Leg Cramp Site

For many of us who suffer from leg cramps and charley horses at night we’ve actually learned to recognize some of the feelings of an impending leg cramp. For some they feel an uncomfortable tingling sensation in their legs, while for others there’s an add tension that in their calf and leg muscles that wasn’t there before. Some people can feel the tension building in their legs throughout the day or evening and are almost certain that when they go to sleep they may suddenly be woken up with a piercing pain.

Hyland’s new leg cramp ointment has also helped some people prevent night time leg cramping.

Fortunately, there are some things you can do when you feel as though a cramping leg muscle may be in your near future:

Stretch and Walk Around: It’s difficult, but not impossible, for your leg to cramp while you’re walking or stretching it properly. You’ll want to stretch your calf muscles by standing straight on an even surface and curling your toes up towards the sky. You may feel stretching tendons and muscles in your heel and calf, which is a good thing. For some people simply putting weight on their legs and walking around for a couple minutes is enough to make the cramping feeling subside, but for others a full stretching regimen may be in order.

Drink The Right Fluids: Making sure your body is hydrated is a good first step to avoiding leg cramps. Drinking water is good, but milk may be a little better because it has extra calcium and other nutrients in it. There are, of course, many other things you can drink as well. It’s well-known that drinking tonic water with quinine will help prevent leg cramps and many people that apple cider vinegar can offer immediate leg cramp relief, though the taste turns some people off. You’ll want to avoid alcohol because that could actually cause more muscle cramping.

Eat Potassium Rich Foods: It generally takes the body a little longer to digest solid foods than liquid, but anything with high amounts of potassium in them can help you avoid a painful leg cramp later on. A lot of people think of bananas when they think of potassium rich foods, but there are plenty of other common foods that contain much more potassium per serving such as avocado, tomato sauce, baked potatoes and even raisins. You’ll also want to aim for eating antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables like blueberries, pomegranates or even items containing that new grain berry.

If you want some immediate relief and you’re looking for something more along the natural and homeopathic line then you might want to try some Hyland’s Leg Cramp tablets. They’re inexpensive (though not always easy to find) and many people keep them in the house and take one at bed time when they feel as though a night time leg cramp may strike. Hyland’s reports that they contain quinine and the tablets are easily swallowed with a glass of water, so you don’t have to deal with the bitter taste of tonic water.

With patience and a few preventive measures you can learn to recognize an impending muscle cramp and learn how to relax your legs and get a good night’s sleep.

Sudden night time leg cramps and calf muscle spasms can jolt you out of bed with tremendous pain, so you’ll want to know how to stop the cramp quickly. Though night time leg cramps can have different causes for different people, most of the ways of stopping them are similar. To relax your leg and stop the muscle from cramping you’re generally going to want to unclench the muscle and then give your body any nutrients or other things it may be lacking.

A professional heating pad or blanket can help relaxed cramped leg muscles.

Not every method of stopping “charley horses” will work for everyone who tries them, but one or two of the methods below should definitely help you stop your calf from cramping in the middle of the night:

1. Massage and Stretch Your Leg Muscles: The first thing you should try to stop a leg cramp (after screaming out in pain) is to stretch the muscle and massage out the cramp. You’ll want to curl your toes up and put your heel out and down. If that doesn’t work then you can take the extra step of putting weight on your leg and trying to stand on it. Standing will push your foot perpendicular to your leg and can, in some cases, immediately stop your leg from cramping.

Some people try to knock or punch the muscle cramp out of their calves, but that can sometimes be even more painful and you could bruise yourself. Generally you want to be gentle with a cramped leg muscle and not hit it hard.

2. Pinch Your Upper Lip: This is an optional pressure-point trick that seems to help some people with night time leg cramps. You can try pinching your upper lip in the dimple below your nose (it’s called the “philtrum”) with your thumb and forefinger. Many people report that tightly squeezing your lip when your leg cramps can provide instant relief. There is supposedly a vein in your upper lip which can serve as a sort of pressure point for for relaxing your leg muscles.

3. Balance Your Nutrients: There are a number of home remedies that tell you to eat or drink something specific when a leg cramp strikes in the middle of the night. Many professionals and leg cramps sufferers suggest drinking or eating something specific as soon as a leg cramp strikes. Here are some of the more common things you can eat or drink to stop a sudden leg cramp:

• Water: Some people suggest adding salt to the water because sodium and potassium work together in the body.
• Pickle Juice: This is a favorite home remedy that gets rave reviews. It is said to provide “instant” relief from leg cramps in the middle of the night.
• Orange Juice: Most orange juices are fortified with vitamins, minerals and even potassium.
• Apple Cider Vinegar with Honey: There is a lot of information about using apple cider vinegar to make leg cramps go away in the homeopathic community.
• Tonic Water: From home remedy to science, tonic water contains a chemical known as quinine which can alleviate leg and muscle cramps.

Liquids may be digested a little quicker, but there are, of course, also foods you can eat to quickly put an end to muscle cramps. Here are a few:

• Brown Mustard: Many people proclaim that eating a spoonful of brown mustard will instantly stop leg cramps as they are happening.
• Banana: Many people keep a banana or other high potassium food near their bed to snack on at night or when a muscle cramp strikes.
• Potassium Supplements: Some people report that they get relief by taking potassium supplements to stop sudden charley horses.

