Causes of Leg Cramps And Ways to Overcome The Same

Everyone has suffered from muscle cramps at some time in his life. These are mainly involuntary muscle contractions that can happen due to many factors. Muscle cramps occur when a muscle in our body contracts involuntarily, and is unable to relax. Marked by tenderness in muscles and difficulty in moving the affected area for the duration of cramp, muscle cramps are unpredictable and could be painful at times. While the cramp lasts, muscles may show external signs like twitching. In most cases, muscle cramps can be overcome if the muscles are stretched or rubbed gently with hands as soon as the cramp occurs.

If one leads an active lifestyle, cramps may be caused due to tightness, overuse or inflexibility of muscles, excessive training or fatigue. Muscle cramps are also induced due to dehydration or low levels of minerals in the body, conditions which may arise when we sweat excessively during high intensity workouts or sports. Athletes could suffer from cramps frequently, and these may come about during exercise, or even during sleep. Enjoying prolonged periods of physical activity can also cause this problem, especially if the weather is hot. These occur when a tight muscle compresses the nerves. In most cases, this affects the calf or smaller muscles inside the foot. They may last for just for a few seconds, to around fifteen minutes, or could sometimes last longer.

Another very common cause of this problem is poor posture, wherein irritated nerves or poor circulation induce spasms. Sitting in the same position for elongated durations, or poor ergonomics at home or workplace could lead to this problem. While adults are more vulnerable to muscle cramps, even children could suffer from the same.

At times, one may have to wake up due to sudden and unprecedented leg cramps at night, which may cause discomfort, disrupt sleep and lead to fatigue. Leg cramps at night are more likely to affect calf muscles, but thighs or feet are also vulnerable. In most cases, such cramps can be avoided by taking some basic precautionary and self care measures. Doing some simple stretching exercises for the calf muscles before going to sleep at night can be greatly helpful for ensuring that leg cramps do not occur while sleeping.You should put both your hands on the wall at shoulder height and lean your back such that calf is stretched to the maximum. After holding for around 30 seconds, repeating the stretch for 3-4 times is one of the surest ways to avoid leg cramps at night. Staying hydrated also prevents leg cramps, and apart from drinking water, eating fresh fruits and vegetables help us stay hydrated. Leg cramps are also associated with nutritional deficiencies. Consuming low fat milk and fresh fruit juices not just ensure that we stay hydrated, but also supply us with important nutrients. Making sure that our diet includes foods like fortified soy milk, dark leafy greens, spinach, pumpkin seeds and almonds ascertains that there is no deficiency of magnesium, calcium or vitamin D3 in our bodies.

Consuming low fat milk and fresh fruit juices not just ensure that we stay hydrated, but also supply us with important nutrients which helps in avoiding Leg cramps at night Rate this Article

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Harshad Jethra has published 6 articles. Article submitted on July 15, 2013. Word count: 502

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