Complementary and Alternative Treatments for Cramp

Description

A muscle cramp occurs when muscle tissue suddenly contracts, creating a sudden spasm of pain. The muscle may stay cramped for several minutes before returning to its normal position. After cramping, the affected muscle may also be sore and tender to the touch.

Muscle cramps are generally caused by over use. Someone who spends long periods of time writing with a pen may experience a cramping sensation in the thumb and first two fingers of the hand. An athlete may get a cramp in a calf muscle after running harder than usual. While physical activity is the primary cause of cramps, dehydration can make the condition worse. Water helps keep muscle tissue supple; when muscle tissue becomes dehydrated, it loses its flexibility and thus is more prone to cramping.

Signs and Symptoms

Sudden, sharp pain in muscles

Soreness or tenderness that worsens during movement

Visible muscle spasm

Tightness or stiffening in the muscle

Conventional Medical Treatment

Muscle cramps can usually be treated at home. Gently and continuously massage the affected muscle to relieve the tightness. Once it has loosened up, gently stretch it. If your muscle cramp does not respond to home treatment and lasts for more than an hour, contact your physician. You also should Contact your physician if you suffer from frequent muscle cramping. Severe cramps in your shoulders, chest, or arms can be signs of a heart attack.

Complementary and Alternative Treatments

Nutrition and Supplementation

Eat lots of dark-green and leafy vegetables, such as kelp, brewer's yeast, and alfalfa.

Muscle cramps can be caused by electrolyte (mineral) depletion from overexertion during exercise. To avoid muscle cramps, make a mineral cocktail: combine 16 ounces pure water, the juice of 2 lemons, 1 tablespoon raw honey, and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon natural sea salt (available at health food stores); drink during exercise, or whenever you perspire. (Caution: If you are on a salt-restricted diet, consult with your healthcare provider before taking this cocktail.) Quality water flushes out toxins stored in the muscles. Drink 1 glass every 3 hours throughout the day.

The following daily supplements are good for preventing or treating muscle cramps:

magnesium (as magnesium glycinate) (750 mg)

calcium (as calcium citrate or lactate, not carbonate form) (1500 mg)

vitamin E (start with 400 IU and slowly increase to 1000 IU daily)-improves circulation; especially beneficial if cramping is due to varicose veins

vitamin C with bioflavonoids (3000 to 6000 mg)

vitamin D (400 IU)-necessary for calcium uptake

potassium (99 mg)-aids in relieving muscle cramps

omega-3 oils (fish or flaxseed) (as directed on label)-anti-inflammatory

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Sooth Those Muscle Cramps

Regular and hard exercise does not necessarily equal great health. People who exercise or run are known to receive what the experts call exercise associated muscle cramps, these are caused by exercising and straining the muscles, later on when the muscle relaxes the muscle starts to tighten up. When exercising people will feel the fatigue in their muscles and this is a very common occurrence.

Many runners suffer from calf cramps while running, the best remedy to stop the cramps is to let the muscle contract and finish its movement, rub the muscle and let the blood flow continue and the muscle will start feeling better. In many eastern cultures the best way to help with muscle cramping is to get the blood flowing again they do this by using acupressure or acupuncture to stimulate the blood flow to the effected area. If you do receive a muscle cramp stretch and squeeze the muscle this will get the blood flowing again, use some heat on the muscle and this will relax it.

Doctors have researched muscle cramps in tri-athletes and found some interesting findings; the cramps that athletes suffer from are not caused by blocked blood flow, dehydration, or vitamin deficiencies.

From the ancient orient there is a word Chi, the definition of this word is energy, energy of the muscle and energy of the body need to be in harmony. Muscles, the storehouse of energy in a living body, contract to help in the movement of different parts of the body. Another theory on the cause of running cramps says that carbohydrate depletion and a resultant loss of energy and build-up of waste products in the muscle leads to cramps.

It wasn’t so long ago that visualization techniques, stretching and yoga were introduced into sport and running and made an impact. When it comes to training and exercise, sometimes people are very impatient to do a stretching routine before they go for a run; most people don’t want to waste there workout time by stretching their muscles.

