rare pain in leg

does it mainly effect the inside quad (vastus medialis)?
Does it kinda feel like a cramp type pain?

I obviously can't say what it is or is not, but there is a condition where the external iliac artery can be damaged (temporarily, only during activity? I'm not sure), reducing blood flow to the inside leg muscles, which is only noticed during hard efforts.

I'm not sure if it's a gradual, permanent narrowing, a temporary kink due to the position on the bike, or what.

Searching the net for "cyclists" and "external iliac artery" gave me a bunch of different stuff.

What I do know is that (unfortunately) most physiotherapists and general practitioners have never heard of it 🙁

Funny you mentioned this. Well not ha ha funny, but more serendipitous funny.

I have a numb left leg, so numb I can barely stand up. It feels like pins and needles all over my leg or a really tight tourniquet around my hip and not enough blood is flowing to my muscles.

This only happens in the middle of the night. The next morning, I'm more or less fine.

This is fairly rare, it's happened maybe four or five times over the past 3 years. (Although it happened two night on consecutive weeks not long ago.)

I came to the conclusion that it was/is sciatica. I can feel a tightness near my buttock and the ill effects spread down my leg from there.

After a few days rest and some ice, I am back to normal. I am not sure what triggered it, a hard workout or bad sleeping position...

At times, I get a numbness along the side of my left leg when I am in certain positions.
Can't remember what it's called but my chiropractor fixes it right up.

It's definately the vastus medialis, but also proximal-to-mid sartorius. I'm assuming I could get a CTA or MRA of the leg. Thanks for the info, I'll look up what you mentioned. Also, it doesn't feel like a cramp, just like a large load of lactic acid build-up, which I'm sure it's not, I just use that to describe it.

531Aussie said:

does it mainly effect the inside quad (vastus medialis)?
Does it kinda feel like a cramp type pain?

I obviously can't say what it is or is not, but there is a condition where the external iliac artery can be damaged (temporarily, only during activity? I'm not sure), reducing blood flow to the inside leg muscles, which is only noticed during hard efforts.

I'm not sure if it's a gradual, permanent narrowing, a temporary kink due to the position on the bike, or what.

Searching the net for "cyclists" and "external iliac artery" gave me a bunch of different stuff.

What I do know is that (unfortunately) most physiotherapists and general practitioners have never heard of it 🙁

Hey, I checked out the internet with "cyclist" and "external iliac" and I think this might be exactly what it is. Thanks!

531Aussie said:

does it mainly effect the inside quad (vastus medialis)?
Does it kinda feel like a cramp type pain?

I obviously can't say what it is or is not, but there is a condition where the external iliac artery can be damaged (temporarily, only during activity? I'm not sure), reducing blood flow to the inside leg muscles, which is only noticed during hard efforts.

I'm not sure if it's a gradual, permanent narrowing, a temporary kink due to the position on the bike, or what.

Searching the net for "cyclists" and "external iliac artery" gave me a bunch of different stuff.

What I do know is that (unfortunately) most physiotherapists and general practitioners have never heard of it 🙁

rine58 said:

Hey, I checked out the internet with "cyclist" and "external iliac" and I think this might be exactly what it is. Thanks!

If you discover any remedies that don't involve an opperation, let me know.

In a way, you're kinda lucky I was here to answer your question 🙂. It took me three years to figure out what was going on, although I wasn't exactly going to physiotherapists all the time -- I couldn't afford it.

I was studying a couple of years ago, and NONE of the dozen or so physiology and physio lecturers I asked knew what my problem was.

In the mean time, there are some ways to train around it: For some reason, when the warm up is staggered (stop start), high intensity is possible without discomfort. I guess the area needs "flushing" or something...I dunno. I warm up by easing up to about 80% HR for a few mins, then 'spin' for a few minutes, 85% for a couple mins, spin/rest for a couple of minutes, then maybe a short 90% effort, spin/rest for a couple of minutes, then I'm usually ready to go. The important thing seems to be to stop and just "spin" as soon as any discomfort begins, then proceed.

BUT, the most interesting thing is that when adrenalin is present, during a race or a fast, competitive training ride, the problem is MUCH less likely to occur. I'm guessing the adrenalin (or something else?) helps to facilitate circulation?? So, I try to seek out a bit of competition on most of my hard days. :p

I've also found that heat and deep tissue massage help a little after rides.

There are also some herbs that are supposed 🙄 to help circulation, such as ghinko and (I think) feverfew. Who knows, though? 🙂