Muscle Cramps

The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous - Carl Sagan

Muscle Cramps
Muscle Cramps

image by: Jim Watts‎ I Hate getting leg cramps in the middle of the night.

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Everything you know about muscle cramps is wrong

You’re wrapping up a morning run when one of your hamstring muscles balls into an angry fist of pain. Or it’s the middle of the night, and a sudden spasm grips your calf and forces you out of bed.

While they’re common—affecting roughly 37% of the population—muscle cramps have long been shrouded in mystery. For a long time, experts believed that muscle fatigue or some sort of fluid imbalance—brought on either by dehydration or inadequate amounts of electrolytes in the blood—could disrupt muscle homeostasis in ways that triggered involuntary activity. This theory was based on some well-established muscle cramp trends, including the fact that intense exercise can produce a cramp, and…

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  Everything you know about muscle cramps is wrong

You’re wrapping up a morning run when one of your hamstring muscles balls into an angry fist of pain. Or it’s the middle of the night, and a sudden spasm grips your calf and forces you out of bed. While they’re common—affecting roughly 37% of the population—muscle cramps have long been shrouded in mystery. For a long time, experts believed that muscle fatigue or some sort of fluid imbalance—brought on either by dehydration or inadequate amounts of electrolytes in the blood—could disrupt muscle homeostasis in ways that triggered involuntary activity. This theory was based on some well-established muscle cramp trends, including the fact that intense exercise can produce a cramp, and that cramps are more common in summer than in winter. But new research complicates these old theories.

5 Ways to Avoid Leg Cramps

For those people who have seen their doctor and have had more serious problems ruled out, leg cramps can still be a great nuisance, and treating them can be a challenge (which in doctor speak means that we can’t always fix the problem).

MayoClinic

If you've ever been awakened in the night or stopped in your tracks by a sudden charley horse, you know that muscle cramps can cause severe pain. Though generally harmless, muscle cramps can make it temporarily impossible to use the affected muscle.

NHS

Most cases of leg cramps can be relieved by exercising the affected muscles. Exercising your legs during the day will often help reduce how often you get cramping episodes.

Patient

Leg cramps are common. The cause is not known in most cases. However, some medications and diseases sometimes cause leg cramps. Regular calf stretching exercises may prevent leg cramps. Quinine tablets may be advised as a last resort if you have cramps regularly.

StatPearls

Muscle cramps in most people resolve on their own and medical treatment is unnecessary. Because of the spontaneous resolution, it has been difficult to determine the real effectiveness of medications.

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