What Makes Your Legs Feel Heavy? And How to Treat Heavy Legs?

What makes your legs feel heavy?

Leg heaviness is a common condition that can affect lots of people. Most people experience heavy and tired legs or achy legs at various points. If you have heavy and tired legs after a particularly strenuous workout or physical activity, for example, you don’t need to worry. But if you have persistent leg heaviness, you might have a deeper circulatory problem. You must identify the possible signs and symptoms of underlying conditions and visit a reliable medical center for vein treatment in New York.

Our medical center for vein treatment in New York is led by highly-skilled and board-certified vein doctors specializing in cutting-edge minimally invasive procedures. Our vein doctors use cutting-edge diagnostic tools to visualize the blood flow in your leg veins, diagnose the root cause of your heavy and tired legs, and curate a personalized vein treatment plan. You can find our vein doctors in Midtown Manhattan, New York, and you may schedule an appointment today.

Below, we describe the potential underlying causes of leg heaviness.

Excessive Training

Excessive training is one of the most common reasons for leg heaviness. Your muscles need to relax between workouts to heal and recover for the next session. And while working out, you need to increase the level of exertion gradually, giving your legs enough time to get used to more stress. Overtraining can lead to increased leg heaviness and exhaustion — that’s perfectly normal. Just give your legs time to heal and recover before your next session.

What makes your legs feel heavy? Is it pregnancy, excessive training, chronic venous insufficiency, or varicose veins? We answer your questions about leg heaviness.

Peripheral Arterial Disease

Peripheral arterial disease is a medical condition wherein the accumulation of fat within the arteries can negatively affect blood circulation. When your arteries are clogged, oxygenated blood can’t flow freely into various parts of the body. When the arteries carrying blood to the legs are blocked, you experience the symptoms of leg heaviness and leg swelling.

Obesity

Obesity is one of the leading risk factors for leg heaviness. When you carry more weight in your body, you place more pressure on your bones, joints, muscles, and tendons in the legs, especially if you spend long periods sitting or standing still. The increased pressure on your legs can lead to leg heaviness and achy legs.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy leads to numerous physiological changes within the body that may contribute to leg heaviness. The increased mass in your body applies more pressure on the legs, leading to achy sensations. Your body may also produce an increased volume of estrogen and progesterone hormones, which can weaken the vein valves and increase water retention in the body, leading to an increased risk of leg heaviness.

Varicose Veins

Varicose veins are damaged blood vessels with excess blood accumulation. When your vein valves are weakened or malfunctioning, blood flows backward and accumulates in the leg veins, leading to dilated and bulging varicose veins. The presence of varicose veins can lead to increased blood pressure in your leg veins, leading to leg heaviness.

Restless Leg Syndrome

Restless leg syndrome is a medical condition wherein you have an insatiable urge to move and shake your legs. The urge to shake your legs might increase at night or after long periods of sitting or standing still. Restless leg syndrome can exhaust your legs, leading to increased sensations of leg heaviness and aching legs.

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Chronic Venous Insufficiency

Chronic venous insufficiency is the primary root cause of persistent leg heaviness. Venous insufficiency is a medical condition wherein the collapse of vein valves leads to backward blood circulation and the accumulation of blood in the leg veins, leading to dilated veins and varicose veins. Venous insufficiency is responsible for most vein problems, including spider veins, varicose veins, restless leg syndrome, and leg heaviness.

What are the best treatments for heavy legs?

If you have persistent leg heaviness because of chronic venous insufficiency or other vein-related conditions, you need to consult a reliable vein doctor in New York. The vein doctor will administer ultrasound scans to visualize the blood flow in your leg veins, diagnose vein disease, and curate a personalized vein treatment plan. There’s no way to treat vein disease without medical intervention — lifestyle changes and home remedies can simply alleviate leg heaviness temporarily.

Below, we highlight the most effective lifestyle changes and minimally invasive procedures for leg heaviness. But please note that lifestyle changes can’t treat vein disease — they can only reduce the symptoms of venous insufficiency, such as leg heaviness.

Lifestyle Changes:

  • Wear Compression Stockings: Compression stockings apply pressure on the leg veins to push the accumulated blood in the legs to the heart and reduce leg pain.
  • Cardiovascular Exercises: Low-intensity cardiovascular exercises, such as running, swimming, and cycling, improve blood circulation to the heart and reduce leg heaviness.
  • Elevate Your Legs: When you elevate your legs above your heart’s level, the blood flows towards the heart and reduces the pressure on your leg veins.
  • Improve Your Diet: If you have leg heaviness, you should maintain a high-fiber diet and stay hydrated. This will improve blood circulation and reduce leg heaviness.

Minimally Invasive Vein Treatments:

  • Radiofrequency Ablation: The vein doctor generates thermal energy to collapse the diseased saphenous vein responsible for your vein problems.
  • Laser Ablation: The vein doctor generates laser energy to destroy the problematic vein responsible for your vein problems and restore optimal blood circulation.
  • VenaSeal: The vein physician injects a medical-grade adhesive into the diseased saphenous vein to seal its walls shut and restore optimal blood flow to the heart.
  • ClariVein: The vein physician inserts a specialized catheter with a rotating wire tip into the diseased vein to destroy its walls and reroute accumulated blood into healthier veins.
  • Ambulatory Phlebectomy: The vein doctor manually extracts the superficial varicose veins through small incisions on the skin’s surface.

MEET OUR NEW YORK

VEIN SPECIALISTS

Dr.MICHAEL NGUYEN

Veins Specialist NYC

He leads the team of vein doctors offering the highest level of care at our Spider and Varicose Vein Treatment Center NYC.

HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL

Dr. JUAN D. MONTOYA

Veins Specialists NYC

Highly sought after for his expertise and excellent outcomes in Vein Treatments in Manhattan.

YALE MEDICAL SCHOOL

Dr. SAREH RAJAEE

Veins Specialists NYC

She has extensive experience with vein performing procedures based on New York City.

 HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL

Dr. Caroline Novak

Veins Specialists NYC

She is an Internal Medicine and Vein Disease specialist with experience in minimally invasive treatments at our Long Island clinic.

  NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

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