Everyone knows that leg cramps are an unpleasant phenomenon, because each of us has had them. And if you ask in more detail, then almost all healthy people are familiar with only one type of cramps - these are cramps of the calf muscles. The frequency of occurrence of these phenomena in a healthy person is small, and may occur, perhaps, only in one case - this is while swimming in cold water.

People taking diuretics or diuretic drugs may also experience these calf contractions even at rest, and sometimes bilaterally. The reasons for this phenomenon will be discussed below. Are calf cramps a serious symptom and how can they be dealt with?

Leg cramps - what is it?

Leg muscle cramps, like other striated or skeletal muscles, exist in everyone as warm-blooded animals. The smooth muscles of the internal organs do not have convulsions, but there are spasms. In such cases, a person experiences pulling pains, for example, in the right hypochondrium.

Having taken No-shpu, he gets relief, because this drug is an antispasmodic. But spasms of the smooth muscles of the internal organs are nothing compared to spasms of the skeletal muscles, since they are very painful. In addition to pain, there is another unpleasant factor - this is the inability to control the muscle, as usual.

A cramp is a sudden, abrupt and complete contraction of all muscle bundles. We can say that a cramp is a 100% muscle contraction. Even a trained athlete is not able to tighten the muscle as much as a cramp does.

The physiology of muscle contraction is such that there are tonic and clonic convulsions. The real phenomenon is referred to as tonic, and periodic muscle contractions alternating with relaxation are called clonic.

A cramp in the calf muscle can begin suddenly, but sometimes there are certain precursors that give time to relax, change position. Typically, a tonic contraction lasts from a few seconds to 10 minutes. The longer it lasts, the stronger the residual pain.

Is a spasm harmful?

The harm of a prolonged cramp is a violation of blood circulation, a deterioration in the removal of a large amount of lactic acid from the muscle.

This forms a vicious circle: the accumulation of metabolic products in the muscle causes its spasm, and the spasm itself provokes the accumulation of lactic acid in the muscle. In addition, with prolonged convulsions, microtears in the muscles and hemorrhages occur.

Features of leg cramps at night and in the elderly

Basically, everyone is concerned about the same questions: why exactly caviar, why exactly at night, and why this phenomenon manifests itself more often in older people. We will give an answer to these questions, which for some reason are poorly covered in popular articles on the Internet.

1) Why caviar? - The calf muscles in humans have a special structure. We all know that the hands and feet of a person are not like the paws of animals that rest on the ground with all four limbs.

Legs and calves are designed for constant and long-term exercise, while arms and forearms are designed for stronger, but shorter and more varied. Therefore, the calves do not have such developed bundles and such good blood supply as the muscles of the forearm, and they are more subject to a “nervous breakdown”.

2) Why at night? - Yes, because the venous outflow at night is worse than during the day. During the day, muscle contractions activate the valvular apparatus of the veins and the blood carries away harmful substances from the muscle tissue. And at night, the valves work worse, and the blood supply to the muscle is worse. In addition, you can additionally "lay down" the leg.

3) Why in the elderly? - And in old age, leg cramps at night increase due to age-related circulatory disorders in the legs, and taking medications that can increase cramps. Night cramps in the legs in the elderly is a common cause of insomnia, especially in patients with arterial hypertension, due to improper use of diuretic drugs.

4) About the toes: sometimes tonic contractions of the muscles of the lower leg continue to the back of the foot, capturing the toes as well. These muscles, just like the muscles of the lower leg, are “arranged this way” to perform a long-term static load. By the way, calf cramps can begin with finger cramps, and these two phenomena should be considered interconnected.

Now let's talk about the most important causes of these painful muscle contractions.

The main factors are a decrease in the concentration of metal ions: potassium, calcium and magnesium, as well as the accumulation of lactic acid. Before listing the causes, we will describe the symptoms of a lack of these metals.

Why cramps cramp - check yourself

Since almost all options for the development of seizures include a lack of potassium, calcium and magnesium, we will give the main symptoms that are not associated with convulsive activity so that everyone can check whether their fears are legitimate.

potassium deficiency

It is manifested by severe and rapid muscle fatigue, swelling occurs, and constipation appears. Often the pressure decreases, you want to drink, dry mouth occurs. There is such a symptom as dry skin, possibly the appearance of acne. From the side of the heart, tachycardia is possible.

calcium deficiency

With a lack of calcium, a person becomes irritable, quick-tempered. Sleep is disturbed, insomnia begins to disturb, blood pressure rises. In different parts of the body, goosebumps begin to run, or paresthesias appear, areas of numbness appear.