What causes an EAMC. There are many reasons why people get muscle cramps of the most common is because people do not warm up before exercising or training. Many people who exercise or don’t exercise receive excruciating pains in their muscles, the muscles tighten up and there is nothing you can do at that point because you can’t move, so before this happens or if you feel it happening rub some type of heat cream on the muscle, take aspirin, use a heating pad, or try to stretch the muscle to loosen it up.

But does stretching before a run help prevent injury? But where do you get the energy from and enough of it to prevent cramping. Bodyworkers can play a role in helping their clients manage and prevent these types of afflictions by sharing some basic tips and information with them.

David Marc Fishman is the owner of Tipssquad. Ask an expert about crafts. Get discounts on appliances at Priceriot

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Medication for Restless Leg Syndrome

If you suffer from Restless Leg Syndrome then you know that it can affect every aspect of your life. Not only do you have the cramping feelings in your legs and sometimes other parts of your body, but you also experience some sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation leaves you tired, irritable and can make you more susceptible to illness. You also know how it affects other members of your family as well. My sister-in-law used to refer to it as “our Restless Leg Syndrome” because my brother suffered from it for years before finding a successful natural remedy for RLS. She says she suffered right along with him! For these reasons, finding a medication for Restless Leg Syndrome is not just something that you want; it is something that you need.

While there is medication on the market for Restless Leg Syndrome, such as tramadol, there are also natural ways to cure or alleviate Restless Leg Syndrome. Natural remedies have shown very promising results, prompting many to opt for natural treatment over medication for Restless Leg Syndrome. Since medication for Restless Leg Syndrome is relatively new, the long term affects are not known whereas natural remedies and treatments are typically comprised of items that are better known.

Instead of medication for Restless Leg Syndrome, natural remedies include herbs, vitamins, supplements and essential oils. Changes in habits, diets and lifestyle including increasing calcium and folate intake, juicing, yoga and massage have all been associated with natural ways to combat Restless Leg Syndrome. If you suffer from RLS but do not want to take medication for Restless Leg Syndrome, there are natural options that you can try that have helped cure hundreds of people of RLS.

For information on a fast, all-natural treatment for Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms, visit http://www.stoprls.info

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Got a Leg Cramp, Reach for the Sports Drink - There's a Favourite Colour Out there for Everyone

If you compete in endurance events and suffer running cramps, leg cramps or any type of muscle cramps, then it’s no secret that sports drinks have an important role in replacing electrolytes, carbohydrates and fluid.

However, with the sports drink market so competitive and with many new ‘players’ it’s sometimes hard to tell one from the other . . . except by the colours I suppose . . . blue for a hot day, red when you’re a little chilled, yellow if you’re feeling, well, mellow.

Or you cold read on and find out the real differences between them.

The first place to start is to identify which category the particular drink falls into and then evaluate it against what you need to prevent cramps . . . and this will depend on the type of event you are competing in or training for.

Most of them contain plenty of potassium and sodium however they tend to come up short on calcium and magnesium, natural sugars and many of the vitamins involved in energy production – particularly the B group vitamins, vitamin D and the antioxidant vitamins A, C & E.

The reason for this is that the more nutrients you put into a drink, the more it costs and the less sweet it begins to taste.

Here’s some simple information so you can tell the difference between sports drinks and determine their benefits in terms of providing enough energy or hydration to prevent cramps.

Isotonic Drinks

Provide the body with water, energy and electrolytes in a rapidly absorbable form. During exercise, energy and electrolytes are lost along with water and isotonic drinks are designed to replace this as rapidly as possible. Some isotonic drinks with higher levels of glucose may be absorbed just as rapidly and help replace lost energy.

Energy Drinks

Energy drinks are more about supplying energy to keep the muscles working over a long period of time. Their advantage over isotonic drinks is that they can supply energy at a higher rate. The disadvantage is that the higher carbohydrate concentration may slow down the absorption of water. They are more suited for circumstances where the need for higher fluid intakes isn’t as critical. For example, an endurance event in a more temperate climate would be a good time to use an energy drink.

