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Weakness in Legs | 9 Possible Causes, Treatment & More

Inflammatory conditions

Leg weakness can be caused by inflammation, which is the body’s normal response to injury or infection. Sometimes the body’s immune system is activated when it’s not supposed to which leads to autoimmune inflammatory disease.

• Infections: Bacterial or viral infections can damage the brain, nerves, or spinal cord, leading to leg weakness.
• Autoimmune diseases: An autoimmune disease occurs when the immune system, which usually works to protect you against diseases and infections, instead starts to attack the healthy cells that make up your body. Sometimes these autoimmune diseases can affect the muscles or nerves of the legs leading to leg weakness.

Medication side effects

Listed below are some medications and treatments that can lead to leg weakness by affecting the muscles in your legs.

• Cholesterol-reducing medications like statins
• Some types of chemotherapy for cancer or autoimmune diseases
• Anti-inflammatory medications like steroids

This list does not constitute medical advice and may not accurately represent what you have.

Beriberi (adult)

A low level of vitamin B1 (thiamin) can cause damage to the heart, brain and nerves. This can result in symptoms like weakness, amnesia, nerve pain and symptoms of heart failure like swelling of limbs and shortness of breath.

Rarity: Ultra rare

Top Symptoms: abdominal pain (stomach ache), shortness of breath, anxiety, chest pain, distal numbness

Urgency: Hospital emergency room

Cauda equina syndrome

Although leg pain is common and usually goes away without surgery, cauda equina syndrome, a rare disorder affecting the bundle of nerve roots (cauda equina) at the lower (lumbar) end of the spinal cord, is a surgical emergency.

Rarity: Ultra rare

Top Symptoms: lower back pain, back pain that shoots to the butt, back pain that shoots down the leg, leg weakness, thigh numbness

Urgency: Emergency medical service

Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, or WKS, is a neurologic disorder. The names represent the acute stage of the illness, called Wernicke’s Encephalopathy, and the chronic stage, called Korsakoff Syndrome.

WKS is caused by a deficiency of thiamine, or vitamin B1. It is most often seen in alcoholics; anyone who has had a poor diet, eating disorder, or weight-loss surgery; and those with serious illness such as cancer or AIDS.

Acute symptoms are primarily physical and include abnormal, uncoordinated walking and standing; flickering eye movements called nystagmus; and damage to the heart and nervous system. There may also be profound drowsiness that can lead to coma.

Chronic symptoms are primarily mental and include short-term memory loss and dementia-like behavior.

The acute stages of WKS can be a life-threatening medical emergency. Take the patient to the emergency room or call 9-1-1.

Diagnosis is made through physical examination and blood tests.

Treatment involves simply adding thiamine supplements to the diet, as well as treating any remaining symptoms to aid in recovery.

Rarity: Rare

Top Symptoms: nausea or vomiting, leg numbness, feeling confused and not making sense while talking, amnesia, jerky, unsteady, or uncoordinated walk

Urgency: Hospital emergency room

Stroke or tia (transient ischemic attack)

Transient ischemic attack, or TIA, is sometimes called a “mini stroke” or a “warning stroke. ” Any stroke means that blood flow somewhere in the brain has been blocked by a clot.

Risk factors include smoking, obesity, and cardiovascular disease, though anyone can experience a TIA.

Symptoms are “transient,” meaning they come and go within minutes because the clot dissolves or moves on its own. Stroke symptoms include weakness, numbness, and paralysis on one side of the face and/or body; slurred speech; abnormal vision; and sudden, severe headache.

A TIA does not cause permanent damage because it is over quickly. However, the patient must get treatment because a TIA is a warning that a more damaging stroke is likely to occur. Take the patient to the emergency room or call 9-1-1.

Diagnosis is made through patient history; physical examination; CT scan or MRI; and electrocardiogram.

Treatment includes anticoagulant medication to prevent further clots. Surgery to clear some of the arteries may also be recommended.

Rarity: Common

Top Symptoms: dizziness, leg numbness, arm numbness, new headache, stiff neck

Symptoms that never occur with stroke or tia (transient ischemic attack): bilateral weakness

Urgency: Emergency medical service

Spinal stenosis

The spine, or backbone, protects the spinal cord and allows people to stand and bend. Spinal stenosis causes narrowing in the spine. The narrowing puts pressure on nerves and the spinal cord and can cause pain.

