night time leg cramps

What exactly are night leg cramps?

The signs are unmistakeable: severe pain in the calf as the muscle suddenly contracts of its own accord so tightly that you can’t do anything to shake it off, is a sure sign that you have the condition known as nighttime leg cramps. Not many people know this, but these night leg spasms can happen in the thigh area and in the feet as well.

The exact cause of leg cramps is not yet fully understood or agreed upon, however there are some common risk factors that it is believed can contribute towards this painful condition. With a little experimentation, some dietary adjustment and the support of your local health practitioner, it shouldn’t be long before you find a remedy that works for you.

Electrolyte function is an important component of muscle health and if they are out of balance painful leg cramping is very likely to occur. Electrolytes are essential salts that conduct electrical activity in the body, such as calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium and these need to be in good balance if muscles are to work well. If the quantity of these essential salts is a little too much or is not enough to maintain proper muscle functioning, severe leg and foot night cramps could be the result. A diet high in phosphorous which is often found in processed foods, is also another possible candidate for muscle cramps in the leg at nighttime so eating less processed foods, fizzy drinks and snacks and substituting this with more natural and organic foods might help. Think potassium, think banana as this is one of the richest and most easily available sources of this essential nutrient that you can make use of immediately.

Muscle fatigue is another likely candidate which can come about from sustained high intensity exercise. In order to keep up the exercise a lot of energy needs to be expended to quickly and repeatedly expand and contract the calf, foot and thigh muscles and this energy is supplied by the nutrients obtained in your food and drink. A drain on calcium reserves is believed to lead to muscle fatigue and increase the risk of cramping, so including extra calcium in the diet at this stage might be a good preventative measure and help to avoid muscle fatigue.

Extra weight bearing during pregnancy, especially in later months as the baby grows nearer to full term, can cause the leg muscles to become very tired and this may lead to leg cramping at night. Before going to bed, a light calcium and potassium rich snack might go a long way to alleviating the problem and help to ensure a full and peaceful night’s sleep. You can find these in simple natural foods like bananas and milk so how about a nightly bedtime banana milkshake before gong to bed, together with some regular light stretching of the leg muscles, throughout the pregnancy.

There are a number of potential reasons given for cramps and, as a list, causes of
cramps and muscle spasms include type 2 diabetes, not enough fluids in the body, cirrhosis of the liver, kidney failure, flat feet, the side effects of some prescribed medications, peripheral artery disease, Parkinson’s disease, an underactive thyroid, Addison’s disease, dehydration,diarrhea and gastric bypass surgery.

Prevention of night leg cramps, then, involves a whole array of possible considerations and in the light of this, along with some possible immediate changes in diet, a good place to start for anyone wanting to obtain relief from regular and severe night leg cramps would be to consult your doctor to get a proper diagnosis.

 

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