Cramps in the leg muscles - causes and treatment, what to do

Everyone experiences episodic painful contractions of the leg muscles throughout their lives. The causes of physical discomfort vary. Most of them can be eliminated by adjusting your lifestyle and diet. But if your legs cramp regularly, you need to seek medical help. Sometimes serious vascular or systemic pathologies manifest themselves in this way.

How to eliminate pain and numbness?

If you suddenly have severe cramps in your legs, what should you do ? The first thing you need to do is pull your toes towards you or press your foot firmly to the floor. Often muscle spasms appear during a night's sleep and the person wakes up. Sit carefully, press your hands to the disturbing area and massage vigorously until this unpleasant sensation goes away. Then raise your legs higher to reduce blood pressure. If you suddenly have severe cramps in your legs, what should you do in a crowded place? Close the muscle tightly with your fingers and hold until the pain goes away.

Simple techniques to combat cramps

Another piece of advice for a person who doesn’t know what to do and why their toes are cramping. Since cramps are most often provoked by impaired blood circulation, it is necessary to carefully stretch the spasming muscles - this will return them to normal tone. This is done like this: holding your toes with your hand, you should slowly pull the sock towards you. For the first few moments, the pain may intensify somewhat, but this must be endured. When the muscle is in a tense position, you need to start performing swinging movements with your leg. This will calm the pain and the spasm will go away. And only now can you start massaging your cramped fingers. This should be done starting from the tips of the toes, moving from the periphery to the center of the foot. Pinching and patting also help overcome cramps. Of course, a person who already knows this feature of his body often feels the approach of a cramp. He understands perfectly well what to do and why his toes are cramping, and therefore freezes, waiting out the spasm that arises; At the very beginning of the onset of overexertion, spasm can be fought by freezing and not allowing the fingers to extend. Make a careless movement, stretch your leg, and the spasm will become uncontrollable.

Diagnostics and therapy

What to do if a leg cramp starts ? After you have carried out manipulations to eliminate the cramp, you need to think: what is causing this? If this happens to you frequently, you should consult a therapist. He will prescribe a list of tests:

1. A clinical blood test that allows you to see any inflammatory changes, a decrease in the number of red blood cells, and gain a complete understanding of your problem.
2. Blood sugar test to rule out diabetes.
3. Urine examination - to determine a malfunction of the kidneys - the organ that controls the water and electrolyte balance of the body.
4. Ultrasound of veins - to evaluate hematopoiesis and determine whether there is venous insufficiency.

Most likely, based on these data and after the examination, some more examinations will need to be done, but only the therapist will decide this. Based on a complete study, he will refer you to a highly specialized doctor who will prescribe complete treatment.

Leg cramps at night - causes and treatment

14.10.2019

A cramp is a sudden sharp contraction of a muscle, accompanied by sharp, severe pain. Most often, muscle cramps can occur due to excessive stress on one or another part of the muscle. But very often, many people experience the appearance of muscle cramps during sleep. To eliminate the problem that has arisen, you first need to understand the reasons for its occurrence.

Causes of cramps at night

Night muscle cramps are both an independent disease and a symptom of some other pathology or process in the human body. Regardless of whether the patient has accompanying symptoms and complaints or not, if this problem occurs, it is imperative to consult with a phlebologist, who will identify the true cause of seizures and prescribe appropriate therapy .

The most common causes of night cramps are:

1. inflammatory process in the body;
2. hidden and untreated injuries;
3. phlebeurysm . _ With varicose veins , the patient has a disturbance in the blood supply to the lower extremities, resulting in swelling . Due to these disorders, varicose veins are very often accompanied by night cramps;
4. the presence of diseases associated with impaired blood supply to the body, such as diabetes mellitus , neuralgia thyroid dysfunction ;
5. lack of essential microelements in the body, such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, etc. Neuromuscular excitability with a lack of necessary substances in the body increases, as a result of which the patient begins to suffer from muscle cramps. In this case, the accompanying symptoms are general weakness and fatigue. This phenomenon can also be observed when taking diuretics, due to which the active necessary substances begin to be washed out of the body in large quantities.
6. Dehydration of the body. This reason is the most common when muscle cramps occur.

Treatment of nocturnal muscle cramps

Treatment of muscle cramps, depending on the cause of their occurrence, is selected individually. The therapy itself is complex: it includes both taking the necessary medications and performing special exercises for the lower extremities.