Next steps including visiting a primary care physician. For this condition, a physician might suggest further investigation including imaging of the spine. Treatments may include medications, physical therapy, or braces. For severe cases, surgery is sometimes recommended.

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy is an inherited disorder that involves varying muscle weakness and wasting.

You should visit your primary care physician to confirm the diagnosis and discuss treatment options for managing symptoms.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy refers to a closely related group of conditions that cause inflammation of muscle tissue.

Make an appointment with a physician to determine exactly what subtype of inflammatory myopathy you are experiencing. The physician will most likely prescribe a oral steroid to reduce inflammation and put in an IV to protect the kidneys.

Herniated (slipped) disk in the back

A herniated, ruptured, or “slipped” disc means that a vertebral disc – one of the soft pads of tissue that sit between each of the vertebral bones – has becomes squeezed out of shape. Its cushioning material has been forced against, and possibly through, the ring of fibrous tissue that normally contains it. This causes pain, numbness, and weakness in the legs.

The normal aging process causes the discs lose moisture and become thinner, making them more vulnerable to “slipping.”

Most susceptible are men from ages 30 to 50. Smoking, obesity, lack of exercise, and improper lifting are also risk factors.

Symptoms include pain, weakness, numbness, and tingling in the back, leg, and foot.

Diagnosis is made through patient history, neurological examination, and MRI scan.

Treatment begins with rest, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, physical therapy, and sometimes epidural steroid injections into the back to ease pain and inflammation.

Surgery to remove the herniated part of the disc – the part that was squeezed out of place – can also be helpful.

Rarity: Common

Top Symptoms: lower back pain, moderate back pain, back pain that shoots down the leg, back pain that gets worse when sitting, leg weakness

Urgency: Primary care doctor

Chronic idiopathic peripheral neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy refers to the feeling of numbness, tingling, and pins-and-needles sensation in the feet. Idiopathic means the cause is not known, and chronic means the condition is ongoing without getting better or worse.

The condition is most often found in people over age 60. Idiopathic neuropathy has no known cause.

Symptoms include uncomfortable numbness and tingling in the feet; difficulty standing or walking due to pain and lack of normal sensitivity; and weakness and cramping in the muscles of the feet and ankles.

Peripheral neuropathy can greatly interfere with quality of life, so a medical provider should be seen in order to treat the symptoms and reduce the discomfort.

Diagnosis is made through physical examination; blood tests to rule out other conditions; and neurologic and muscle studies such as electromyography.

Treatment involves over-the-counter pain relievers; prescription pain relievers to manage more severe pain; physical therapy and safety measures to compensate for loss of sensation in the feet; and therapeutic footwear to help with balance and walking.

Rarity: Rare

Top Symptoms: distal numbness, muscle aches, joint stiffness, numbness on both sides of body, loss of muscle mass

Urgency: Primary care doctor

Cauda equina syndrome (rapid-onset)

Although leg pain is common and usually goes away without surgery, cauda equina syndrome, a rare disorder affecting the bundle of nerve roots (cauda equina) at the lower (lumbar) end of the spinal cord, is a surgical emergency.

Call 911 immediately for an ambulance.

Beriberi

A low level of vitamin B1 (thiamin) can cause damage to the heart, brain and nerves. This can result in symptoms like weakness, amnesia, nerve pain and symptoms of heart failure like swelling of limbs and shortness of breath.

You should seek immediate medical care at an ER. You may need to be admitted to the hospital to get treatment with a vitamin B1 infusion.

Becker muscular dystrophy

Becker muscular dystrophy is an inherited disorder that involves slowly worsening muscle weakness of the legs and pelvis

You should visit your primary care physician to confirm the diagnosis and discuss treatment options for managing symptoms.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is also called ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It is a degenerative disease that destroys nerve cells, which eventually leads to loss of control over muscle function.

The cause of ALS is not known. It may be inherited and/or due to a chemical imbalance, faulty autoimmune response, or exposure to toxic environmental agents.

Symptoms include weakness; difficulty with speaking, swallowing, walking, or using the hands; and muscle cramps. The muscles of the arms, hands, legs, and feet are most involved at first. It does not affect the senses or a person’s mental ability.

