Tips for Preventing Muscle /Night Cramps
We’ve all woken in agony due to those dreaded night cramps one time or another during our lifetimes. If you’re unlucky, this happens on a regular basis. Muscle cramps and night cramps usually involve calf muscles, although you can also experience them in the feet and thighs. Most causes of night leg cramps are entirely harmless, albeit very painful and inconvenient. Usually, all it takes is stretching to move the muscle out of the cramp, and a few self-care steps to prevent it reoccurring.
If you find that night cramps occur on a regular basis and are causing a lot of discomfort and pain even after the cramp is over, combined with muscle weakness, swelling or numbness, you should definitely see your doctor.
Night cramps, unfortunately, seem to occur for unknown reasons.
If you find that you’re vulnerable to them, it could be due to the following:
- Dehydration
- Prolonged sitting
- Prolonged standing
- Mineral deficiency in potassium, calcium or magnesium
- Overexertion
- Exposure to cold temperatures
- Medications: beta-blockers, diuretics, and BP tablets
Try these holistic tips to help your body keep your muscles relaxed, your sleep restful, and your mind calm:
Eating Foods Rich in Essential Minerals-
Particularly potassium, magnesium, and calcium is the first step in maintaining tissue hydration and functionality. Keep your potassium levels high, go for bananas, spinach, sweet potato, avocado, salmon, pomegranate, white beans, and dried apricots.
Keep your magnesium levels healthy, go for spinach, pumpkin seeds, almonds, avocado, black beans, figs, and bananas.
Keep your calcium levels sufficient, eat spinach, almonds, broccoli, oranges, cheese, kale, chinese cabbage, white beans and figs.
Stay Hydrated Throughout the Day-
This isn’t just a few sips of water throughout the day. Make a point of regularly having herbal teas, coconut water full of electrolytes, natural fruit juices, and water at room temperature. Stay off diuretic drinks such as coffee and black tea as much as possible.
Adopt a Stretching Routine-
The body loves tensions to be released, and joints along with muscles to be taken through their full range of motion. If you can manage a short wind-down routine before going to bed, it’s a fantastic habit to keep. Stretching is another preventative measure to prevent cramps and keep muscles healthy and feeling relaxed. The easiest way to ensure you’re doing things right is to follow along as an expert leads the way. Thanks to YouTube, there are many follow-along videos that we can use.
Focus on the Affected Areas-
Focus treatments on the muscles that are most affected. Massage and hot soaks have amazing for tense or cramped muscles, and really help to remove any toxins that have built up. Health and exercise professionals also recommend magnesium on the outside of your body, in the form of Epsom salts. This remedy can be applied to a wet cloth and pressed onto a cramped muscle, or add some to a hot bath.
Deal With Stress and Anxiety-
When we feel stress and anxiety, we invite tension and stiffness into our bodies, created by our minds. When we sleep, this can present itself as teeth grinding/jaw clenching, nightmares, restlessness, and cramping. The body cannot be well if the mind is not.
