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Muscle Cramps: Understanding Some of the Causes and Ways to Pain Relief

If you've ever experienced the excruciating pain of muscle cramps, then understanding some of the causes and ways to relief can go a long way towards being more comfortable and pain free. I speak from the experience of muscle cramps so I investigated the causes and what could be done to relieve this terrible pain.

For some people muscle spasms are so frequent that it's impossible to sleep until the pain can be relieved as they can come on during the night. For others they can be less frequent but just as painful. Traveling by car, bus, airline or other means for extended periods without a "walking" break, can results in the leg muscles contracting into painful spasms which are very difficult to relieve. Ensure you get up and move around regularly when traveling.

Many women experience abdominal cramping ranging from discomfort to absolutely excruciating pain that drains all the energy from your body during menstruation. To understand what is happening here the uterus lining thickens during the early part of the menstrual cycle. The lining then breaks down and is expelled which is part of the normal monthly menstrual cycle.

During this process prostaglandins (which are unsaturated carboxylic acids that act as chemical messengers) are released and send a message to the uterus to contract. These contractions help to expel the uterus lining but they can also cause severe pain, and are sometimes so intense they momentarily cut off the blood supply.

My experience has been with leg, back and abdominal cramps but the leg cramps were the absolute worst. Cramps can start in your toes, distorting the shape, and moving up into the calf muscles, tightening into painful knots where it is impossible to lie still or to walk. Some muscle spasms can come from injured muscles particularly in the back where they try to protect themselves from further damage.

Dietary deficiencies in magnesium and calcium (which work in synergy) can also be a cause of some cramps, muscle weakness, leg tremors and muscle spasms. These minerals play an important role in controlling contraction and relaxation of muscles on signals from the brain. This was my own problem and I found powdered magnesium with calcium had a faster absorption rate and was a more efficient means of preventing cramps.

Insufficient intake of water and other fluids, resulting in dehydration, is also another cause of cramping and spasms. Athletes are painfully aware of this and the need for keeping up fluid intake. As our bodies are made up of a massive amount of water, it is important for all of us, not just athletes, to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day - a glass being 8 oz. It is also important to be aware of dehydrating and this can be simply tested by noting if there's color in the urine, drink more water - coffee and alcohol dehydrate, so when partaking of either of these have water at the same time. The same applies if diarrhea is present, during hot weather, or if using diuretics.

What to do to relieve cramping. Gently stretch the muscle to attempt to relax it. Then gently and carefully massage the affected areas. Don't overdo stretching or the massage as this could cause more pain or damage to the muscles. I have found when leg cramps leave soreness in the muscles, a hot pack or wheat bag heated in the microwave and applied to those parts will loosen up the muscles and relieve the soreness.

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