A muscle cramp is tightening or contraction of muscles. It is a sudden, strong, and painful shrinkage of your muscles. Muscle cramps usually affect your lower leg, thigh back, and front muscles. When your muscles do not relax properly, it increases the tension in your muscles. This leads to uncontrollable contraction.
The involuntary contraction of muscles can last from a few seconds to several minutes. It generally occurs when you are falling asleep or waking up. The risk of muscle cramps increases due to various reasons, including aging. Muscle cramping is a common health issue in adults and people from middle age and beyond.
Here are some common causes of muscle cramps:
Dehydration
When you are not consuming enough water in a day, your muscles are unable to cool themselves off. Especially in times when you are overusing your muscle in an intense workout in summers. Your muscles lose fluids and shrink due to inadequate water supply.
Medications
You might face cramps if you are taking medicines that contain Furosemide, Hydrochlorothiazide. These chemicals eliminate the fluid and cause tension in your muscles. Moreover, medicines that consist of pseudoephedrine and statins can cause cramps or muscle spasms in multiple areas of your body.
Pregnancy
Pregnant women commonly experience muscle cramps. It is because of the intense pressure on nerves and blood vessels due to the growing body. Also, the electrolyte abnormalities in your body during pregnancy cause cramps in your feet, thighs, or legs.
Medical Conditions
You might experience muscle cramps due to medical conditions like thyroid, diabetes, anemia, etc. Hypothyroidism usually causes stiffness, fatigue, and cramping in the lower areas of your body. Further, if you have kidney disease or other hormonal problems, it can also result in muscle spasms and leg cramps.
Mineral Deficiency
Your body functioning majorly depends on minerals and vitamins. So, when your body lacks minerals like Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium and Vitamin D, Vitamin E, it causes cramping. Your muscles get spasm that results in chronic pain and muscle cramping.
Home remedies which can prevent muscle cramps are:
Drink Plenty of Water
You should keep your body hydrated to relax your muscles properly. Fluids keep your muscles contracted, especially during strenuous workout sessions. You should drink water after every one hour of activity to recover fluid levels in your body.
Do Light Exercise
To avoid cramps during night time, you can stretch your muscles. For this, light exercise such as cycling and walking can help to flex your muscles and prevent leg cramps. Moreover, you should follow a light exercise routine during warm weather, to avoid excessive fatigue.
Massage Gently
After stretching your muscles, you should gently rub and massage your muscles. It will help to increase circulation in the tissues and relaxes your cramped muscle. You can use a heating pad, or hot soak will help your muscles to relax. Often taking a warm bath or using a hot towel onto the cramped muscle provides relief.
Treatment
When to visit the doctor?
Home remedies can reduce cramping, but there can be extreme conditions where you might face excruciating pain. In such cases, you should consider seeing a doctor and receive a proper physician consultation. Do opt for a proper treatment when your cramps are associated with the following symptoms:
- Your muscle cramps cause severe discomfort and inconvenience
- You experience redness/swelling in the legs or muscles
- You feel weakness and severe tiredness in the muscles
- You are unable to figure out the exact cause
- Your cramps are persistent even after self-care
Sometimes, you experience cramps due to specific medical problems in the kidney, heart, etc. In such a case, you need to see specialists like orthopedists, nephrologists. They focus on the underlying cause of your leg cramps and treat accordingly.
Benefits of Using Hemp Seed Infused Soothing Balm
Using Natural supplements is a great alternative to prevent muscle cramps. You automatically reduce the risk of side-effects on your body. And instead, you allow your muscles to heal naturally. Hemp seed is a natural ingredient that helps to release muscle tension and relaxes them.
You can rub hemp seed infused balm onto your cramped muscles. It is a gentle pain-relieving balm for releasing pain from multiple areas. You can use Bael Wellness Premium Hemp Seed Infused Soothing Balm to recover from stiff neck, back pain, and joint pain. It is made from sun-dried Hemp grown in the USA and 100% effective in managing chronic pain.
