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Rude Awakenings
For me, there’s nothing worse than being woken up in the middle night by the worst cramp in my leg or foot. It takes me right out of my slumber, and I have difficulty going back to sleep. Not to mention the soreness I feel while walking around the next day. Luckily, plenty of natural cramp remedies can soothe your legs during those rude awakenings.
What happens during a leg cramp?
First and foremost, I think it is important that you are aware of what goes on when you get a leg cramp and what causes them. Unfortunately, idiopathic leg cramps can happen out of the blue, or the muscle spasms are due to a health condition, such as secondary leg cramps.
So, what is happening in your body? During a cramp, your muscles spasm or suddenly shorten, which causes pain in your leg. There is not much you can do to control the muscle spasm. Some cramps can last a few seconds or a few minutes. Once the spasm passes, you will have control over the muscle again.
A Few Natural Cramp Remedies
When I experience a cramp, I usually rub my leg for a short time and fight the pain. However, some have found a few natural remedies to help alleviate those nighttime cramps.
North Dakota University found that drinking about three to four ounces of pickle juice before bed prevents cramping by calming the overactive neurons in the brain that trigger the contractions. If there are no pickles, add a small amount of lime juice and a sprinkle of sea salt to a half cup of water. The blend is jam-packed with plenty of minerals that help regulate fluid balance in your muscle cells.
This next one is quite simple. When you are experiencing a leg cramp, you can stretch. Place the affected leg straight out in front of you, point your toes to the sky, and pull the leg toward you. You can also try massaging the muscles with your hand or a roller.
Another great way to alleviate muscle cramping is by initiating a change in temperature. Adding heat to the muscle can relax and increase blood flow to that muscle. You can do this by adding a heating pad to the area or taking a warm bath. On the other hand, an ice pack can help ease the pain of the cramp until it goes away.
Waking up to shooting pain in your sleep is never any fun, but when in that situation, the only thing you can do is make sure you know how to take care of the pain. Fortunately, there are a few natural cramp remedies that you can try.
Now that you know how stretching can help relieve your muscles, you may enjoy learning more about Gentle Stretching Through Restorative Yoga.
Agents
We hope that this information on natural cramp remedies is useful to you.
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Kayla is a graduate of Texas A&M University and joined the marketing team at Empower Brokerage in early 2021. She creates content for the company websites and assists with various marketing campaigns. LinkedIn Profile