Recovery Drinks

Recovery drinks supply the muscles with water, carbohydrate and protein. Good examples of these drinks will contain electrolyte minerals, vitamins, amino acids and additional nutrients for better recovery. In addition to the drink, you should maintain a high water intake.

Our final thoughts are to look around to find a sports drink that contains as many nutrients and natural sugars (saccharides) as possible.

If you suffer cramps regularly, then the addition of a multi-nutrient sports drink will b a definite advantage. Just remember, the higher the glucose content, the more fluid you should drink.

What I do for 3 hour plus events is alternate a bottle of sports drink (say 500ml) with a bottle of water every hour. However we all have different needs when it comes to hydration and that is a whole new topic I’ll take on in another article.

Copyright www.Running-Cramp-Relief.com

Paul Newland is a health and nutrition consultant, trainer, martial arts instructor, commercial helicopter pilot and author. His Ultimate Cramp Busting Guide is one of the internet's leading health information books and is the definitive guide to preventing, treating and curing cramps. In the Ultimate Cramp Busting Guide Newland speaks with 6 health, sports, nutrition, medical and complimentary health care professionals and explains why you get cramps, the best ways to treat them and how to prevent them from happening again.

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How to Deal with Muscle Cramps

Muscle cramps are temporary contractions of the muscles and they usually appear during physical effort. The sensation is similar to the one you have when you feel a strong, involuntary tightening of the muscle group that you can't control any more. There are many causes which bring about cramps, but they happen most often because of insufficient warming up before training.

Good and correct warming up has two stages: the general one (cardio), for increasing the body temperature (running, cycling, etc.) and the specific one, during which the main joints and groups of muscles which will be involved in training are warmed up. It is enough not to give, from different reasons (rush, superficiality, ignorance), the necessary time or importance to one of these stages, and cramps can become a current phenomenon.

As important as warming up is the relaxation stage after the training. This has, like warming up, two stages: a dynamic one (aerobic) and a static one (stretching). It is meant to 'calm down' the body and to eliminate the muscular tension and the catabolic products resulted from the training. Lack of relaxation can slow down the process of recovery of the body, having often as result cramps during the next training and sometimes even during repose.

Cramps may also appear because of electrolytic misbalance, which can result from massively losing electrolytes through abundant perspiration. Recovering hydro-electrolytic balance is a priority and it can be realized through balanced and varied nourishment, rich in vegetables and fruit and completed periodically with nutritional supplements, poly-minerals and poly-vitamins.

When muscular cramps appear during training, the first thing you must do is stop the effort which produced the cramps. Massaging the affected zone is a good idea. This will intensify blood circulation in that group of muscles and will remove faster the catabolic products resulted from the training.

It is also the moment for light stretching, from which will benefit not only the affected zone, but also the antagonist muscles. This exercise is meant to put again in place the muscular fibers, in their usual alignment, contributing to the relaxation of the muscles, but also to elongating and making the muscular group affected by cramps more elastic.

Another benefic element could be a warm shower, which will contribute to bringing the tensed muscles back to normal through peripheral vascular dilatation.

Ignoring the cramps can have as a result more or less grave situations, from muscle tightening to muscular rupture. Besides the physical effects of the cramps, the sportsman can also be affected psychologically. He will not dare intensify the training any more, being frightened of these casual contractions. He can even become hypochondriac, suspecting any common muscle pain during effort or post-effort to be a symptom of cramps.

Experience in sport will provide the best prophylaxis for these situations, the practitioner being able to make the difference between the real situations and the false alarms, contributing, this way, to increasing the effectiveness of the training.

Isabel Curini is a fitness trainer and editor at http://www.healthfitnessworld.com HealthFitnessWorld.com - Health, Fitness, Body Building, Weight Loss, Nutrition - Articles and Resources.

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Does The Way You Run and Train Give You Leg Cramps?

