Why leg cramps occur and how to get rid of them

Cramps in the legs – these are painful spasms that can disturb both in broad daylight and wake up at night. Most often, cramps can occur in the calves, but other muscles of the legs can also reduce. Leg cramps can catch you while running or, even worse, swimming, warns from estet-portal.com. You feel how your muscles harden, become tense, and all this is also accompanied by hellish pain – this, in fact, is the definition of muscle cramps. How to get rid of leg cramps?

Causes of seizures

Cause of leg cramps – muscle spasms, i.e. involuntary contractions of one or more muscles. In addition to the muscles of the feet and calves, spasms can also occur:

in the front and back of the thigh,
hands,
stomach,
chest.

Muscle cramps cause inconvenience to someone less often, someone more often, but, as a rule, every person has at least once in his life.

Muscle spasms can be caused by a variety of things, including:

impaired blood circulation in the legs;
exertion of the calf muscles during training;
insufficient stretching before exercising;
playing sports in hot weather;
muscle fatigue;
varicose veins,
dehydration;
hypothermia,
deficiency of magnesium and/or potassium, vitamin D;
calcium deficiency in pregnant women;
Nerve damage, which can be caused by an injury to the spine or a pinched nerve in the neck or back.

Medicines that cause seizures

Also, muscle cramps can be a side effect of certain medications, emphasizes estet-portal.com. Among the active substances of these medicines are:

furasemide, hydrochlorothiazide, and other diuretics used to remove fluid from the body;
donepezil, which is used to treat Alzheimer's disease;
neostigmine – used to treat myasthenia gravis;
nifedipine – medicine for sore throat and high blood pressure;
raloxifene, which is used to treat osteoporosis;
terbutaline, provenvent and albuterol – asthma medications;
tolcapone, which is used to treat Parkinson's disease;
statins to lower blood cholesterol, such as rosuvastatin, fluvastatin, atorvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, or simvastatin.

How to get rid of cramps in the legs and other parts of the body

When you experience muscle spasm, you should know how to get rid of leg cramps. You can resort to:

massage,
muscle stretching,
put ice on it,
prick with a pin or needle,
warm up the muscle,
take an Epsom salt bath.

In the event of a cramp in the calf or back of the thigh, try to transfer your body weight to the leg in which the cramp occurred, and slightly bend the leg at the knee, sit or lie down and stretch the leg, the concept of the foot towards you.

If the cramp occurs in the front of the thigh (quadriceps), grab onto a chair/bench to keep your balance and pull your foot back towards your buttocks.