Lower Leg Pain
Strains and Healing
April 25, 2025
Radiculopathy Following Motor Vehicle Accidents
April 25, 2025
Lower Leg Pain After an MVA
Motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) can leave you with all sorts of aches, and at Chambers Medical Group, one of the highest rated car accident medical care providers in Kentucky, we see lower leg pain walk into the clinic a lot. A common injury is to the front part of the lower leg called the shin. Those muscles get sore and painful, typically along the sides or front. If lifting your foot causes pain on the inside front, then it is labeled anterior shin splints. Pain more on the back inside part is posterior shin splint. These muscles are in charge of keeping the foot off the ground with each step, so when they are injured, every step tends to hurt. Dr. Aaron Workman of Chambers Medical Group talks about a couple of different reasons that this occurs following an MVA and what we can do about it.
Extreme Force on the Legs
Normally, shin splints come from overdoing it with either too much running or a job that is tough on your legs. In an MVA, it is a different method of injury altogether. Picture slamming the brakes with maximal force, attempting to avoid an accident to save your life. The leg and ankle are going to suffer. If the foot slips sideways or twists while pressing down, the severity of injury will be worse. The lower airbag might smack your shin, or your leg could hit the steering column. That trauma can alter the way you walk, affecting the foot and will give pain immediately or even weeks later.
Slow Onset
Sometimes your lower leg will not be in miserable pain immediately following an MVA. As mentioned previously, this force can affect what we call your “gait.” This gait is the way the foot and ankle move while walking. If the gait is affected and the shin problems are not addressed, then your continued annoyance could worsen over days into the weeks. We have had patients limp in wondering why their legs hurt when nothing showed injured in the ER. With the continued alteration of your gait, it leads to a nagging ache that will not stop. We dig into what your leg was doing during the crash. Were you braking hard, hit the dash, airbags cause initial bruising? This helps drive thoughts on treatment and recovery times.
Fixing It Before It is a Problem
At Chambers Medical Group we do a myriad of treatments to support this issue. If it is a very recent accident, then ice cuts down the swelling quickly. If it is something that has been nagging, then a good round of heat can start to loosen things up. Add mobility exercises and stretching for another great combo. If nothing makes the pain budge, then an MRI would let us see exactly what that area is doing. The main goal is to stop the immediate pain and prevent chronicity.
If you have been involved in an MVA and your lower legs are complaining, then do not ignore the pain. Have this issue checked out so you can get back to moving and enjoying life. Even if it is barely a problem in the beginning, just a little soreness can turn into bigger issues. Whether it started from braking too hard, airbag damage, or striking under the dash, Chambers Medical Group can get it moving before it gets to be a larger issue.
— This article is written by Aaron Workman, DC, one of the members of Chambers Medical Group’s team of car accident chiropractors who offer a variety of treatments and therapies ranging from diagnostic testing to various soft tissue therapies for car accidents and injuries in Kentucky.