ALS is progressive, meaning it worsens over time. There is no cure, but supportive care can keep the patient comfortable and improve quality of life.

Diagnosis is made through several tests including blood tests; urine tests; MRI; electromyography (EMG) to measure muscle activity; nerve conduction studies; and sometimes muscle biopsy or spinal tap (lumbar puncture.)

Treatment involves medications to both slow the progression of the disease and ease the symptoms; respiratory therapy; physical therapy; occupational therapy; and psychological support.

• Are you allergic to anything?
• Do your symptoms improve with Ibuprofen/Advil/Motrin, known as NSAIDs?
• Have a friend stand across from you and hold out a finger. Touch that finger and then touch your nose. Move the target finger around and start going faster. Are you having trouble?
• Do you find yourself getting weaker and weaker?

Self-diagnose with our free Buoy Assistant if you answer yes on any of these questions.

why does it occur and what to do about it?

Contents

• 1 Causes
• 2 Symptoms
• 3 How to deal with “wobbly feet”
• 4 Diagnosis
• 5 Treatment
• 6 Profile aktika

Weakness in the legs is felt by people after a hard day at work. This is a normal reaction to prolonged physical activity. But in some cases, the causes of weakness in the legs lie in other factors that are not associated with physical activity. In such a situation, you need to visit a doctor as soon as possible, determine why there is a feeling of cotton legs and start timely therapy.

Causes of development

Feeling of weakness in the legs can be caused by various pathologies of the lower extremities. Most often, this symptom accompanies the development of varicose veins. In this case, fatigue appears immediately after physical exertion, complemented by numbness, burning and itching of the surface of the epidermis.

Vascular diseases of a neurological nature also cause weakness in the muscles of the legs. Such diseases are dangerous, because in the advanced stage they can provoke the development of a stroke or heart attack. This symptom can be supplemented by transient ischemic attacks, it looks like a sudden weakness in the legs, which quickly disappears on its own. Heart attack and stroke can occur not only in brain tissue, such pathological processes can also affect the spinal cord.

Such processes are dangerous and can cause disability in a person. Recovery is often laborious and lengthy. Weakness may accompany the development of myocardial infarction. With such a disease, there is additional pain in the epigastric region, flatulence, bouts of nausea. Symptoms are blurred, so making a diagnosis is not always easy.

In diseases of the vascular system, veins or arteries that are located on the lower extremities often suffer. With chronic venous insufficiency, weakness and pain occur. The veins swell, itch, there is a burning sensation. A complication of such processes can be thrombosis, thromboembolism. It threatens health and life. Atherosclerotic formations on the walls of blood vessels are one of the common causes of lameness in the elderly. Another pathology, against which weakness and wadded legs occur, is obliterating endarteritis. It is accompanied by narrowing of the walls of blood vessels. Additionally, the following clinical signs appear:

• discoloration of the epidermis;
• puffiness.

Wadded feet may be due to muscle fatigue. In some situations, such a symptom appears with overwork. But there are certain pathological processes that are accompanied by a disorder in the transmission of neuromuscular impulses. Myopathy and myositis are characterized by direct damage to muscle fibers. If amyotrophic sclerosis and amyotrophy develop, neurons and muscles die.

Diabetes mellitus is often accompanied by the development of polyneuropathy. This is accompanied by weakness in the limbs, numbness, heaviness, deterioration of sensitivity. The same clinical picture occurs with the development of funicular myelosis, which is manifested by a deterioration in the sensitivity of the tissues of the spinal cord.

There are many neurological diagnoses that are accompanied by weakness in the lower extremities. This condition is called polyneuropathy. It can be caused by viral or infectious diseases, tick bites, cytomegalovirus, oncological processes, diphtheria, intoxication. Brain diseases and craniocerebral injuries are accompanied by multiple negative symptoms. Weakness can occur with:

• neoplasm or metastases in brain tissues;
• hypertension of various etiologies;
• multiple sclerosis;
• infectious diseases;
• Bechterew’s disease;
• scleroderma.