Almost all of these remedies ultimately do one thing: they increase the amount of sodium, potassium, calcium or other minerals and substances in your body very quickly. Since a lack of balanced nutrients is a common cause for leg cramps, it makes sense that boosting your minerals and vitamins quickly will help.

4. Apply Heat: If your leg is still tight and sore after trying some of these, apply heat while keeping your leg straight and stretched. A hot shower or bath is probably the best and fastest way to warm and relax your leg muscles, though a heating bottle or heating pad will work as well. Another option is to soak a towel in hot water and wrap it around your leg. You’ll want to surround the muscle with heat and massage it gently, working out the cramps and tightness.

If you get frequent leg cramps then you may want to invest in a professional level heating pad. Professional electric heating pads like the Thermophore Moist Heating Pad have no mess, no water, will get warm quickly and can even prevent leg cramps when used before going to bed.

Confused about when to use ice or heat for muscle cramps? There is some disagreement on the subject, even amongst athletic trainers and medical professionals. More people seem to favor applying heat first for a sudden muscle cramp because it helps to relax the muscle and open up the blood vessels in the leg. After the muscle is relaxed some people suggest applying ice to numb the pain, but ice will constrict the blood vessels and could cause some tightening of your leg muscles.

Obviously, it’s better to prevent leg cramps in the first place, sometimes charley horses strike even when you’ve been careful and done everything you can to prevent them. By remembering some of these methods you may be able to shorten the amount of time your leg cramps or at least reduce the amount of pain you suffer.

One of the most popular and well-known folk remedies for preventing and curing leg cramps is drinking apple cider vinegar and honey. There are lots of different versions of this leg cramp drink. Some versions prescribe just using apple cider vinegar and water to prevent leg cramps and some prescribe just using honey, but the most common leg cramp prevention recipe calls for them to be mixed together. Here’s the general recipe:

Mix 4 ounce of high quality organic apple cider vinegar with 4 ounces of the natural honey of your choice. If the honey is too thick to stir, feel free to add 8 ounces (or less) of warm mineral water (cold water or ice will initially thicken the honey).

Stir thoroughly.

Once stirred together you may either add an ice cube or even warm the mixture up in the microwave or stove. You may even brew it with the mulling spices of your choice.

Both apple cider vinegar and honey each have approximately 175mg of potassium in an 8 once portion, so your body is immediately getting some of the benefits of a high potassium food in a liquid form. People who eat a few teaspoons of honey before bed in order to prevent leg cramps are also benefiting from this potassium boost.

You may want to try several different apple cider vinegars and different types of honey because the taste of both can vary quite a bit. Some of the brand name apple cider vinegars have a taste that is not nearly as harsh as the generic label bands. The sweetness of the honey and mulling spices takes some of the sour flavor away from the vinegar, making the drink somewhat comforting once you get used to it. Apple cider vinegar made from organic apples and fermented naturally will most likely offer the most health benefits and leg cramp relief. To prevent leg cramps you probably start with a small amount, no more than 4 ounces at a time to gauge it’s effectiveness.

Apple cider vinegar itself may offer more in the way of leg cramp prevention than just a healthy dose of potassium. Cider vinegar has been used for thousands of years as a natural remedy to a variety of different ailments including runny nose, leg cramps, muscle soreness, excess weight, allergies kidney and bladder problems, upset stomachs, arthritis and even high blood pressure. No one is exactly sure how it works in many cases, but apple cider vinegar does contain a number of healthy vitamins and chemicals including potassium, pectin, acetic acid and malic acid.

Applying Apple Cider Vinegar Directly on Leg Muscles
If you can’t get past the bitter taste of apple cider vinegar then you may have another option for relieving leg cramps. Some people have reported that rubbing undiluted apple cider vinegar on their legs has helped relieve them of their night time leg cramps and lessened the symptoms of restless leg syndrome. Leave out the honey for this one! While there is no clinical evidence regarding using apple cider vinegar as a topic solution, there are still lots of people who swear this method has relieved knee and joint pain as well as nocturnal leg cramps and regular charley horses. Typically the cider vinegar is rubbed on at night before bed and allowed to dry before going to sleep.

Apple Cider Vinegar Pills for Leg Cramps
The stories about apple cider vinegar’s healing properties have been growing over the last couple of years and now you can actually get a concentrated version of cidar vinegar in apple cider vinegar pills. Just like taking potassium supplements to prevent leg cramps, apple cider vinegar pills are designed to give you health benefits without forcing you to change your diet. Apple cider vinegar pills allow you to get the benefits of drinking apple cider vinegar without the bitter taste. Though the cider vinegar pills are mostly marketed towards weight loss though they may also alleviate other symptoms. Again, some people have reported an almost total reduction in leg cramps just by taking these pills on a regular basis.

It’s recommended that you talk to your doctor before starting a diet that’s heavy on apple cider vinegar because it’s high in acetic acid and it can interact with certain drugs and actually cause your body to lose more potassium than it should (which can actually cause leg cramps). You’ll always want to mix apple cider vinegar with something or dilute it with water because it can actually wear away tooth enamel or cause problems with your esophagus if taken straight. Other possible problems with taking excessive amounts of apple cider vinegar: heartburn, stomach upset, throat and esophagus irritation, allergic reactions including hives and wheezing. While the FDA does not officially endorse using apple cider vinegar and honey as a cure for any sickness there are many, many people who believe they have found relief from leg cramps and even restless leg syndrome by introduce apple cider vinegar into their regular diets.