The cramp we often say is called muscle spasm in medicine. To put it simply, it is the excessive contraction caused by excessive excitement.
Whether you are lying, sitting or standing, you may have cramps and severe pain.
Why cramps?
Since most of the cramps are spontaneous, the causes of the vast majority of “cramps” are not clear. At present, there are five common clinical causes.
Calcium deficiency
The calcium deficiency mentioned here is not the calcium deficiency in bones, but the calcium deficiency in blood.
When the concentration of calcium in the blood is too low (< 2.25 mmol / L), the muscle will be too excited and spasm will occur.
For healthy people, ischemic calcium is rare. It often occurs in people with severe liver and kidney diseases and long-term use of diuretics.
Body cold
When the body is stimulated by cold, the muscles will contract, resulting in cramps.
This is the principle of leg cold cramps at night and cramps just entering the swimming pool with low water temperature.
Excessive exercise
During exercise, the whole body is in a state of tension, the muscles contract continuously in a short time, and the local lactic acid metabolites increase, which will stimulate calf cramps.
In addition, after exercise, you will sweat a lot and lose a lot of electrolytes. If you don’t replenish water in time or only replenish pure water after a lot of sweating, it will lead to electrolyte imbalance in the body and lead to cramps.
Poor blood circulation
Maintaining a posture for a long time, such as sitting and standing for a long time, and local muscle compression will cause poor local blood circulation, insufficient muscle blood supply, and cramps.
exceptional case
Weight gain during pregnancy will lead to poor blood circulation of lower limbs, and the increased demand for calcium is the cause of cramps.
Side effects of drugs can also lead to cramps, such as antihypertensive drugs, anemia, asthma drugs, etc.
Experts remind: if you have occasional cramps, you don’t need to worry too much, but if you have frequent cramps and affect your normal life, you must go to the hospital as soon as possible.
3 movements to relieve cramps
Relieve finger cramps
Palm up, raise your arm flat, press the cramped finger with your other hand, and don’t bend your elbow.
Relieve leg cramps
Keep your feet together, arm away from the wall, put your toes on the cramped side against the wall, lean forward, and lift your heels on the other side.
Relieve toe cramps
Relax your legs and press the heel of the other foot against the cramped toe.
Expert tips: the above three movements can be stretched repeatedly until the muscles relax. This set of actions can also be used to prevent cramps in daily life.
Although the causes of most cramps are not clear, there are still some methods to prevent them according to the existing clinical treatment:
Cramp prevention:
1. Keep warm, especially when sleeping at night, don’t let your body catch cold.
2. Avoid excessive exercise and warm up in advance before exercise to reduce sudden muscle stimulation.
3. Replenish water after exercise to reduce electrolyte loss. You can also soak your feet in hot water to promote the absorption of lactic acid and reduce cramps.
4. Eat more foods containing sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, and supplement necessary minerals, such as bananas, milk, bean products, etc.
In short, not all cramps are “calcium deficiency”. Only by distinguishing the causes can we achieve scientific prevention ~
Post time: Aug-27-2021