Symptoms

The emotional state of a person largely affects his health. The autonomic nervous system creates certain body reactions to external stimuli. As a result, the following symptoms appear:

• increased heart rate;
• rapid breathing;
• increased peristalsis of the digestive system;
• increases the rate of blood circulation.

Why the legs are wobbly can be influenced by such psychological or emotional negative processes:

• panic attack;
• hysteroid attack;
• prolonged stress;
• increased anxiety;
• depression;
• psychotrauma;
• neurocirculatory dystonia.

In diseases of the articular apparatus, the legs may also be cottony. Pathological changes develop, in which articular tissues are destroyed. Additionally, swelling, soreness appears, movements become limited. These diseases include:0003

• gout;
• rheumatoid arthritis;
• polyarthritis;
• arthrosis.

In diseases of the spine, similar symptoms also appear. This can manifest itself as spondylitis, spondylolisthesis, neoplasms in tissues. If the legs become wadded when walking, severe weakness occurs, this may be a symptom of osteoporosis, demineralization of bone tissue, bone tumors. Increased stress also causes soreness and fatigue in the muscles. This applies not only to physical activity. Limbs suffer from obesity, in the third trimester of pregnancy, with lymphostasis.

Other causes of leg weakness and pain include:

1. Prolonged stress.
2. Intoxication of the body, which can occur with infections, colds, sunstroke, food poisoning.
3. Iron deficiency anemia. Additionally, such symptoms appear – shortness of breath, numbness of the extremities, circulatory disorders.
4. Deficiency of minerals – calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium. This disrupts the water-salt balance and the transmission of nerve impulses.
5. Age category. With age, muscle mass decreases. Trembling and weakness in the limbs are more often observed after the age of 65 years.
6. The course of taking certain medications – corticosteroids, interferons.
7. Nerve entrapment.
8. Diabetes mellitus.
9. Thyroid hormone deficiency.
10. Dementia.

How to deal with “wobbly” legs

To get rid of such a symptom, it is necessary to establish the exact cause of its occurrence. Self-treatment is unacceptable. You need to see a doctor and undergo a complete examination to find out what such a condition as cotton legs means. If it is fatigue after exercise, you can lie down with your legs elevated on a hill. A bath of cold water, a cooling ointment, may also help.

Diagnostics

If you have weakness in your legs, you should visit a phlebologist. The doctor will prescribe the following types of diagnostics:

• ultrasound examination;
• dopplerography;
• duplex scanning;
• clinical diagnostics of blood;
• blood test for sugar and hormones.

X-ray, computed tomography, if necessary. After the examinations passed, a diagnosis is made, but weakness in the legs is only a concomitant symptom, so the treatment should be comprehensive.

Treatment

Treatment of weakness in the legs due to the cause of this condition. Most often, this symptom accompanies the development of varicose veins. In this case, compression therapy and procedures to eliminate the cause of the disease are prescribed. In the advanced form of the disease, endovascular intervention can be performed. Treatment will restore blood microcirculation and get rid of weakness in the legs.

Treatment of cottony feet is always aimed at eliminating the cause. If it is obesity, the correct diet is prescribed. For diabetes, autoimmune diseases, diseases of the spine or joints, a treatment regimen is prescribed that will help reduce unpleasant manifestations.

Prevention

To prevent weakness in the lower extremities, doctors recommend:

• walk more – especially for obese people and those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, you can also sign up for swimming, gymnastics or yoga;
• perform therapeutic exercises to strengthen muscles;
• change the diet – eat more fresh vegetables, fruits, dairy products, cereals;
• limit the intake of sugar and foods high in sucrose;
• limit the consumption of alcoholic beverages;
• deal with emotional stress.

This symptom is non-specific, so it is impossible to make a correct diagnosis only on the basis of complaints and external examination. Additional diagnostics are always needed. Therefore, if any suspicious symptoms appear, you should contact a phlebologist, neurologist or therapist.

7 dangerous diseases, the symptom of which may be weakness in the legs

• Health

Your legs are weak, you feel like you are about to fall. A similar feeling often occurs before fainting or with fever. But sometimes recurring weakness is a sign of severe pathologies of the nervous system.

April 28, 2022

Source:

Getty Images

Almost everyone has experienced weakness in their legs in their lives. Most often, these symptoms are a normal reaction of the body to excessive physical activity – long walking, training in the gym, standing or working with weights.

