Have you ever experienced a sudden pain and
tightness in your leg during sleep? The contraction is very sudden and stays
like that only for a couple of minutes and then goes away on its own but that
painful feeling stays. These are called leg cramps.
Leg cramps are a sudden involuntary contraction of
your calf muscles. They can happen because of overuse of muscle, improper
sitting or sitting for prolonged time, and electrolyte imbalance in the body.
75 percent of the leg cramps occur at night. These
can occur to anyone of any age or gender but are more common in older adults.
These can happen daily, weekly, monthly or yearly varying from person to
person.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A LEG CRAMP?
You can stretch the calf muscle since it becomes
tight during a cramp, stretching might help. You can stretch the calf muscle by
moving your foot upward.
Massage your leg, wiggle it.
You can also apply ice or heat to relieve pain.
There are no medications or injections developed as
of now to treat leg cramps.
HOW TO PREVENT IT?
1. Stretch your leg before going to sleep
2. Drink ample amount of water (6-8 glasses)
3. Keep your legs in comfortable position while
sleeping.
4. Wear good footwear
5. Avoid sitting in poor posture for long hours.
Need more advice or treatment? Many
health care experts at Antarnaad are always here to help you out. Antarnaad is
a growing network of experienced physiotherapists, dietitians, nutritionists,
fitness trainers and Yoga experts providing treatment for all the conditions.
For more information visit our website www.antarnaad.net or call our
Consultant: Mb: 9899700187
