Muscle Cramps: Causes, natural remedies and practical advice
If you suddenly experience muscle twitching with a sharp pain in the calf, foot, or thigh, you are probably facing a cramp. But what to do against muscle cramps? Let’s find out together.
To those who have not happened in their life, perhaps at night or while doing sports, to experience muscle cramps. These are muscle contractions that occur suddenly and do not depend on the person’s will. Feet, calves, and legs are often affected, but a painful contraction of the muscles can also be felt on the hands or arms.
You immediately understand that you are struggling with muscle cramps when you experience sudden and acute pain to the point of immobilizing the affected area that tends to harden even if nothing is seen from the outside.
Fortunately, although very painful and intense, the cramps in the feet, legs, and calves tend to last a few seconds, a few minutes maximum, and then disappear, sometimes leaving only slight discomfort. However, cramps likely appear at night at rest and when you are doing physical activity or in other particular situations.
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Muscle cramps: the causes
Muscle cramps can originate from different causes. They range from fatigue or intense stress of the body to dehydration or loss of some important mineral salts essential for the well-being of the muscles (that’s why they are more frequent in summer).
The cause of the cramps can also be identified based on the frequency and the moment in which the problem occurs. Leg cramps or calf cramps often occur, for example, if potassium and magnesium are deficient.
If the cramp occurs while you are doing physical activity, it will probably be the great stress to which the organism is subjected to have provoked it, perhaps combined with a scorching and humid environment in which you train. However, even in this case, dehydration and excessive loss of mineral salts may have caused muscle cramps.
Other causes of cramps in the feet, calf, etc., are maintaining the same position for a long time, taking certain types of drugs, circulatory problems, or specific pathologies such as restless legs syndrome or foot problems.
Special conditions such as pregnancy can also increase the risk of leg cramps and calf cramps. It is always best to have a specialist evaluate the cause of the cramps so that you can cure the root problem.
Muscle cramps: Natural remedies and advice
Depending on the case, it is possible to treat or avoid the appearance of sudden muscle contractions by following simple good advice or by taking remedies against cramps.
For example, those who practice a lot of physical activity will always have to be very careful to guarantee the body the right degree of hydration and the correct amount of minerals useful for the body. Here is what can be useful in case of muscle cramps.
1. Stretching
When a cramp hits you, the first remedy to get through is to stretch the affected muscle through stretching exercises. For example: if you are affected by a cramp in the calf, you will have to stretch your leg to stretch the calf, thus reducing the typical contraction of the cramp. The same goes for all the other muscles that can be affected by cramps.
2. Mineral salt supplements
If you are unable to take the right amount of mineral salts with your diet, or if you need more (for example, example, after intense physical activity), you can take some supplements (especially magnesium and potassium) that could prove decisive for the problem of cramps in the calf or other areas of the body.
3. Equisetum and nettle
Two officinal plants that can help in cramps are horsetail and nettle, both with remineralizing power. Ask for advice on how to use them for this purpose in herbal medicine.
4. Passiflora
Passionflower can also be used in case of muscle cramps due to its relaxing action. It is particularly indicated when cramps strike at night and can be taken either in herbal teas or drops.
5 Essential oils
Even a massage with some essential oils can help in case of cramps. These are those essences that can improve circulation and have a calming effect on the muscles. A few drops of essential oil of rosemary, lavender, or ginger can be used for this purpose, always diluted in a carrier vegetable oil (such as that of sweet almonds).
6. Arnica
Even a massage on the area affected by the cramp with an arnica-based ointment can help counteract the aches and pains after an involuntary muscle contraction.
7. Mallow packs
Immediately after a cramp, a compress based on mallow infusion, a plant with a soothing and anti-inflammatory power, can be applied to the affected and still sore area. Once the herbal tea has cooled down, use a gauze or a cotton cloth soaked and squeezed to let it act on the leg, calf, hand, or any other part of the body affected by cramp.
How to prevent muscle cramps
But is it possible to prevent muscle cramps? Unless they are due to specific pathologies, in most cases, yes. In particular, it is a matter of taking good habits that are valid to avoid this annoying eventuality and excellent rules to always follow for 360° prevention.
Drink a lot
Drinking enough water is undoubtedly the first useful tip to avoid the appearance of muscle cramps due to dehydration. Therefore, 1 liter and a half of water (better two) every day, and especially in summer, should always be insured to our body to make sure it can work properly.
Diet rich in mineral salts
A diet rich in mineral salts is essential to avoid cramps in the legs, calves, and feet. This involves consuming bananas, rocket, spinach, and other green leafy vegetables, dried fruit, and all other foods, particularly rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium more often.
Warm-up before training
Those who practice sports must always remember to do a little warm-up for the muscles before training and conclude with a bit of anti-fatigue stretching.
Do not smoke
A good rule of thumb is to quit smoking. It has been shown that smoking can also be a potential risk factor for cramps, as this ” vice ” tends to seize vitamins and minerals from the body.
Not only cramps: here are some tips to strengthen the joints.
In addition to trying to prevent muscle cramps, in anticipation of practicing particularly strenuous sports that put stress on the joints (such as running, cycling, mountain biking, climbing, to name a few), or if you are predisposed to joint inflammation, a preventive treatment that reinforces joints, ligaments and tendons can be very useful, to prevent inflammation and painful states which, combined with cramps, can become very annoying.
Chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine are excellent allies in these cases because they act synergistically on the deteriorated cartilages, regenerating them and limiting other settlements. In addition, the preventive effect of type II collagen is also beneficial, a physiological substance that also nourishes the cartilage, lubricating it to protect it from other traumas.
Methylsulfonylmethane and the devil’s claw also act preventively on inflammation. Therefore, to prevent joint inflammation, it can be used before and after Chondrotrophin training. If, on the other hand, a more specifically targeted action on the tendons is required, the advice is to add to the substances just described also amino acids such as ornithine, cysteine, and glutamine, which help the healing process, which in the tendons is very more complex, being elastic but leathery fabrics.