When examining a patient with this problem, the specialist must talk about how to provide independent first aid if a cramp occurs at night.

Prevention of night cramps

Smoking negatively affects blood flow, so people with night cramps are advised to give up the habit.

Shoes should be soft and comfortable, and the heel should be low: no more than five centimeters.

It is necessary to do exercises daily to strengthen the leg . It is important to remember that exercise is contraindicated for people with varicose veins .

It is advisable to change your diet by removing foods containing caffeine, as it contributes to dehydration, and adding foods rich in magnesium and calcium.

Published in Phlebology Premium Clinic

Night leg cramps in children

Often accompany a period of active growth of the baby. Since the concept of a “cramp” is unfamiliar and incomprehensible to the child, the sudden onset of muscle contractions causes significant anxiety, fear and crying. The main causes of nighttime leg cramps in a child are:

• keeping the leg in an awkward position, in one position for a long time;
• hypothermia of the lower extremities;
• lack of microelements (magnesium, potassium and calcium) in the body;
• flat feet.

The last 2 reasons are likely with regular, disturbing convulsions for a long time.

How to prevent seizures?

There is a way to prevent seizures if you understand the risk of their occurrence and the cause that can lead to it. For example, if you have flat feet, it is important to choose the right shoes and use orthopedic insoles. For varicose veins, avoid excessive physical activity. During pregnancy, follow the regime and take the necessary vitamins. In any case, if you want to avoid night cramps, you need to adjust your diet to include foods rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium. Instead of sweets, give preference to dried apricots and dates.

Leg cramps in pregnant women

According to statistics, almost every pregnant woman experiences this very unpleasant phenomenon. Since the vast majority of pregnant women are still more or less healthy, causes of seizures such as kidney disease or chronic heart failure are unlikely in this case. More often, involuntary muscle contractions occur for special reasons related specifically to the “interesting position” of the woman.

1. Lack of B vitamins and imbalance of microelements (excess phosphates and sodium, lack of magnesium, potassium and calcium) in the blood, caused by:
   improper (unbalanced, irrational) nutrition of a woman associated with her dietary whims;
2. insufficient function of the parathyroid glands (occurs with repeated vomiting, mainly in the first trimester of pregnancy (during toxicosis));
3. active growth of the fetus in the second trimester (everyone knows that for growth and development the fetus uses nutrients from the mother’s body, and if a pregnant woman does not receive enough of them from food, it is during the period of intensive growth of the baby that she experiences their deficiency “on herself”);
4. excessive intake of diuretics - drugs that stimulate urine output (they are often prescribed to pregnant women with severe edema, usually at the very end of pregnancy).
5. Moderate to severe iron deficiency anemia (can occur with insufficient consumption of iron-containing foods, and due to massive blood loss).
6. Hypoglycemia. Dietary disorders in the form of late or very rare (less than 3 times a day) large meals, abuse of foods containing easily digestible carbohydrates lead to a decrease in blood sugar levels at night and in the morning and, as a result, to seizures.
7. Chronic lack of oxygen and dehydration of muscles, resulting from excess caffeine and nicotine in a woman’s body, also often cause seizures.
8. Inferior vena cava syndrome is compression of this vein by the enlarged uterus in the position of the pregnant woman on her back, leading to deterioration of blood circulation in the vessels of the lower extremities, as a result of which cramps occur.
9. Chronic venous insufficiency. Since during pregnancy a woman’s volume of blood circulating through her vessels increases and blood circulation in the pelvis becomes more intense, the vessels of the lower extremities experience severe stress. If the walls of the veins cannot cope with the increased load, they stretch, forming pouch-shaped, or varicose veins, in which blood stagnates. As a result, blood flow is disrupted, an imbalance of microelements develops, which leads to seizures.

Separately, it is worth mentioning such a serious condition as eclampsia. This is a type of late gestosis, manifested by high blood pressure, edema, the presence of protein in the urine and, most importantly, generalized seizures. This condition usually occurs in the third trimester of pregnancy and is life-threatening for both the fetus and the expectant mother. The appearance of generalized seizures is an absolute indication for urgent delivery by cesarean section.

