Why are my legs suddenly weak? Sudden leg weakness can be a cause for concern and should prompt immediate medical attention. Some causes of sudden leg weakness include stroke (due to a decrease in oxygen reaching parts of the brain), spinal cord damage, or a pinched nerve coming out of the spinal cord.
Leg weakness can result from sciatica, spine conditions, neuromuscular disease, and certain medications. Sudden leg weakness may be a sign of stroke. Call 911 for any sudden muscle weakness, particularly if it occurs with facial drooping, severe headache, or slurred speech.
Weakness in your leg(s) may occur from problems in the nerves and/or muscles in your lower body and is usually treatable. Rarely, the underlying cause may be a serious medical condition requiring immediate medical attention. A feeling of sudden weakness in the legs may be due to nerve and/or muscle dysfunction.
Issues involving the spinal cord are the most prevalent source of leg weakness. A narrowed spinal canal, or stenosis, puts pressure on the nerves that travel through the spine. You might experience pain, tingling, heaviness or weakness in the legs.
Weak legs are a common problem in seniors because we lose muscle mass as we get older. As we age, we tend to become less active, and this causes a reduction in our muscle strength.
Feeling weakness in one or both of your legs is called monoparesis or paraparesis and can be a direct result of MS. You can also feel weakness in your arms and other areas of your body, but to feel it in your legs often occurs more frequently.
As a result, people with heart failure often feel weak (especially in their arms and legs), tired and have difficulty performing ordinary activities such as walking, climbing stairs or carrying groceries.
Claudication is a symptom of a narrowing or blockage of an artery. Typical symptoms of claudication include: Pain, a burning feeling, or a tired feeling in the legs and buttocks when you walk. Shiny, hairless, blotchy foot skin that may get sores.
High blood pressure is a risk factor for poor circulation, a condition also medically diagnosed as peripheral arterial disease, causing symptoms such as leg aches and pain, leg cramps in the calf or thighs while exercising or weakness in the legs.
Numbness of the face, body, or extremities (arms and legs) is often the first symptom experienced by those eventually diagnosed as having MS.
Abnormal sensations can be a common initial symptom of MS. This often takes the form of numbness or tingling in different parts of your body, such as the arms, legs or trunk, which typically spreads out over a few days.
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
Vitamin B1 deficiency can cause heavy and tired legs after running, muscle cramps, fatigue, and odd sensations in your legs and feet. Some foods rich in vitamin B1 include whole grains, vegetables, legumes, milk products, and meat.
Legs can “give way” due to muscle issues, especially while exercising. These instances are not cause for alarm typically. But if your legs give way and you lose complete control or feeling, the spinal nerves are likely the culprit. The nerves in our spine help deliver signals from our brain to the legs.
Those symptoms include loss of vision in an eye, loss of power in an arm or leg or a rising sense of numbness in the legs. Other common symptoms associated with MS include spasms, fatigue, depression, incontinence issues, sexual dysfunction, and walking difficulties.
Age. Most people diagnosed with MS, are between the ages of 20 and 50 years old, although MS can develop at any age.
Occasionally feeling that the legs are too heavy is normal and not cause for concern. However, if the feeling does not go away or occurs alongside other symptoms like pain and swelling, it may be time to see a doctor for a diagnosis.
The pain can feel like an aching, cramping or tiredness. It is often in the calves, but, depending on where the affected artery is, it could also be in your thighs or buttocks. You may notice other signs and symptoms in your legs or feet: cold calves and feet compared to the rest of your body.
Can a leg cramp be a sign of heart problems and/or a stroke? The answer is yes. Poor circulation in the legs' arteries can be a sign of poor circulation in heart arteries.
Segmental Doppler pressure testing checks different parts of your legs for narrowed or blocked arteries. This method is similar to ABI testing but uses blood pressure cuffs placed at thigh, calf, and ankle levels.