Also, weakness in the legs can be a symptom of infectious diseases, damage to the vascular system of the legs, endocrine, rheumatological diseases, oncological processes, depression, etc. But there is weakness in the legs due to serious and rather dangerous diseases of the nervous system. “Doctor Peter” together with a neurologist, algologist Olga Larionova discussed some of them.

1. Stroke in the area of ​​the brain

This is an acute disorder of cerebral circulation (ACV), which is characterized by the sudden onset of neurological symptoms such as:

• weakness in the leg and arm on one side,

• numbness of one half of the body,

• speech impairment or incomprehension of spoken speech,

• facial asymmetry – one corner of the mouth drops, the person cannot smile,

• dizziness,

• disturbance of balance, gait,

Read also

2. Spinal stroke

In addition to cerebral stroke, there are spinal strokes – this is an acute violation of the spinal circulation. Spinal cord stroke is much more common than people think. The symptoms of this disease are very diverse and depend on the level at which the circulatory disorder occurred (cervical, thoracic or lumbar spinal cord).

Most often it occurs in the lower back. Harbingers of a stroke:

1. transient weakness of the lower or upper limbs,

2. transient disturbance of sensation,

3. transient dysfunction of the pelvic organs – incontinence or, conversely, retention of urine and feces.

The stroke itself develops acutely. It is accompanied by pain in the spine, which disappears soon after the development of sensory disturbances and weakness in the legs and / or arms, dysfunction of the pelvic organs.

Source:

Getty Images

3. Bulk formations (tumors) of the brain and spinal cord

Symptoms of tumor formation develop subacutely – within a few weeks, sometimes months. They depend on the size, localization, growth rate and swelling of the tissues around the tumor. One of the signs of a brain tumor is an increase in intracranial pressure and manifests itself: and behavior of the patient. One of the signs of slow-growing tumors are epileptic seizures that have arisen for the first time in life.

Tumors of the spinal cord, like stroke, depend on the level of damage to the spinal cord. May present with back pain, weakness in the legs or arms, loss of sensation in the body below the level of injury, and dysfunction of the pelvic organs.

There are cases when tumors of the brain and spinal cord are manifested by symptoms of a stroke and require careful additional examination.

It is worth remembering that in addition to primary brain tumors, metastases to the brain, spinal cord and spine are very common – this is a focus or foci of pathological cells of tumors of other organs when they move through the blood and lymphatic vessels to the brain tissue.

See also

4. Multiple sclerosis

This is one of the demyelinating diseases of the nervous system – a group of diseases in which the myelin sheath of the nerves is damaged. Weakness in one leg or both at once may be a sign of the onset of one of them. The classic form of multiple sclerosis (MS) is the Charcot triad:

1. combination of nystagmus (involuntary oscillatory eye movements),

2. scanned speech (slow speech with pronunciation of words in syllables),

3. intentional trembling (trembling of the limbs when performing purposeful movements, aggravated when approaching the target).

Other symptoms of MS include sudden blurred vision, unsteadiness when walking, impaired sensation in the body, dysfunction of the pelvic organs, dizziness. Depending on the nature of the course, the symptoms of the disease can be manifested by rare exacerbations alternating with remission (when there are no symptoms, sometimes for a long time), and the affected areas of the brain are restored both partially and completely. Symptoms may appear slowly and imperceptibly and progress steadily leading to rapid disability of the patient.

5. Migraine

This is a primary headache caused by a conflict between the vessels and nerves of the head. Migraine has many variations . One of them is familial hemiplegic migraine – a type of migraine with aura, which is manifested by headache and weakness in the arm and leg on one side, lasting from several hours to several days. It is also characterized by the presence of relatives of the 1st and 2nd degree of kinship (mother, father, grandmother) with signs of a similar migraine with aura.

6. Migraine infarction of the brain (migraine stroke)

This is a complication of migraine, which is characterized by the presence of a headache with aura that persists for more than 60 minutes, the presence of long-term attacks of migraine with aura (but of a shorter duration), confirmation of a stroke on MRI or CT.

More common in patients with migraine with aura in combination with an additional risk factor – mitral valve prolapse and taking combined oral contraceptives.