We’ve all had them: sudden, agonizing muscle cramps, usually in the legs or feet, and often at night. The pain takes your breath away for seconds or minutes and then, poof, it’s gone. What causes such debilitating cramps and what can you do to prevent them?
The first thing to understand is simply how your muscles work. You use your muscles both voluntarily (hauling traps) or involuntarily (your heart beats whether you think about it or not). Voluntary muscle use relies on electrical signals from the brain (“Lean over the washboard! Grab the bridle! Heave!”). Those messages are sent via neurons. Motor neurons are cells whose principle job is to convey messages sent by the brain to the spinal column on to the muscles.
Muscles require certain minerals to receive those messages and to move properly. Muscles need calcium to contract, allowing you to lift your arm, for example. You must have magnesium to then block the calcium in order to let the muscle relax. And you have to have potassium to help the motor neurons transmit the electrical impulses successfully. All three minerals must be in the correct ratio to each other to make the system work.
A muscle cramp is a sudden, unexpected tightening of one or more muscles. Exercising or working hard, especially in hot weather, can be the trigger. Through sweating your body might become dehydrated or the ratio of minerals may be altered by the loss of fluid.
According to Brenda Cotton, a massage therapist in Thomaston, many cramps are due to a lack of magnesium in the body, particularly cramps that occur at night. “Without enough magnesium, muscles can’t properly relax and that can lead to cramps,” she said. “Plus caffeine, soda, too much salt, alcohol, and medications for high blood pressure can reduce available magnesium.”
Sometimes muscle cramps do indicate something else is going on that may require medical intervention. A narrowing of the arteries that bring blood to the legs can cause cramping pain during exercise. These cramps usually go away soon after exercise stops. Pressure on the nerves in the spine also can cause severe cramps in the legs. The pain usually gets worse with walking.
Typically, however, muscle cramps aren’t due to a more ominous underlying cause. The Mayo Clinic says that factors that might increase the risk of muscle cramps include:
Age. Older people lose muscle mass. Then the muscles can’t work as hard and can get stressed more easily.
Poor conditioning. Not being in shape for an activity causes muscles to tire more easily.
Extreme sweating. Athletes who get tired and sweat a lot while playing sports in warm weather often get muscle cramps.
Medical issues. Having diabetes or illnesses that involve nerves, liver, or thyroid can increase the risk of muscle cramps.
So what can you do to avoid waking up in the middle of night in exquisite pain?
Stretch gently before and after using any muscle for a long time. Then stretch those muscles again before going to bed. Drink water, lots of it. When you are hauling all day, drink water, not Red Bull. Caffeine depletes those three key minerals. And keep alcohol intake to a minimum because it causes dehydration and also knocks the ratio of potassium and magnesium askew.
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