dependence or submission to someone. In general, other people's legs indicate the appearance of a dangerous enemy.
Psychologist's comment
Maria Khomyakova, psychologist, art therapist, fairy tale therapist:
Legs reflect the support and symbolic connection of man with the earth. The ability to rely on oneself - to walk, move, straighten up to its full height, perform actions - and all this not only in the direct, but also in the spiritual, sacred sense. For example, to stretch out to their full height as an opportunity to express themselves; stand firmly on your feet as finding your place in the world, in society.
Seeing feet in dreams, one can correlate these images with the real state of affairs, observe how stable, active, light, etc. they are. Through the metaphor of support, analyze the real life soil. It happens that in dreams the legs appear in a painful form, then you can turn to yourself with the question - in what area of \u200b\u200bmy life do I not feel support, in which do I feel instability?
I would like to note the deeper meaning of this symbol - reliance on the earth, on natural strength, the ability to feel the ancient connection with the energy of the earth. Here we are talking about the support of the family, and about the instincts and forces hidden in every person and awakening at important moments.
Restless legs syndrome Medical On Group Perm
The name of the disease speaks for itself - all the unpleasant sensations are noted in the legs, however, over time, similar phenomena are possible in the hands, and even in the torso. The peculiarity of the disease is that it manifests itself when you go to bed. Trying to sleep but can't because your legs are in the way. A slight pain appears in them, and you think that these are the consequences of daytime overexertion, then a feeling of numbness and a feeling of crawling, sometimes unpleasant sensations in the form of itching, and then you begin to carefully look at the skin of your legs to find traces of a possible allergy, it is not clear from what arisen, but find nothing. Time runs quickly, there is no sleep, and there is no strength to lie down, there is an irresistible desire to move your legs, toss and turn in bed. If these manipulations do not bring relief, you have to get up and walk around the apartment, try pouring hot or cold water on your feet.
The trial method is used to search for those actions that will alleviate the condition. And, oh miracle! During the movement, the unpleasant sensations are significantly reduced or disappear, but as soon as you lie down, and sometimes just stop, they intensify again. Once having arisen, such a state is unlikely to disappear on its own, on the contrary, over the years it can appear not only at night, at the time of falling asleep, but also when sitting for a long time in any situation - in transport, in the cinema. All these extremely unpleasant, painful sensations can make your life unbearable. In the risk group for the development of this syndrome, middle-aged and elderly people, however, for the first time, RLS can manifest itself already in young people.
If our patients, completely exhausted, decide to come for an appointment, then their complaints, as a rule, are only about poor sleep. And as an addition to this - the state of morning weakness, decreased efficiency, absent-mindedness, memory impairment. If you do not find out the cause of insomnia, treatment with sleeping pills alone will not give any positive result. Of course, the question arises, what are the causes of these torments? It is known that RLS can be inherited by relatives.
Dig into your family tree, ask your parents, grandparents - if they had similar conditions before, or maybe they all have it today. If this fact is confirmed, then we are dealing with the so-called primary restless legs syndrome, which is not so common. Much more often we are dealing with secondary RLS. Many diseases are to blame for this - anemia, thyroid diseases, diabetes mellitus, vascular diseases of the lower extremities, etc. Often, when examining patients, we detect a lack of iron, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins in the blood.