Stop Leg Cramps
What exactly are leg cramps? For most people, leg cramps are extremely painful and often occur in the middle of the night, just as you are settling in for the night or they may happen suddenly as you begin to wake up from sleeping. The leg cramp is often concentrated in the calf area where the muscles tighten up and contract in almost unbearable pain. The contractions can go on for a few seconds, but may feel much longer.
While it lasts, the pain from a leg cramp cause agonizing pain, but it can go away within a few seconds to minutes. You may experience some residual tenderness and sensitivity in the calf area or in the sole area of your foot. Often, people experiencing the sharp pain don’t know what to do about their night leg cramps and what caused it. So what can you do about it while your muscles are painfully contracting?
Some experts report that you should calmly stretch the tightened muscles when the contractions first begin---by flexing your foot forward. You may want to place some heat on the affected leg as well as press or knead the sore muscles with your hands. Put something cold on the sore muscles after the contractions so a cold compress will soothe your leg muscles. After the pain passes, you should make an appointment to see your doctor to discuss the incident and why it happened. It may be a symptom of some other condition so it is highly recommended that you see your doctor.
If it is determined not to be a symptom of a condition, here’s some quick tips on how to stop leg cramps. Do you wear good shoes that support your feet? If you don’t you may be prone for leg cramps. Are you sitting constantly at your job with very little exercise or movement? Sedentary people tend to have leg cramps as well as diabetics and pregnant women. Make sure you drink enough water as lack of potassium and dehydrated individuals have a predisposition for night leg cramps.
Check with your doctor about medications that you are taking such as niacin and calcium channel blockers and other meds may cause this painful problem. Don’t drink so much alcohol as this can agitate cramping in the legs. Concentrate on drinking lots of water instead, get your potassium from fruits, take some vitamin B 12, and do some leg stretching exercises for prevention. Once you talk to your doctor, he or she can recommend some remedies or medication that will work for you nothing else seems to work.
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