What to do if you have leg cramps

In daily life, everyone should have leg and foot cramps. Generally, we think that leg cramps are caused by calcium deficiency. Especially in pregnant women, the cramps are very obvious. And for many people, as the weather gradually gets cooler, cramps will be very common, especially when sleeping at night. So what should we do about leg cramps and how to relieve them?

Have you ever experienced leg and foot cramps when sleeping at night? Cramps are very uncomfortable and painful. Some people have cramps frequently, which is really torturous. So what should you do if you have leg cramps? You need to understand some causes and relief methods of cramps.

Leg cramps are actually a contraction of muscles that occurs when they are strongly stimulated. Muscle cramps in the calves and toes are generally the most common. So, why do people get leg cramps? First, cold stimulation. Second, fatigue, lack of sleep or excessive rest lead to the accumulation of local acidic metabolic products, causing muscle spasms. Third, bad sleeping posture, such as lying on your back for a long time with the quilt pressing on your feet, or lying on your stomach for a long time with your feet against the bed, forcing certain calf muscles to be in an absolutely relaxed state for a long time, causing "passive contracture" of the muscles. Fourth, the nerves are irritated, which may be caused by problems with the cervical or lumbar spine. "The symptoms of cramps caused by these reasons are basically the same, with no obvious differences. Leg cramps during sleep may also be caused by electrolyte imbalance, calcium deficiency, and excessive water loss. It may also be related to some internal diseases (such as hypothyroidism) or drug side effects (taking certain antihypertensive and lipid-lowering drugs) and neurological diseases. Therefore, he suggested that you can drink a glass of diluted sports drink or light salt water before going to bed, and keep warm when sleeping.

However, if cramps are caused by electrolyte imbalance, calcium deficiency, nerve stimulation, etc., they often do not only occur in the legs and feet, but may also occur in other parts of the body, and may recur. Therefore, we remind everyone that if you encounter such a situation, you should seek medical attention immediately.

Once a cramp occurs suddenly, the most direct way to relieve it is to massage the area where the cramp occurs. Use the thumb and other four fingers of the other hand to press together and repeatedly pinch the muscles on the back of the calf of the affected limb from top to bottom for a few minutes. Tian Weiming, chief physician of the Department of Orthopedics at the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine affiliated to Hebei Medical University, recommends that you can "do the opposite", that is, bend your toes in the direction opposite to the force, and persist for more than one or two minutes, and you will see the results. Specifically, if the muscles in the back of the calf cramp, you can bend your toes to lift the sole of your foot while straightening your knee joint; if the muscles in the front of the calf cramp, you can press down on the sole of your foot and bend your toes forcefully. After that, you can walk and push the ground with the front of the affected leg to make the pain go away.

To deal with "leg cramps", we should "prevent them before they happen". Tian Weiming recommends drinking more soy milk and milk, and eating more vegetables, meat and other foods high in calcium; wearing more clothes when the weather gets cold, and keeping the calves warm when sleeping. Soak your feet in hot water before going to bed and pay attention to your sleeping posture.

At the same time, you can also massage the Weizhong point (the middle of the diamond-shaped depression behind the knee), place the tip of the middle finger of the other hand on the Weizhong point of the affected limb, and the thumb on the patella, and rub with appropriate force for 0.5-1 minute; Yanglingquan point (diagonally below the knee, in the depression slightly in front of the head of the fibula on the outside of the calf), place the tip of the thumb on the Yanglingquan point of the affected limb on the same side, and the other four fingers on the calf, and rub with appropriate force for 0.5-1 minute. This can improve blood circulation, which is especially effective for middle-aged and elderly people.

The phenomenon of leg and foot cramps is also a big trouble in our daily life. Some people not only experience cramps when they sleep at night, but also when they do outdoor activities or swim. Sometimes it can pose a certain threat to the patient's life. This is something that everyone should pay attention to, and we should be able to understand in time what to do if we have leg cramps.