As the name suggests, nocturnal leg cramps occur at night while sleeping or resting, and the cramps aggravate with age.
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Read more about the various causes and treatment methods of night leg cramps in greater detail.
Also called charley horse, with this cramping the commonly affected areas of the body are the calf, foot and the thigh. Although referred to as nocturnal leg cramps, they can occur at any time of the day or night.
Night leg cramps are not chronic and may last for about 10 minutes with possible soreness after they are gone.
These cramps are not gender specific and they might affect both men and women equally and apart from people who are more than 50 years of age, small children are also affected at times.
Some Remedies For Nocturnal Leg Cramps
Staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water, indulging in stretching exercises, wearing shoes which give proper support and maintaining a proper posture while sleeping, are some of the preventive measures that can be followed in order to reduce the frequency of nocturnal spasms.
Causes Of Nocturnal Leg Cramps
There are no such definite causes of nighttime leg cramps, however, based on assumptions and possibilities, there are some cases that have been linked with these cramps. These include overuse or overexertion of muscles, sitting in the same place for a long period of time or sitting in an improper posture and dehydration. Being dehydrated is considered as one of the causes of cramps generally, as there is not enough water for transporting vitamins, minerals and other substances throughout the body.
Leg cramps while sleeping have been found to be common among expecting mothers and elderly, probably due to poor blood circulation in their limbs. People with a sedentary lifestyle are also vulnerable to leg cramps and they become prone to this disease if they do not maintain enough consumption of water for the body to remain hydrated. Nocturnal leg cramps have also been found common among people who have deficiencies of calcium, potassium and magnesium.
Certain medical conditions such as diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, Parkinson’s disease, endocrine disorders and medications such as contraceptive pills (birth control pills) have also been hold responsible for the occurrence of leg cramping at night.
How To Treat Night Leg Cramps?
It has been found that people suffering from leg cramps and spasms increased the level of potassium in their diet and seemed to have reduced the frequency of cramps. Some examples of potassium rich foods are bananas, apricots, nectarines, dates, grapes or raisins, beans, the cabbage/broccoli family of vegetables, oranges, grapefruit and its juice, pork, lamb, potatoes and corn, saltwater fish (like tuna), tomatoes and tomato juice.
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Pain from leg cramps, that might occur suddenly, after getting up from the bed, can be relieved by applying a hot compress and massaging the cramped muscles. Even soaking the affected leg in warm water reduces the pain to a great extent.
Another cure for leg cramps is the exercise of holding your toes to stretch your calf muscle. Pull them towards your knee and extend the leg straight out. This is an effective exercise which can be followed before going to bed and after waking up. While you are doing this exercise, you will feel the effect in the back of your calf muscles. Stretching the legs and Achilles tendons on a regular basis shows major improvements in leg cramps treatment.
The calves, when toned and well stretched, are less prone to developing cramps. For this, exercises such as ‘toe-ups’ and ‘wall stretches’ are helpful.
Being aware of such cramp treatments, comes in handy at times when there are less chances of getting any medical aid
However, in serious cases, where the pain becomes unbearable, a doctor should be the first point of contact. He is the one who can pinpoint the causes and provide the right remedy.
By Rajib Singha
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