What Causes Pain In Foot And Behind The Legs While Doing Regular Activities?

Posted on Wed, 13 Apr 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 Answered on

Thu, 9 Jun 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I have the following symptoms that have increased since the beginning of 2016. I've begun to have pain in both feet, ankles and the backs of my legs all the way up to my waist. The pain is constant when I'm sitting, standing and walking to the point that I can no longer take walks without increased pain which on a scale of 1 to 10 is about 7. At night I take two 50mg of prescribed tRAMadol for pain which helps me sleep. I don't need an alarm clock to wake me up because I experience the pain again when the medication wears off and the pain in my feet and legs return. Even with the pain pills I do have soreness in my feet some times when I awaken but it is very mild. I do not have any numbness. I did read that tramadol can cause depression which I seem to have.

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
need to rule out spine problems

Detailed Answer:
Hi

Thanks for your query. I understand your concerns.

From your history I think one of the possibilities is a spine problem. Spine problems can cause nerve root compression and cause this kind of lower limb pains. Is there any tingling or numbness sensation?

Just taking tramadol will not solve the problem. You should get yourself examined by a doctor, look for any obvious causes, and then proceed with investigations like X-ray, MRI and nerve conduction tests. Then appropriate treatment can be provided.

The depression is probably related to worsened quality of life from the pain and not tramadol. So again, remedy needs to be sought for the primary problem.

Hope this helps.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Indranil Ghosh (13 hours later)

Thank you for your input about spine problems. I will share that with my physician when I see him this month.

In May of 2015 I was walking daily on a on various dirt trails with no problems. even up and down steep trails.

Later, when standing for any length of time I had to alternate the pressure from one foot to the other or sit down.

In answer to your question, there isn't any tingling or numbness. The situation with pain increased after I developed a fungus under my left foot toenail and the toenail had to be amputated. Up until that time I was walking fairly regular with little if any pain.

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
still could be spine problems

Detailed Answer:
Maybe because of postural problems the spine got hurt. Though the toenail has not directly caused this, it could have contributed by causing postural anomaly due to pain.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar