Most people at some time in their lives have experienced what it is like to have, sometimes quite severe, painful night leg cramps
If you have had the pleasure of that experience it is not something you are likely to forget since the pain can be really excruciating.
It is a good idea to have some muscle cramp remedies and pain relief available to help at the time of onset and there are various kinds available.
Leg cramps in the night often strike without warning.
They can jolt you out of your sleep like a bolt of lightning, leaving you screaming in agony, wondering what hit you.
If you are already awake when it starts you may sense the onset as a dull kind of pulling or tugging at first. It then quickly contracts with a very tight grasp of your calf muscle in an involuntary contraction that has you writhing in pain within seconds and an attack may last for up to a few minutes at a time.
They are more common amongst older people than in the young. So what can be done about these nocturnal cramps? First of all some immediate relief might include stretching your foot towards the knee which helps to stretch the muscle out, applying an ice pack or soaking in a hot bath with bath salts. Or you can make use of a very powerful and natural technique that is gaining wide popularity these days for all kinds of pain, called ‘Emotional freedom technique’ or EFT for short.
EFT For Pain Relief. Find Out More Here
This gives instant natural pain relief just by tapping with your fingers on a few well defined acupressure points that are located mainly on your face. In addition to that, it might be a good idea to do a little research on what causes these kind of cramps so that you can prevent them happening again in the future.
In the alternative health field the common view is that a large number of leg cramps are caused by having low levels of potassium in the body. When you have an insufficient amount of this mineral it upsets the electrolyte balance inside of your body which otherwise maintains normal healthy muscle functioning. As a result cramping occurs. So in order to reduce the likelihood of further cramps a simple change in diet could be all you need. Potassium is one of the main nutrients in a banana so eating more bananas could really help a lot.
If this doesn’t help then maybe you need to look further at other possible causes. Have you been doing more exercise than usual and maybe sweating a lot, becoming dehydrated quickly in a short space of time? Some people find that going on holiday to a hot country can bring on cramps that they would otherwise not suffer at home – mainly because they are sweating much more and so are losing essential salts more quickly.
This is a good way to drain your potassium reserves very quickly no matter if you have eaten a banana already in the day and you might benefit from taking essential mineral salts supplements.
Any exercise regime needs to include a warm up at the beginning to avoid the problem of a muscle suddenly going into spasm. Strenuous exercise which involves a lot of sweating can also cause dehydration which can then in turn lead to muscle cramps, so in this case drinking plenty of water would be beneficial along with an increase in salt intake.
Salt aids in fluid retention and so is an important part of any rehydration process. 
Other treatments that have been found to have some success are muscle relaxants such as quinine sulfate, vitamin E cream rubbed topically, vitamin supplements B and C and chamomile tea which has a both a sedative effect and also a source of essential trace minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
Sitting in one place for a long time can also cause cramps as the muscle is not getting the chance to stretch a little from time to time to keep it supple. Other causes might include the drinking of alcohol, changes associated with pregnancy, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, some kinds of flu virus which seems to cause a temporary muscle spasm effect, and as a side effect of some types of medication.
Making yourself familiar with the causes and possible cures for night leg cramps will provide you with a whole arsenal of resources if ever they should strike again.
Many of these can work quite quickly and bring you back to a comfortable night’s rest once again.
The medical causes of leg cramps are many. If you want your muscle pain cured naturally, determine your causes of lower leg cramps but it is not recommended to take quinine for leg cramps.
Been having night leg cramp’s and on a very Limited budget
very bad one early in am hours this am also getting worse
My sudden “night pains” while I am sleeping are all just above the ankles and down the arches.
Very uncomfortable. The best thing I can do to help is get out of bed and try to stand on my feet. If possible I walk. That does alleviate the pain.
some nutritional suppliments to consider ingesting:
- magnesium (powder form one that also contains Vit B and Calcium)
- drink a powerade / gatorade from time to time – they contain the electrolytes to help with brain muscles communication
- definately go to a physio and get a stretching routine happening for when you wake up and also before bed
i had gotten a double leg cramp on sunday night and boy what pain. i am still in pain especially when walking and trying to cross my legs very painful to touch any suggestions on how to aleviate the pain would be very helpful. i have had them all my life off and on and i am in my 40′s now. thank you
One energy therapy I have found to be very successful for this particular condition, along with back pain and various other things, is the energy therapy called ‘eft’ which essentially involves tapping on a few acupuncture points ….. the relief is immediate. It is natural and has no side effects.
Acupuncture is a great stress reliever on me. it is also great for headaches ‘
I was trying to find more information on Night Leg Cramps on Yahoo and this site was the first site I saw about it. Thanks for your opinion and now I know where to discover cool stuff in the future
Thanks I really needed this.
Having leg cramps extreme cant walk next day veins broken.
I would like to get more detail information of leg cramps at night and I have leg cramps every night.
i like acupuncture, it is simple yet effective treatment for minor health problems;:*
I’ve suffered from severe leg night cramps for years. I end up walking around or at least standing until they calm down. I thought it was my cold feet, but thick socks not helping. My legs muscles are sore for days after an episode and mildly twitch throughout the day.I actually got this once when I was 10 or so while swimming in a lake and almost drowned. They are very debilitating when they strike.
I don’t drink water at all, so will try water, bananas, daily vitamin for now. Interested in EFT as well.
When my legs cramp at night I put a towel under the hottest water I can find and then wrap it around my leg. It relieves the cramping within seconds and the effect lasts for hours.
I just read about the connection between leg cramps and vitamin D deficiency.. There is a clear link??
Maggie
Been having one a year for the last 15 years. There were a couple of years where I didn’t have one, but two years ago I had three in the same year, so I made up for it. I get them in the middle of the night, and I usually get them in the winter, when it’s cold. Although last night was a bit warmer. I tend to kick the sheets out of my bed, so I still believe it has to do with the colder temperature and my leg being in the same position for a while. I though I would only get it on the left leg, but I remember a couple of ocassions, the right leg has been cramped.
I just had one and the pain was excruciating for a few minutes. Always in the same (left) leg. If it would last longer I could die from the pain. I guess nobody knows except who had it…Any remedy is futile during the episode (at least for me) because the pain is paralyzing and prevents me to do anything else but to bite my pillow to stop screaming …I have a mild diabetes 2 I don’t think is the cause of it. I had it before the condition as well. I wish I can stop this but it strikes so suddenly and for no good reason. I can’t think of anything that I did differently the day before it happens. Will dig more on the web and maybe get lucky and find something that actually helps me particularly.
Good luck and less nocturnal cramps to everybody.
Tom
I have been able to work with weights now that I am in high school, and I want to learn which vitamins and minerals to take. I want to take only natural things and FORGET anything like steriods. No way am I gonna mess myself up. Anybody have any advice?
Get leg and feet cramps every night. It subsides for a few months then starts up again on a nightly basis. I drink plenty of water and have a banana every morning. I don’t know what is causing it. I’m getting very frustrated.
I was getting severe leg cramps at night, I tried every thing available from the Doctor and Chemist.
Then a friend suggested Acupuncture, I had two sessions and have not had a leg cramp since.
May not work for everyone, but it did for me.
Peter.
believe it or not the bar of soap works like a miracle. Have had leg cramps for quite some time every night, but put the bar of soap under the bottom sheet and haven’t had one nighttime cramp since. Still get one in the daytime if I point my toes just right. Hmmm… I wonder if I could walk with a sliver of soap in my shoe?
I’m like Tom, once my muscles cramp I’m totally incapacitated, so getting out of bed is not a possibility although I do try to massage the affected areas but with limited or negligable success. I find the seizures migrate around my leg, no sooner does the calf ease up but my shin goes rigid.
What I find helps to avert future attacks is munching a magnesium tablet at bedtime. I chew or suck just one (too many have an undesireable affect on the bowels) each night for 3 or 4 days and this usually keeps the cramps at bay for a month or two.
I like the banana idea – I’m going to try that.
More suggestions as to what to try during the event would be most welcome
I use excersices that help me prevent leg cramps, it is a horrible thing when you cant sleep
i cray every night.i sleep couple of hours at night.i had cramps on both legs same time.i cant walk.i try every thing.included bananas calcium magnesium acupuncture walk.nothing is working.one day i found it.the fresh lemon help me.i rub in morning and night for may be one week and cramps,pain disappear.i can proof that.when i forgot use lemon for couple days the pain come back.trust me and tray.
First off I want to say I love a good cup of coffee. I have suffered from almost nightly leg cramps for many years. I began to suffer from a very sensitive stomach which I attributated to to much coffee (it turned out to be our water.) I was drinking tea instead I didn’t notice it but I stopped having leg cramps. I started a new job with a company I had worked for previously. I noticed I couldn’t attack the work like I had before so I thought to try some coffee which did give me a noticable boost in energy but that night the leg cramps came back. I again quit the coffee and no leg cramps. I have tried every thing recommended for leg cramps nothing worked that great. Sadly I have to give up the coffee. I hope someone else will try going without coffee to verify the results and get back with their experiences. Hope this helps someone else.
