What is the cause for pain in the calf muscles?

Q: I am 26 years old and have pain in the back of the right leg (calf muscle) from foot to lower half of the thigh for past one month. However, there is no swelling, and the pain is felt at the calf muscle portion and back thigh when I sit and work and from the foot to the back of the thigh, when I walk. But when I take rest or sleep without bending or moving the leg, no pain is felt. The pain is a mild and not severe. When I do some warm up exercises like skipping, the pain does not increase or decrease. What may be the cause for my leg pain? Which doctor should I consult for this?

A:Your complain is pain in one leg (right), predominantly involving the distal part of limb (foot to mid thigh) which is felt on sitting and walking and gets relieved by taking rest and sleeping. While local causes at times can manifest like this (unlikely in your case as there is no swelling or local tenderness), a common clinical condition which can explain your problem can be a slip disc compressing the nerve roots supplying these areas . At your age, the likely cause for that may be some sports related or trauma related event (which may be trivial at times). This type of pain, called root pain, characteristically increases on bending, coughing, sneezing, etc. Also, on examination, a doctor can find out if these increase with certain manoeuvres or not.You need to get an opinion from either a neurologist or an orthopaedic surgeon.