It’s only DAY TWO!! Why God, Why? Why do you hate me so much?
In a recent quest to become addicted to “healthy living” versus drinking and “other” living I have begun jog/walking the perimeter at the Rose Bowl at Pasadena. The first day went well enough, no cramps, felt nice and rejuvenated when I got home. A sense of accomplishment and pride filled me and I thought to myself,
“Self, this ain’t so bad…”
Now let’s take that sentiment and try to apply it to DAY TWO, shall we? From the moment I stepped onto the track I felt a marked difference in my calves. I could already sense that “dull ache” that signals major crampage for me. So I took a 10 minute pause and made it a point to try to stretch it out. Felt fine at first and I thought I was in the clear.
However, as we rounded the end of the first lap (3 miles), my calf muscle started to “lock up”, I tried to walk it out, wishing and praying that it would subside but oh no no no, apparently the “powers” that be have a wicked sense of humor. I tried stretching out the calf muscle and it went away for awhile but then in the midst of sit ups in the grass..
BAM!!! Calf muscle just LOCKED UP!!! Like rock hard, flexed shooting pains -LOCKED!! Ya, so I pretty much screamed. What? Call me dramatic but I can not handle charley horses, I spazz out and find it so difficult to flex it out. How can I when the muscle is stuck? So my friend Wendy literally had to force my foot flexed and she started massaging my calf muscle. God bless her.
Well the incident inspired me to research Causes & Treatments for Leg Cramps. Here is what I found:
Causes:
- Muscle Fatigue
- Dehydration
- High Weight (not necessarily obesity)
- Electrolyte Imbalances
- Certain Medications
Treatments:
- Stay Hydrated – Drink at least 3 full glasses of water each day. Including one before bedtime. Drink plenty of fluids before, during and after workouts.
- Stretch Regularly – Relaxes muscle fibers, stretch before and AFTER working out
- Train Gradually – Don’t G.I. Jane it like I did, slow and steady seems to be the path…
How to make the cramp go away?
- Massage the cramped muscle
- Stretch the muscle (gently!)
- Take hot shower or bath and let the warm water relax the muscle
I am going to try this stuff tonight guys, I am still going to go to the Rose Bowl (call me crazy, but I must) and “if” it happens again I will give these options a go. Wish me luck please.
Do you guys know any secret quick fire tips to avoid or treat leg cramps?
About evette
One of the withdrawl symptoms of stopping regular drinking is muscle cramping. Eating things with lots of potassium helps them go away faster. I like bananas and avacados and potatoes. Not neccessarily low in calories, but they are quite healthy.
I drink a glass of grapefruit juice before a warm up and stretching. Helps alot. My trainer says prune juice works too.
P.S. Love my makeup brushes from Overstock.com
Hi im Holly im 15 yrs.old and i have been having leg cramps
at night and they wont go away, I will jump on my bed and punch my leg and they will not go away please help me. Do you have any tips i can do while it happends to get it away??
please help me.. holly
Eating things with lots of potassium helps them go away faster. I like bananas and avacados and potatoes.
Hi holly I am PA and ways to help with your nightly bouts of leg cramps include:
Hi I’m 20 years old,actually I experienced leg cramps.Wow it really makes me…ahm…it really hurts, huhu.Since High School I really experienced leg cramps.I think I lack water, hehehe, that’s the problem their.So by reading and looking for causes, I suspected that I lack fluid intake.So starting now I will drink a lot of water.
Try this! it works for me. Do you use teeth whitening products? If so, stop for several weeks and see if the cramps go away. I have noticed a 100% correlation between leg and foot cramps and the use of teeth whitening toothpaste. I have been off the products for several years and no problems. Last seek my wife could not find our regular tooth paste and bought another which didn’t seem to have any whitening in it. 2 weeks later my foot cramps and let cramps are beginning to reappear. So, I look closer at the toothpaste (Colgate Total) and in very fine print I find “with whitening”.
When I told this to my wife several years ago, she laughed. But after horrible cramps in her sleep she tried it. All of the worst cramps disappeared. Last year I went to the dentist to get a tooth whitener and he gave me a special kit for daily usage for several weeks. At that point, I was still thinking it was just the whitening in toothpaste. But my cramps appeared within a week again and I was trying to figure out what was different. Again, it is the chemical used for whitening. This has really helped me. I use to wake up in the middle of the night with horrible cramps in my legs and foot. IT IS ALL GONE! Hope this helps somebody.
John S.
Put a bar of ivory soap under your bed sheet in the area of your legs.
My husband has CMT and it causes severe leg cramps. We tried it. It works. Don’t ask me how. But it does.