Why Do My Painful Legs Hurt More During the Summer Months?
Author: StrideCare Internal Team
Betty occasionally suffers from on-again, off-again tired, and painful legs. It’s about all she can think about on some days—the pain lingers regardless of whether she’s moving around or at rest. And what’s puzzling is that her symptoms are usually at their worst during the summer or when it’s consistently warmer outside. At first, she thought she was going crazy as a few trips to the beach with her family became unbearable after a few short hours. But after finally visiting with her doctor, she learned there is a logical reason for painful legs during the summer and warmer months.
An average of one in every three adults over the age of 45 develops some form of vein disease. The most common is typically in the form of varicose veins, which affects roughly 25% of men and women in the United States. Symptoms can range from a simple cosmetic annoyance to a debilitating condition. For many of these individuals, summer heat doesn’t do them any favors. Granted, warmer weather doesn’t directly cause vein disease. But repeated exposure can worsen symptoms.
Are You Experiencing These Painful Leg Symptoms?
- Tired, heavy legs
- Throbbing or stabbing pain
- Unexplained leg swelling in your feet and ankles
- Numbness and tingling
- Visible spider veins or varicose veins
- Muscle cramps
- Skin sensitivity (itching, tenderness, rashes)
- Discomfort when sitting or standing for a long time
- Burning sensations
Warmer Weather Can Make Painful Legs Feel Worse
It’s worth noting that there are many reasons why your legs might hurt more during the summer that don’t have anything to do with vein disease. For starters, we’re naturally more active during the summer and warmer months between vacations, socializing with friends outside, and typical outdoor activities such as gardening, mowing the lawn, etc. Hours of sunlight are also longer in the summer versus the winter months. What this all means is that we spend more time on our feet, which leads to painful legs that may resolve themselves with rest.
For other people, their painful legs are because of an underlying vein disease. Veins serve a specific purpose of sending blood from the legs back up to the heart. As we age, these veins can become narrow and even malfunction due to damage to the valves. As a result, blood flows forward but also backward, in the wrong direction (reflux). This reversal of flow leads to pooling of backed-up blood, which then causes the veins to bulge, stretch, and enlarge. Some people don’t experience any symptoms and are more concerned about how their legs look. But eventually, achiness, throbbing, and numbness sets in, and painful legs become worse.
This condition is exacerbated by the combination of warmer weather and a phenomenon known as vasodilation. With vasodilation, our blood vessels widen from relaxation of the blood vessel’s muscular walls. As a result, blood flow is enhanced to areas of the body that lack oxygen and nutrients.
Vasodilation is a normal process performed by our bodies and can happen at any time. However, studies consistently show that the process increases in response to certain environmental situations. This includes:
- Higher temperatures — During the summer or when someone is exposed to warmer temperatures, vasodilation increases blood flow toward the skin to help cool the body down.
- Exercise — As you exercise, such as going on a walk or lifting weights, the muscles you’re exercising require more nutrients and oxygen. Vasodilation ensures that blood flow is enhanced to those areas.
- Inflammation — Inflammation occurs in our body all the time, whether it be because of stress, injury, disease, certain foods, etc. Vasodilation increases blood flow to the affected area.
While these are all benefits of vasodilation, it can also worsen vein disease symptoms. Like previously mentioned, this is because the body is already struggling to send blood from the legs back up to the heart. As a result, blood flows backward and begins to pool. And when there is extra vasodilation going on, there is more blood accumulating in these critical areas of the body.
With nowhere to go, the symptoms of painful legs may only get worse.
How to Prevent Painful Legs During the Summer
While we can’t totally avoid summer heat and warmer temperatures, it’s important that individuals who are already struggling with vein disease look for ways to avoid aggravating their symptoms.
Here are a few things you can do for painful legs during the summer:
Keep cool — When possible, avoid direct sunlight and keep your body temperature lower for longer stretches of the day. If that’s not possible, keep your legs and feet cool by taking a swim in cool water.
Elevate your legs — Studies consistently show that elevating legs for 30 minutes at least four times a day can decompress lower extremity veins and improve symptoms of painful legs. Elevating legs uses gravity to your advantage by allowing blood that has pooled in your extremities to drain away.
Compression socks — Compression socks apply gentle pressure to support your legs. This helps with circulation, swelling, and reduces painful legs during long work shifts, plane flights, and standing on your feet for a long time.
Exercise — For adults, the American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and to increase the amount and intensity of those exercises gradually over time. This improves blood flow in a good way and promotes a healthier lifestyle.
Eat a healthy diet — Your diet helps maintain blood circulation, cardiovascular health, and the ability to lose weight. Options include vegetables, fruits, and fiber-rich foods.
StrideCare Can Help with Painful Legs
By treating the underlying cause of your painful legs due to a vascular issue, we can give our patients a new lease on life. Our expert doctors and caring staff at StrideCare utilize the latest technologies and minimally invasive procedures to help our patients with a variety of vein and artery diseases.
The physicians at StrideCare are board-certified diagnostic radiologists with additional fellowship training in vascular and interventional radiology. With multiple locations in D/FW, StrideCare has long been a leader in North Texas, performing leading-edge procedures to treat venous disease such as chronic venous insufficiency, varicose veins, spider veins, restless leg syndrome, pelvic congestion syndrome, iliac vein stenosis and more—all the while providing compassionate patient care.
If you have questions about CVI or are experiencing leg pain, the experts at StrideCare will recommend an individualized plan to help you get the best results.
