Leg pain and lower leg pain are problems our podiatrists treat at our friendly, award-winning Northwest Indiana podiatry office (we have won the “Best Podiatrist” award from the Post-Tribune and the “Best of the Region” award from the NWI Times repeatedly! Read patient reviews of our care by clicking here. To learn about Dr. Nirenberg read his biography by clicking here.
Leg pain can be related to the foot or foot pain can be related to the leg. Our northwest Indiana podiatrist office treat leg pain that is related to the foot. Pain in the lower leg can affect your ability to walk or exercise and may keep you awake at night.
Leg pain may be a sign of something simple that can be easily treated by our podiatrists or leg pain may be due to a more serious problem. Leg pain may occur as cramping, burning, tingling, shooting, stabbing, aching, throbbing, numbness, or just make your foot and leg feel “heavy” or weak. Leg pain may start abruptly or come on slowly over many weeks.
Common Leg Pain Problems
Some of the common leg pain issues we see are nerve pain problems, such as a pinched nerve or nerve entrapment in the leg. Pinched nerves in the leg may radiate to the foot and cause foot or ankle pain, or ankle weakness and make walking difficult.
Nerve problems of the leg, ankle and foot are commonly seen in our office and Dr. Nirenberg has done additional nerve training in treating nerve pain and pinched nerves. Some training was done with the renowned peripheral neurosurgeon Dr. Lee Dellon. To learn more about nerve issues we treat go to our Neuropathy and Nerve Pain page.
Leg pain may be related to foot drop or a drop foot problem. It is worth having Dr. Nirenberg evaluate your foot drop problem as he may be able to help. To learn more, visit our Foot Drop page.
Other common leg pain problems are shin splints and tendonitis. Leg pain due to tendonitis or shin splints is often treated by making your feet custom-made foot orthotics.
Our orthotics are special inserts that are made from a mold of your feet and they improve how your feet work and how you walk. In addition to making foot orthotics, our podiatrists may also prescribe medication, therapy and stretching exercises. To learn more, visit our foot orthotic page.
Tennis leg is another common leg pain problem our podiatrists see in our northwest Indiana office. The term “tennis leg” may be misleading as it can occur in other persons doing other sports, besides tennis. Tennis leg refers to pain in the calf muscle at the back of the ankle and leg due to a strain of the muscle.
Tennis leg can occur due to a number of reasons, however, often a quick contracture of the calf muscle occurs causing the muscle to be strained or “pulled” excessively. Treatment for tennis leg or a calf muscle injury often involves prescribing medication, therapy, and/or stretching, and sometimes making the person custom made foot orthotics to help them walk better.
Other Leg Pain Problems
Other leg pain issues that our northwest Indiana podiatrist office treats includes Achilles tendon pain and Achilles tendonitis (and Achilles tendon tears or ruptures). The Achilles tendon is located at the back of our heel and ankle and connects our foot to our calf muscle.
Achilles tendon tears or ruptures can occur due to trauma or tripping or falling. Our podiatry office sees people who are runners or walkers, particularly those on treadmills, fall and injure or tear their Achilles tendon. Sometimes the Achilles can tear from simple everyday walking.
Achilles tendon injury can cause pain, swelling or bruising around the back of the heel, and the heel may be painful or tender. The pain at the back of the heel may be mild or severe and often there is no bruising. The pain often worsens when the person walks.
Leg pain at the back of the heel may also be due to Achilles tendon bursitis or retrocalcaneal bursitis. Bursitis occurs when a small fluid-filled bag or sac at the back of your heel becomes inflamed or injured.
Bursitis occurs more commonly in runners and athletes but our podiatrist office sees it with people of all activity levels. If you have bursitis at the back of your heel, the heel may be swollen and painful. You may have stiffness and difficulty rising up onto your toes. Bursitis can be due to over-activity, aging, injury or someone banging into the back of your heel.
A lump, tumor or mass on your foot or at the back of the heel, ankle or lower leg may be a simple benign problem or in rare cases a malignancy. More commonly, our podiatrists find a mass to be a simple ganglion cyst, fat (lipoma) or a xanthoma.
A xanthoma is a mass of cholesterol that presents often as a nodule or bump near a tendon. These xanthoma nodules are often not a problem directly but sometimes do require treatment. Indirectly, you should be aware that the presence of a xanthoma could be a sign you have high cholesterol or high fat in your blood (high triglycerides) and these problems can lead to heart issues and should be addressed by your family doctor.
Our award winning podiatry practice treats leg pain that is related to the foot for people throughout Northwest Indiana. Should you need a podiatrist in Northwest Indiana or a podiatrist in Valparaiso, podiatrist in Highland, podiatrist in Schererville or in Merrillville, Schererville, Valparaiso, Dyer, Portage, podiatrist in Gary, podiatrist in Dyer, Highland, podiatrist in Griffith, Lowell, Wheatfield, DeMotte, Rensselaer, Kouts, Lafayette, Hobart, Hammond, Munster or Chesterton, call us today at (219)663-2273!
