Muscle Cramps

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Muscle cramps can be excruciatingly painful. If you have even been a victim of one then you will realize the importance of learning how to avoid them and things you can do to help relieve them. I’ve had my share of muscle cramps over the years and I do not wish them upon anyone, so let’s understand them a bit more together.

There are a lot of people who have muscle spasms quite frequently and it makes it hard for them to fall asleep. For other people they have them much less but the intensity of them is absolutely torture. If you are engaged in long periods of sitting down while at the office or traveling by plane, you need to make it a point to get up and move around. When your legs are in the same position they will cramp up and it will not be easy to relieve the pain.

There’s no doubt that women experience stomach cramps monthly, if not weekly. Men don’t understand how draining these cramps can be. They will rob the body of all its energy making it difficult to complete everyday tasks. To put things in laymen’s terms, the menstrual cycle breaks down mucus linings and starts to expel them. The uterus will literally contract to help this process and it is this that causes the most pain.

Most of my experience comes from back and leg pain. I think the leg pains have been the worst out of them all. Sometimes it will start with my toes going in to weird feeling positions and slowly it crawls up my legs. Every little move or breath I take seems to intensify the pain. There are many reasons for these types of cramps but from what I gather it is the body’s way to protect other muscles from damage or the body’s reaction to stress.

Some nutrient deficiencies such as calcium and magnesium can cause cramping and other muscle related spasms. It just happens to be that these two minerals are responsible for controlling contractions and relaxations. If you aren’t getting enough fluids, especially water, you can find yourself bound to extremely painful cramps. Many athletes understand this so they are always hydrating themselves to prevent them. Certain fluids that contain a lot of caffeine or alcohol will dehydrate your body so it is best to eliminate or reduce your intake of them.

If you do find yourself having a cramp there are a couple of things you can do aside from wheezing in pain. If you can, try gently stretching and massaging the muscles involved. It’s important to do it gently as you can cause a lot of damage from overdoing it. Applying a heated bag or pack will encourage blood flow to the area and help relax the muscles from their spastic state.