Metatarsalgia of the foot: causes, how to recognize, prevention and treatment

Metatarsalgia is a disease characterized by pain in the joints of the metatarsal part of the foot. The disease is quite rare. The most common victims are professional athletes with high daily physical activity. In addition to them, people with finger deformities, excess body weight, diabetics, gout, and arthritis are also at risk.

As a rule, the source of the disease is the space between the toes and ankle, the second and fourth toes, or the very beginning of the big one.

Causes of the disease

The appearance of symptoms of metatarsalgia is mainly associated with excessive physical stress on the metatarsal part of the foot. Sometimes the cause may be a non-functioning bone. There are many reasons that provoke the occurrence of the disease:

• Regular foot injuries;
• Excessive physical activity in the form of running, athletics;
• Excess body weight due to an unhealthy lifestyle or pregnancy;
• Deformed toes;
• Large corns and calluses;
• Shoes do not fit; women have too high heels;
• Poor blood circulation in the foot area due to diabetes;
• Aging of the body.

Metatarsalgia is especially common in older women. Here, both the aging of the body and changes in hormonal levels due to the onset of menopause play a role. In diabetics, the first symptoms of the disease may appear even before the appearance of changes in the skin, diabetic wounds and trophic ulcers. Metatarsalgia among men is much less common, unless, of course, the person is a professional athlete or has diabetes.

How to distinguish metatarsalgia from other diseases of the musculoskeletal system?

The disease has pronounced symptoms. Initially, it is a mild pain that appears while walking. At this stage, few people seek help from a doctor, because the unpleasant sensation is attributed to simple fatigue in the legs. But with metatarsalgia, even after a long rest, joint pain

is saved.

Pain appears not only when walking in uncomfortable shoes or high heels, but also when walking barefoot. As mentioned earlier, the source of pain is located between the second and fourth toes. Foot massage or painkillers or ointments can help eliminate discomfort. Metatarsalgia cannot be cured in this way. Consequently, the pain will appear again and again.

If you do not contact a medical facility for help in time, swelling of the limb will begin. The consequence of this may be pinching of the nerve endings located here. A slight tingling sensation appears, the foot becomes numb, which is especially felt in the evening. It happens that the foot does not return to its previous state even overnight. Therefore, wearing everyday shoes for a person with metatarsalgia can be a real problem.

Due to the fact that representatives of the fair sex are most often at risk, experts advise them to put high-heeled shoes aside and seek help from a medical facility, because the pain will not only not go away, but will also intensify over time.

Ointments and medications that dull the pain will not cure metatarsalgia. They only soothe the pain, muffle it for a short time. Using them constantly is fraught with consequences, since such drugs always have many side effects. In addition, making a diagnosis yourself, being a person who has nothing to do with medicine, is a big mistake. Only a doctor can draw the right conclusions.

How to recognize metatarsalgia?

When making a diagnosis, the patient undergoes an x-ray, during which you can see how the bones in the metatarsal part of the foot change. The doctor can determine the presence of metatarsalgia of the foot if, when pressing on the beginning of the second, third, fourth or big toes, the pain intensifies.

Due to the large number of causes that provoke the development of the disease, it is quite difficult to determine a specific one. Sometimes additional tests such as an MRI or ultrasound are required.

Prevention and treatment

Treatment of metatarsalgia of the foot is carried out by a traumatologist. Preference is given to drugs from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Only a specialist can prescribe the right medicine! As a rule, such drugs have a lot of side effects and contraindications. They are sold in any form:

• Ointments;
• Pills;
• Solutions for injections;
• Powders.

What medications are used most often?

Nimesulide is most often prescribed for the treatment of metatarsalgia of the foot. In pharmacies it can be found in the form of a powder, which is dissolved in water and consumed twice a day after meals.

At the initial stage, the disease can be cured with the well-known Voltaren ointment, which includes dichlorofenac, classified as an NSAID. If the disease has started, this option is rejected immediately.

At the end of treatment, it is recommended to undergo a course of preventive measures, including foot massage and physiotherapeutic procedures. An orthopedic doctor will give recommendations about shoes, advise which one to choose so that there is no sharp pain when wearing them.

If the disease was accompanied by complications, then it is possible to use an elastic bandage.
If this method is ineffective, a special operation is performed to eliminate the cause of metatarsalgia and guarantee an absolute and speedy recovery. Author: K.M.N., Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences M.A. Bobyr