Burning muscle in my leg. I know what sore muscles feel like, and this is different. What could it be?

Question

I've been doing Wing Chun for awhile now, and for the past year or so my upper thigh on my right leg has been burning. It's the worst when I'm stretching and I lean backwards. But it also bugs me when we do stance training. It's not just a sore muscle, this is more of a sharp pain. And it will hurt sometimes when I'm not even using it. I don't use steroids or anything, but I've heard of some steroid using body builders who put too much strain on their muscles and cause them to rip. Could it be something like that? Our stance training can be pretty intense. Any ideas would be appreciated. I don't know what this is.

Answer 1

Sigh....

I love the pseduo scientists here..

It is not lactic acid, it is not a cramp.

Burning means severe strain. It is unlikely you tore it because it wouldn't stop hurting.

Sharp burning means severe strain, any type of sharp burning denotes an injury, not a common cramp, and certainly not lactic acid.

That is a warning sign you need to look at. You need to rest that muscle for a little while, also anti inflammotories will help (Ibuprofen is a good one). But rest it, take it as a warning sign. Good athletes and Martial Artists know their bodies, and two things to watch out for are sharp burning (again denotes strain, can be tears but usually you REALLY know when you tear something) or any kind of tingling nerve feeling (like when you hit your funny bone).

What you have my friend is a severe strain, it will only get worst and could eventually tear. It is probably just a small strand of muscle fiber that is doing it, give yourself two weeks off and take some Advil. Then go light on any exercises that heavily utlize that leg for a month or so. (I would avoid excessive stance training for at least two weeks after your recovery period).

The fact that it has been going on so long means you are continually reinjuring it. Take some time off, let it heal up, be cognicent of it, and in a month or so you won't have that problem anymore.

In the meantime make sure you are getting enough potassium and protein. During your rest phase I would kill the protein.

In the future ensure you are hydrated, eat a banana or two before practice, and listen to your body. Sharp burning is bad.

Good luck!

Answer 2

When a muscle is injured and constantly put under strain it will move from it's correct position in relation to the nerves and ligaments surrounding the tissue and cause a pinching or squeezing effect which causes sporadic blood flow and sometimes leads to a burning sensation. Sometimes the sensation is a tingle, other times it takes the form of an itch on another part of the body, like the bottom of the feet(which is common)
What you need is a REMEDIAL Massage therapist who uses eastern massage techniques like Shiat- Tzu(pardon the spelling). I have found these to be the most effective by far.
If the injury is a year old, you can expect a 2 month lay-off while you get this fixed. The good news is, your hands can never be too fast-work on them while you can't kick.
When training, not all pain is good. Learn to listen to your body-you're putting too much work into it to ruin it. Would you keep driving a car with a buckled wheel?Or would you get it straightened and re-aligned?

Answer 3

Sometimes, and I am not saying it is your case, but when you exercise alot, the cells in the part of your body use up all their normal "fuel" I will try to explain easily instead of using biological words because many people would not know what I was talking about. Anyway, when the normal fuel for your muscles are "used up" your cells start creating another "fuel" to use, and a side effect of this is burning and pain. If you are "thin" and exercise alot, you should make sure you are getting enough "sugar" to fuel your cells so that they do not have to switch to this alternate fuel source. Eat a power bar or drink one of those high calorie drinks before you work out and see if that helps.

Answer 4

no, its not like the steroid users. you probably just overworked yourself and pulled a muscle. give it some rest for a couple days or just do some really easy workouts. whenever you feel that sharp pain again, just stop workout out right there. if it hurts, dont do it for a while. everyone says no pain no gain, but thats not true. if you feel real pain then u need to stop immediately.

Answer 5

That burning in your legs is coming from an excess of lactic acid, common in runners. Have someone rub you down after each time you do your Wing Chun this will get that acid out of your legs.

Answer 6

I would say one of your muscle strands have ripped

Answer 7

's not cramp is it