If you’re just starting out in your running career or taken up running to lose weight or for cardiovascular health and are getting running cramps, then it might be worth taking the time to check out this article for some equipment and running style tips.

1. Worn out shoes – it’s a good idea to check your shoes for excessive wear and change your shoes every 500 miles. excessively worn shoes could result in an abnormal running style that may contribute to cramps.

2. Check where the shoes are wearing - if you’re over-pronating then your shoes are worn out on the inside. If you’re a supernator then your shoes are worn out on the outside and you won’t tend to absorb shock very well. This will put extra stress on the calf muscles.

3. Find a knowledgeable sales person - this is worthwhile, especially if you want value for money and value your running future. Bring your old shoes along so the sales person can see where you’re wearing them down and can make appropriate suggestions on the type of shoe you need to support your gait and your foot plant. Take your running socks along so you can get the best fit.

4. Body balance - any imbalances between the left and right side of your body can interfere with running efficiency and may lead to tighter muscles, injury and cause cramps on one side. You may need to perform some strengthening exercises on the injured side.

5. Foot strike - so, how do you run, with your toe or heel first? The most natural and efficient style for long distance running is landing on the ball of your foot first, with the heel contacting the ground a split second later. If you’re transitioning into longer distance events, this can be a very important factor in preventing leg cramps.

6. Lateral motion - if you have any type of lateral motion you may be more prone to injuries and running cramps. If you think you have a problem with lateral motion, your running shoes will give it away if they are more worn one side than the other.

7. Running style - there’s a ton of advice we can give, but that’s a whole new topic. You can get some great tips from your local running club. Having someone video your running action is also a great way to ‘self-treat’ – any glaring problems will be noticeable. You could also look at hiring a running coach. Overall you’ll want to aim to be smooth, avoid bouncing, avoid over-striding, have a gentle landing and push off powerfully with an upright posture.

Right now I can still admit to being guilty of at least four of the ‘style factors’ mentioned above - and I’m working on it.

Copyright www.Running-Cramp-Relief.com

Paul Newland is a health and nutrition consultant, trainer, martial arts instructor, commercial helicopter pilot and author. His Ultimate Cramp Busting Guide is one of the internet's leading health information books and is the definitive guide to preventing, treating and curing cramps associated with exercise. In the Ultimate Cramp Busting Guide Newland speaks with 6 health, sports, nutrition, medical and complimentary health care professionals and explains why you get cramps, the best ways to treat them and how to prevent them from happening again.

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What Are Restless Leg Syndrome Symptoms?

I first heard about Restless Leg Syndrome from a co-work about 5 years ago who was suffering from the disorder. At this time, there was not a lot of information out on the subject. Many people afflicted with the disorder who had restless leg syndrome symptoms went undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Their doctors would say that what they were experiencing was attributed to stress, insomnia and even aging rather than recognizing it as Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms.

It is estimated that over 12 million Americans suffer from Restless Leg Syndrome, so it is very much a part of our society. It is also thought that the number of people with Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms is even higher than this because it is still misdiagnosed. In addition to those afflicted with Restless Leg Syndrome, you also have to consider all of the people who are affected by the Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms due to sleepless nights or the constant movement occurs when someone that they live with has the problem.

Since I recently found out that a member of my family has Restless Leg Syndrome, I began to do more research on the disorder since there seems to be a genetic component. Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms include an uncomfortable feeling in your legs, particularly when you are sitting or lying down that makes you feel like you want to move or at least move your legs. It happens more during the night and in older people, but can start in childhood and be felt throughout the day.

Tossing and turning in bed is often a part of the disorder because there is a need to keep the legs in motion. Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms are typically felt in the leg between the ankle and knee, but it can also be felt in arms, hands, feet and thighs. If you are suffering from Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms, there is help available.

Instead of feeling as though your only option is medication, you can actually cure your Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms with a fast, all-natural treatment with a satisfaction guaranteed promise. Learn how to stop Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms naturally. To be on your way to a fast, all-natural treatment for Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms, visit http://www.stoprls.info

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