How To Lose Weight When Your Legs Hurt

Some lose weight to fit in their old jeans; some are trying to look their best for a vacation. Neither of those are wrong goals, but if you’re reading this, you have something else on your mind.

There’s a direct link between being overweight and chronic pain, and most often, pain symptoms settle in your lower extremities, where the brunt of your body weight is felt.

Our team at Advanced Vascular Solutions has seen firsthand the burden of lingering leg pain, so we want to help you address it from as many angles as possible. In addition to offering you the best, most advanced treatments, we also walk alongside you to support a healthier lifestyle.

Heavy Legs: Causes, Home Remedies, And Relief

Here’s a closer look at exactly how your legs respond to extra weight and how you can start shedding the pounds safely.

There are more than a few ways your weight impacts your legs. For starters, a higher body weight causes the joints and muscles in your legs to bear excess stress as you move. But your musculoskeletal system isn’t the only one at risk —your cardiovascular system is, too.

Increased pressure from excessive weight can damage the walls and valves of your veins, impacting the flow of blood returning to your heart and lungs. As your veins cave under the pressure, you can develop painful conditions like chronic venous insufficiency and varicose veins.

Can Losing Weight Help Relieve Knee Pain?: Florida Pain Medicine:

Peripheral arterial disease is another vascular condition that stems from a significant buildup of plaque (cholesterol) along the walls of your blood vessels, which can make movement painful. According to the American Heart Association , those who are obese are more at risk for peripheral arterial disease and are, therefore, more at risk for leg pain.

The vascular conditions we listed above often need specialized treatments, including radiofrequency ablation, VenaSeal™ Closure System, or, in severe cases, angioplasty or bypass surgery.

However, we always seek to treat the underlying cause or causes rather than address symptoms superficially, which usually involves adjusting your lifestyle.

Is Poor Circulation Halting Your Weight Loss?

Losing weight may not be a cure for your painful vascular problems, but it can absolutely help. Even losing a few pounds of weight can significantly reduce the pressure on your veins and alleviate some of your pain.

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to lose weight —that’s why you should always start your weight loss journey in our office. We can point you in the right direction and guide you based on your unique situation.

If you’re concerned that increasing your activity will further stress your veins, then you’d be right —but not if you approach exercise in the right way.

Why Do My Legs Feel Heavy When Running?

Start slowly with low-impact activities like swimming, yoga, walking, and tai chi. Even gentle exercise can get your heart rate up and bring the number on your scale down.

At Advanced Vascular Solutions, we also take a peek under the hood of your life and help you identify habits that are wreaking havoc on your vein health. For instance, if you want less leg pain and healthier veins, you shouldn't:

We have all the knowledge and expertise you need to get your weight in check and start feeling less leg pain. When you’re ready, call our friendly staff or use our online booking tool to schedule a consultation with us today. We proudly serve patients in the Melbourne and Sebastian, Florida area.

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Leg Pain When You Walk? Don't Ignore It

There was a time when you were active and mobile; now, peripheral arterial disease makes the simplest movements painful. But there's a way to maintain a healthy lifestyle despite your cardiovascular condition. We've got all the details for you here.

Increased risk for a health condition doesn’t mean you’re doomed, especially if you start taking steps to improve your health today. Find out more about chronic vein insufficiency and how a few simple strategies can keep it at bay.

When you have heart disease, you might think the last thing your heart needs is to work harder, but exercise is actually one of the best medicines. Here, we explain how to get your blood pumping with heart disease in mind.Yes, any access body weight means added pressure to your knees, which causes increased wear and tear on your joints. This could eventually lead to osteoarthritis, the most common joint disorder. 

How To Lose Weight With A Broken Leg

Harvard explained the body weight to knee pressure as follows, “When you walk across level ground, the force on your knees is the equivalent of 1½ times your body weight.” The force is even greater when ambulating up or down stairs or walking up an incline.” 

To put this in perspective, when you go up a flight of stairs, this adds two to three times of your body weight across your lower extremities. That’s a lot of weight! Your knees and hips are bearing most of this weight which affects the cartilage in your joints. Damage to the cartilage can lead to pain, stiffness, a decrease in ROM, swelling, and even the need to seek medical attention.

Yes, obesity can cause leg weakness. People who are overweight generally have weaker quadriceps muscles which often leads to compensations in gait (walking/ambulating). For instance, someone who is obese may walk with their knee locked straight, into extension, to reduce the forces applied to their lower extremities.

When Walking Makes Your Legs Hurt

Absolutely, losing a few pounds is one of the most important factors in managing the effects of Osteoarthritis of the knee and hip joints. Osteoarthritis (OA) occurs when the cartilage in our joints breaks down which then causes our bones to rub together. That is why people often describe this form of arthritis as the “wear and tear” or “degenerative” arthritis. 

Studies have shown that people who are obese or overweight are more likely to have osteoarthritis than those who are not. Losing even just a little bit of weight would be beneficial for your lower extremities and place less stress/load on your joints.

Weight loss would help decrease the amount of fat cells and reduce the symptoms of inflammation. Since inflammation with obesity is considered chronic inflammation, it does not simply resolve on its own. Luckily, reducing excess weight usually comes hand and hand with decreased inflammation.

Leg Pain Causes And How To Treat It

Chronic inflammation can be seen with obese people due to an excess amount of fat cells. Your blood supply becomes compromised which results in reduced oxygen delivery to cells.  This can cause cell death due to the increase in fat cells in your body.

Leg or feet swelling or inflammation can usually be treated by icing and elevating your affected lower extremity above your heart while laying on your back. Exercising or moving your legs helps promote proper blood flow which also assists with swelling. Moving around frequently after traveling far distances is beneficial for the same reasons. Stockings or compression socks can help decrease swelling as well. Lastly, as you may know by now, losing weight and maintaining a healthy diet would not only be beneficial for swelling but also for your joints, muscle weakness, and overall wellbeing.

If you have leg or joint pain, the Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute can help. The JOI team has the expertise and technological advances to get you back in action! 

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If you would like to schedule an appointment with a JOI leg or joint specialist, JOI Physicians continue to offer online new patient appointments. This is another option to make it more convenient to make new patient appointments with less phone hold times. Follow the link below to select your JOI MD and schedule online.