Why Do My Legs Feel Heavy and Tired?

Medically reviewed by: Luke Maj, MD

Above-training can exhaust your muscle tissue to the stage where your legs really feel like they’re made of guide. But what if your legs sense large and weak all the time? Heaviness in the legs is not just an annoyance. It might be a symptom of a serious healthcare issue involving weak circulation in the legs. A popular perpetrator is long-term venous insufficiency (CVI).

Long-term venous insufficiency vs. peripheral arterial disorder

CVI develops when 1-way valves in the leg veins, which are meant to continue to keep blood touring back again to the heart, really don’t do the job correctly. When these valves are weakened or broken, they allow blood to pool in the legs. That pooled blood describes why the legs truly feel large and weak, and maybe, achy.

CVI is not lifestyle threatening, but it’s greatest caught early, when lifestyle alterations may be all you will need to take care of the signs or symptoms. Later on on, if you develop varicose veins or venous ulcers, you may well need health care treatment. Signs and symptoms of CVI incorporate:

• Swelling in the legs and ankles, specifically after you stand for a long time 
• Achy or restless legs
• A tingling sensation in the legs
• A tight experience in your calves and muscle cramping
• Tight, irritated, dry pores and skin that might itch

If you have indicators of CVI, see a vein professional sooner rather than later. He or she can diagnose CVI and present procedure if vital. 

Weary legs are also a symptom of peripheral artery ailment (PAD), which is much more serious than CVI and can direct to decline of toes or amputation. PAD occurs when narrowed arteries in the legs reduce blood stream. The narrowing is commonly the result of plaque buildup. Indications of PAD involve:

• Leg weak point
• Leg soreness or cramping that receives even worse with workout and much better with relaxation
• A weak pulse or deficiency of pulse in the feet 
• Coldness or numbness in the reduced leg or foot
• Clean, shiny pores and skin
• Decline of hair on the legs
• Leg or foot sores that really do not recover

If you have any of these signs, make an appointment at The Vein Centre to be checked for PAD or CVI.  

How to make improvements to blood circulation in legs

Strengthening the blood circulation in your legs can go a extensive way towards easing the signs or symptoms of early CVI.

Elevate your legs

Sit yourself down in a chair or on the sofa with your legs propped on pillows to elevate them higher than the level of your coronary heart. Any time feasible, do this for 30 minutes a number of instances a day to simplicity pressure on the valves in the leg veins. 

Flex your feet

If you look at Tv at night, rest your toes on the couch or an ottoman and do “foot pump” (plantar flexion) workouts: Flex your feet up and down, pointing your toes toward you and then absent from you. This contracts the calf muscle tissues, sending blood out of the legs to the heart.

Insert some exercising

Training increases blood flow in the leg veins. When you stroll, for example, your calf muscular tissues squeeze the leg veins with every move, helping them return blood to the heart. Even shorter walks can assistance.

Eliminate bodyweight if you need to

Carrying further pounds stresses the veins and damages the valves.

Have on compression garments

Compression socks and stockings can aid cut down leg suffering and swelling and slow the progression of CVI. These appear in various strengths, so talk to your health practitioner what energy you require, or arrive to The Vein Centre to get fitted.

If compression garments really do not assistance ample or you find them awkward, your physician may perhaps suggest inflatable compression sleeves. You have on them on your decrease legs, and they intermittently squeeze the legs to increase blood movement.

Healthcare CVI treatment method

If life style variations don’t enable or you have a additional advanced circumstance of CVI, your physician might suggest an in-business office course of action to collapse or seal off the defective leg veins. This leads to the human body to reroute the blood by means of healthier veins. 

Treatments include injecting the veins with an irritant alternative (sclerotherapy), injecting them with a glue-like adhesive (VenaSeal) and destroying them with heat created by a laser fiber (endogenous laser treatment method) or radio waves (radiofrequency ablation).

All of these techniques are minimally invasive, and recovery time is short. Dependent on the type of method you have, you may perhaps be equipped to resume your standard activities the minute you go away your doctor’s office environment.

If you’re dealing with leg heaviness or other signs or symptoms that could show a leg vein issue, plan an appointment with the Water’s Edge Dermatology Vein Centre today.

Composed by: Jessica Brown, a wellbeing and science author/editor centered in Nanuet, New York. She has created for Prevention magazine, jnj.com, BCRF.org, and a lot of other stores.