Muscle Cramps – Causes and Treatments

Ouch! A griping leg pain has stopped you in your tracks or awakened you from a sound sleep. Muscle cramps. What causes muscles, usually leg muscles, to suddenly lockup, become hard as a rock and produce indescribable pain? The answer is not clear and the cause of muscle cramps is still not known, but there are a few answers that medical science has provides us with regarding muscle cramps:

Causes of Muscle Cramps

Muscle cramps usually occur in the heat of summer when sweat drains the body of fluids. Body fluids help the muscles contract and relax, when fluid levels decline, the contracting and relaxing body mechanics become unbalanced, causing the muscle to contract when it should be in a relaxed state.

The heat of summertime also causes the body to loss salt and minerals through sweat. Salt and minerals like magnesium, potassium and calcium keeps muscles working smoothly, when the salt and mineral supply becomes depleted, it causes muscles to spasm.

Other causes of muscle cramps include not stretching the muscles enough prior to engaging in exercise or sports. Muscle fatigue from engaging in activity for a prolonged period of time, or holding a position for a prolonged period of time.

Treatment for Muscle Cramps

When a muscle cramp hits, stop doing whatever you were doing. Begin to stretch and massage the muscle until the cramp lets go. If you were engaged in physical activity when the muscles cramp hit, drink a glass of water or sports drink (one that contains salt and minerals).

If you were jarred out of a sound sleep by a painful muscle cramp, sit on the side of the bed and massage the muscle while flexing the foot. If possible, get out of bed and walk the cramp away. Drinking some water and eating half of a banana (rich in potassium) may help prevent the muscle from seizing back up in a cramp for the remainder of the night.

When to See a Doctor

Most muscle cramps are harmless and can be traced to an activity that caused the muscle to be over exerted or the body to be dehydrated. If muscle cramps are occurring frequently or severely without any prior physical exertion, it’s time to see your doctor.

Muscle cramps without an obvious cause may indicate problems with circulation, hormones, nerves or nutrition. Muscles cramps can also be a side effect of certain types of medications.