Muscle craps or charley horse are caused by muscle spasms, involuntary contractions of one or more muscles. In addition to the foot and calf muscles, other muscles prone to spasms include the front and back of the thigh, the hands, arms, abdomen, and muscles along the rib cage. Almost everyone experiences muscle cramps, which come without warning.<\/p>\n
Muscle cramps can have many possible causes.<\/p>\n
Poor blood circulation in the legs
\nOverexertion of the calf muscles while exercising
\nInsufficient stretching before exercise
\nExercising in the heat
\nMuscle fatigue
\nDehydration
\nMagnesium and\/or potassium deficiency
\nCalcium deficiency in pregnant women
\nMalfunctioning nerves, which could be caused by a problem such as a spinal cord injury or pinched nerve in the neck or back
\nMuscle cramps can also occur as a side effect of some drugs<\/p>\n
When muscle cramps occur, there are several things you can do to help ease them.<\/p>\n
For a cramp in the back of the thigh (hamstring), try putting your weight on the affected leg and bending your knee slightly, or sit or lie down with your leg out straight and pull the top of your foot toward your head. For a cramp in the front of the thigh (quadriceps), hold onto a chair to steady yourself and pull your foot back toward your buttock.<\/p>\n
To help reduce the risk of cramps in the future, try the following:
\nEat more foods high in vitamins and magnesium and calcium.
\nStay well hydrated.
\nStretch properly before exercise.<\/p>\n
In most cases, self-care measures are sufficient for dealing with muscle cramps, which typically go away within minutes. But if you experience them frequently or for no apparent reason, you should speak to your doctor. They could signal a medical problem that requires treatment.<\/p>\n
#cramp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Muscle craps or charley horse are caused by muscle spasms, involuntary contractions of one or more muscles. In addition to the foot and calf muscles, other muscles prone to spasms include the front and back of the thigh, the hands, arms, abdomen, and muscles along the rib cage. Almost everyone experiences muscle cramps, which come […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55,16,54],"class_list":["post-498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cramp","tag-massage-swedish-deep-tissue-myofascial-sports-pregnancy-infant-reflexology-manual-lymph-drainage-post-surgical-trigger-point-therapy","tag-muscle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbodywork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}