Hi ! My grand father suffered a lot and then used a trick told by a friend of his; it worked wonder !
Here it is : before going to bed, tie around your ankle a thread of wool. I mean real wool, the purer, the better. Tie it loose enough not to impede the blood flow, naturally, but close enough so that most of your ankle skin is in contact with the woolthread. Make a simple knot, cut the excess thread, and, well, that’s it ! From that day, he no longer suffered from night cramps ! He did not look for explanation, too…Heat of the wool? Remedy ” all in the head” ? As long as it worked…For years, I could see two or three wool threads on his night table !!!
Hope that helped !
Franky
Stanley….I think you might be on to something regarding coffee. Last night was really bad for me but that day before I had tons of coffee. I get no sleep from cramping all night and drink more coffee to keep me going during the day and I must be starting the whole process all over again. I am getting rid of coffee for a while to see what happens….
Also I’m eating bananas and drinking tons of water. Hope this works…can’t take much more.
there is a RLS spay that will help with restless leg
Great post!I never know about this till i find the post thanks for sharing this with us i may share this to my friends.
Nocramps´s last blog post … http://nightlegcramps.net/leg-cramp-relief
urg, I wasn’t been able to stretch my leg after I wake up with an excruciating pain in my leg. What I did was to squeezed my gastrocnemus really hard.
Nocramps´s last blog post … http://nightlegcramps.net/leg-cramp-relief
Surprisingly I almost agree with just about all you have said. I guess it’s great to re-look at the way you think since you get into many habits inside the head. Appreciate the comments.
Hi, I have suffered with leg cramps all of my 64 years, not every night. As a young adult I learned the pulling the foot toward the knee, this helped keep me in bed so I could go back to sleep and not have to jump out of bed to walk. Later in life they started spreading to strange places like inside the ankle where I could not massage or know how to move the muscle. I’ve been using the hot water method. My ligaments get stiff and look deformed until the heat takes effect and sometimes takes a while. I can feel it coming like a restless muscle and I run to the bathtub. I might need hydration, I’m going to concentrate on that. I already take calcium and magnesium. Mine don’t seem to relate to coffee, but I have noticed a connection with different shoes.
I have been able to work with weights now that I am in high school, and I want to learn which vitamins and minerals to take. |
Nocramps´s last blog post … http://nightlegcramps.net/leg-cramp-relief
I attributed to to much coffee (it turned out to be our water.) I was drinking tea instead I didn’t notice it but I stopped having leg cramps. I started a new job with a company I had worked for previously. I noticed I couldn’t attack the work like I had before so I thought to try some coffee which did give me a noticeable boost in energy but that night the leg cramps came back. |
Nocramps´s last blog post … http://nightlegcramps.net/leg-cramp-relief
I couldn’t attack the work like I had before so I thought to try some coffee which did give me a noticeable boost in energy but that night the leg cramps came back. I again quit the coffee and no leg cramps. |
Nocramps´s last blog post … http://nightlegcramps.net/leg-cramp-relief
I agree wholeheartedly with what you say in this article.
EFT and meditation can both be used to control and lessen pain. These techniques can also be used to prevent pain coming on.
The only disadvantage in using the methods is that they need to be learned and practiced in order to make them work.
But once that initial training period has been completed the methods work wonderfully well.
Nocramps´s last blog post … http://nightlegcramps.net/leg-cramp-relief
What a brilliant post. You should do a series!
I did a sort of blogging for dummies over on one of the craft forums and I thought it was too simple for them, but the amount of emails I got asking questions just like what you addressed was unbelievable. As young people today we have grown up with computers, but it’s easy to forget that even people
just a few years older have not! Really good post!
Nocramps´s last blog post … http://nightlegcramps.net/leg-cramp-relief
I use an electric massager that I got for my wife’s to use on her stiff neck. Before I go to bed I use the massager on both legs. On the calf’s and the muscle down the outside of both legs between the knee and the foot and the arch of both feet. Then I take two Aspirin and a couple of big swigs of Tonic water with quinine. (It contains a small amount of quinine.) After months and months of night time leg cramps I found this and it works every night. When I need to go to the bathroom during the night I take another small swig of the Tonic water. I Sleep like a baby with NO leg cramps. Check with your doctor if you have heart problems as large amounts of quinine can cause your heart to stop. Good luck.
I was not sure about which website to confirm and then I saw your blog and it really proved to be helpful to me. The content is great and easy to apply. Please post some more
topics related to it.
Nocramps´s last blog post … http://nightlegcramps.net/leg-cramp-relief