Nerve damage, thrombosis, and deficiency of vitamins are some of the common reasons behind burning sensation in legs. Find out details about the causes and treatments in the following write-up.

Pain may sometimes be accompanied by a burning sensation which might affect your daily life. It may prevent you from performing simple day-to-day tasks comfortably. Hence, one needs to understand the reason behind the sensation and should accordingly get it treated.

Causes
We can divide all the causes in following categories:

➀ Nerve Damage or Neuropathy
Nerve damage can be a result of many health conditions and disorders. Due to nerve damage, the brain does not receives proper signals. Hence you may feel numbness and burning sensation in that part of the body without any wounds and injuries. Following are some of the disorders and conditions which may cause nerve damage.

▶ Sciatica: Burning sensation is quite common in sciatica patients. It is defined as the pain caused due to the irritation of the sciatic nerve. The sensation is typically felt from the lower back, radiating towards the thigh and knee.

▶ Diabetes: Chronic diabetes increases your chances of suffering burning sensation. The reason is that diabetes affects your nerves over a prolonged period of time. The affected nerve leads to pain and numbness in limbs and other parts of the body.

▶ Deficiency of Vitamins: Deficiency of vitamin B12 causes adverse effects on the nerves. It also alters the process of energy production and metabolism in the body. If nerves supplying vitamins to the legs get affected, it may cause a burning or tingling sensation during pregnancy as the body generally suffers from insufficiency of nutrients.

▶ Other Causes of Neuropathy

• HIV/AIDS
• Hypothyroidism
• Heavy metal poisoning
• Kidney diseases
• Alcohol abuse
• Side effects of drugs
• Vasculitis

➁ Improper Blood Flow
There may be a lot of reasons behind improper blood flow. Formation of a blood clot in any of the blood vessels present deep inside the leg may give rise to a burning sensation. Such a condition is known as deep vein thrombosis. The discomfort increases when you walk, lift weights, climb stairs, etc. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) may also cause restricted blood flow.

➂ Others Causes
There are many other factors also which may be responsible for the burning or tingling sensation in muscles. Some of them are over exercise, nerve compression, fibromyalgia, tendonitis, nerve trauma, strain, varicose veins, bone fracture, etc. Some infections like athlete's foot which is caused due to a fungus may also result in such sensation in legs.

Treatment

• Take rest and sleep well. This assists the body's natural process of healing and restoring the normal state.
• If diabetes is the underlying factor, bring the blood sugar level under control.
• Put a pillow under the affected leg. Keep it in an elevated position while you sleep or rest.
• Have a glass of water with a tablespoon of fenugreek seeds soaked in it overnight.
• Apply warm mustard or olive oil on the affected leg. Massage gently in a circular motion. To obtain faster results, do it before bedtime.
• Add 2-3 teaspoons of cod liver oil to your daily diet. This is a general remedy for all kinds of leg pain.
• Decrease the intake of alcohol, tobacco and other toxic substances.
• Take help of certain yoga poses that are especially meant to relieve leg discomfort. Some of them are janusandhi, gomukhasana, uttanpadasana, etc.
• You can easily get vitamin B12 capsules or injections which can help you to meet your body's requirement.
• Rub the leg with an ice bag for about 10 minutes. Do it 3-4 times a day till you get relief.
• Take a cotton towel and warm it up. Wrap it around your leg, and leave it on for about 15 minutes. Do it twice a day.
• Take non-prescription pain killers to get instant relief from the burning sensation in your legs.

The above suggested home remedies are highly efficacious. Many patients have got complete relief by taking enough rest and following the given home treatment measures. However, there have been a number of cases where these home remedies failed to relieve the discomfort and burning sensation. If you happen to be one amongst such unfortunate case, or have developed swelling and blue or red color on your leg, you should visit a doctor as soon as possible. Timely medical assistance will restore the healthy state of your legs.

Disclaimer: This Buzzle article is for informative purposes only, and should not be used as a replacement for expert medical advice.