Lately, I've had a lot of leg pain, especially when sitting at my desk or standing in line at the store. Should I be concerned about this new aching?

Answer From Sheldon G. Sheps, M.D.

New, persistent leg pain certainly warrants a visit to your doctor for evaluation. Leg pain can have many causes, but your description of aching after prolonged standing or sitting suggests a possible buildup of fluid in the leg veins (chronic venous disease, venous insufficiency).

Chronic venous disease occurs when the valves in your leg veins don't work properly to keep blood moving efficiently from your legs to your heart. Instead, blood pools in your legs and feet, causing pain and swelling. The pain is typically described as a burning or cramping sensation, mainly in the calf.

Past inflammation of a vein (phlebitis) may damage the valves and lead to chronic venous disease. Poor function of the valves in the leg veins also contributes to varicose veins — distended veins visible just beneath the skin. Varicose veins also may lead to chronic venous disease.

Wearing knee-high compression stockings may be worth a try to ease discomfort associated with fluid buildup in the legs. Ask your doctor for a recommendation.

Get the latest health information from Mayo Clinic’s experts.

Sign up for free, and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID-19, plus expertise on managing health.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Oct. 03, 2020 See more Expert Answers

See also

  1. Acupuncture for back pain?
  2. Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM)
  3. Addison's disease
  4. Adrenal fatigue: What causes it?
  5. Arteriosclerosis / atherosclerosis
  6. Back pain
  7. Infographic: Back Pain
  8. Back pain relief: Ergonomic chair or fitness ball?
  9. Back surgery: When is it a good idea?
  10. Banish back pain
  11. Behcet's disease
  12. Broken leg
  13. Buerger's disease
  14. Cold and flu viruses: How long can they live outside the body?
  15. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
  16. Disk replacement
  17. Epidural steroid injections: Why limited dosing?
  18. Fibromuscular dysplasia
  19. Flu shots
  20. Flu: When to see a doctor?
  21. Growing pains
  22. Hamstring injury
  23. Herniated disk
  24. Bulging disk
  25. High potassium (hyperkalemia)
  26. High-dose flu vaccines: How are they different from other flu vaccines?
  27. Influenza (flu)
  28. Inversion therapy: Can it relieve back pain?
  29. Leg pain
  30. Legg-Calve-Perthes disease
  31. Myofascial release therapy: Can it relieve back pain?
  32. Paget's disease of bone
  33. Polio
  34. Porphyria
  35. Rickets
  36. Sacroiliitis
  37. Salt craving: A symptom of Addison's disease?
  38. Shin splints
  39. Sleeping positions that reduce back pain
  40. Causes of back pain
  41. Swollen knee
  42. Tarlov cysts: A cause of low back pain?
  43. Nutrition and pain
  44. Pain rehabilitation
  45. Self-care approaches to treating pain
  46. Warfarin side effects