How to treat pain in the legs?
Q: I am 27 year old male living in UAE for the last five years working for an IT firm in Abu Dhabi. Originally I am from Kerala. My work nature forces me to spend almost 8 hrs in front of a computer. Very recently I got married and am living with my wife here. I am suffering from pain in my legs. It started 3 months back (in August) when I went for a short vacation in India for my marriage. First time it started in my right knee and heel. I consulted an Orthopaedic specialist and after checking my blood he told that the Uric Acid level is bit more than the normal range and he prescribed me some medicines for three days. (Zybric 100 mg, G.I. Nac, Rofeet 30mg) after taking the medicines I was okay and I came back to UAE and resumed duty. After one month the pain started again and this time it was in the upper part of the thigh. I took a pain killer Voltaren (which is the alternate tablet available here for the tablet which was prescribed by the doctor in India) and got relief. But then it started coming again, this time affecting the thigh joints. I have consulted a general physician here and checked the Uric Acid level again. The doctor told me that it is in the normal range and the pain is not related to high Uric Acid. Now i have pain in both my heels and it is severe when I get up from bed in the morning and I cannot walk properly for a few minutes. After walking some time the pain reduces but mild pain persists. Please tell me what kind of disease is this and kindly help me to get rid of this problem.
A:Your symptoms seem to be part of some arthritic condition. However, I cannot give an emphatic reply based on your description. The pain in the feet is a typical of a condition called plantar-fascitis. You also have pain in the thigh joint (hip I presume) and also in the knee. Your symptoms are worse in the morning all possible features of an arthropathy-like or some time a part group of condition called asseronegation spand arthropathies. These are usually associated with backaches. Also you have not mentioned anything about it. Otherwise, that could be one of the causes. The high uric acid level may be an incidental finding. You need to have a fresh clinical examination: 1. See if there is any restriction of back movements. 2. Any restriction of any range of movement in your joint. All movements in joint can be quickly assessed by checking your ability to sit on your haunches (squatting position) or sitting cross legged. You may also get your erythrocyte sedimentation rate. In some cases HLA B27 test in blood will also help.