The gums begin to bleed. Gradually, the teeth begin to collapse, the nails exfoliate. The leaching of calcium from the skeleton is fraught with fractures.

Hypomangiemia

If there is little magnesium, then memory impairment occurs, insomnia also worries, the level of anxiety increases, balance disorders occur when walking, hypothermia appears, that is, a decrease in body temperature. From the side of the heart, there is a violation of the heart rhythm.

The activity of pyridoxine, or vitamin B6, is associated with the absorption of magnesium in the body. In the case of a deficiency of this vitamin, in addition to a lack of magnesium, anemia, nausea appear, hair begins to fall out, “seizures” appear in the corners of the mouth, or manifestations of angular stomatitis.

Causes of leg cramps

We will leave a detailed description to the doctors who will tell you about them themselves, so we will simply list the situations that can provoke these changes:

• The main causes of leg cramps at night in age are the leaching of potassium and magnesium ions from the body, which increase the convulsive activity of the muscles. This can be caused by taking diuretic drugs such as Furosemide, Lasix;
• Taking antiulcer drugs and sorbents can also reduce the absorption of potassium and magnesium. Therefore, patients with stomach ulcers and heartburn may also experience muscle contractions;
• In extreme heat, the body sweats, and then potassium is lost - this causes hypokalemic convulsions. Therefore, you need to be careful, for example, with high loads in hot weather, or with frequent visits to the sauna;
• Chronic stress and depression. Under these conditions, the production of cortisol increases, and this hormone of the adrenal cortex reduces the degree of absorption of calcium in the intestine, which provokes convulsions;
• In winter, when there is a lack of sunlight, vitamin D is not produced in sufficient quantities, and as a result, calcium enters the body in insufficient quantities;
  with a long stay in an uncomfortable position;
• With dehydration. The reason again is the deficiency of metal ions. This can occur with prolonged vomiting, diarrhea and occurs with poisoning and foodborne infections;
• When exposed to a number of specific neurotoxins, such as tetanus or the bite of certain snakes and insects;
• With some neurological diseases, for example, pathologies of the extrapyramidal system - Parkinson's disease, strokes;
• Mental disorders: convulsions during hysteria, with deep and frequent breathing (hypercapnic convulsions);
• Also, this symptom is possible with hyperthermia and severe hemorrhages in the cavity of the ventricles of the brain, when hormetonic convulsions occur;
• and generally speaking, . Cramps occur due to poor functioning of the veins, which cannot promptly remove harmful substances accumulated in the muscles.

Also, the causes of increased convulsive activity in the calf muscles include chronic renal failure, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes mellitus.

Sometimes even local processes can be their cause, for example, pronounced flat feet. At the same time, the muscles of the legs are loaded with a large excess. Incorrect posture, leg injuries can also contribute to the development of this unpleasant condition that worsens the quality of life.

It is especially necessary to say about the causes of the development of seizures in pregnant women.

Leg cramps in pregnant women are a normal, functional condition caused by an increased load on the body of a pregnant woman. The main reasons are as follows:

• Increasing the daily need for ions and microelements, since the baby's body is built from them;
• Possible bouts of vomiting, which sometimes bother the expectant mother at first. Together with vomiting, the body loses a lot of ions, water and trace elements. They need to be replenished to avoid the manifestation of night cramps.
• Violation of the diet. It is important to pay attention to milk, cottage cheese, fruits and vegetables that contain the right substances;
• Sometimes self-administration of diuretics can cause sudden muscle contractions, so a pregnant woman should not fight swelling without the permission of a doctor.

In all cases when these unpleasant symptoms occur during pregnancy, they can be harbingers of electrolyte disorders. Therefore, it is necessary, without delay, to consult a doctor of the antenatal clinic.

What to do when legs cramp?

In the event that the leg cramped, there are many ways to resist the pain. Some of them are listed below:

1. If you feel a cramp coming on, try massaging and relaxing the muscle;
2. It is necessary to pull the sock towards you and back several times with increasing force, swinging the foot by the thumb. Sometimes flexion - extension of the leg at the knee joint helps;
3. You can walk a little barefoot on the floor, putting your foot on the toe;
4. You can stroke and massage the calf muscle using a warming ointment, for example, Fastum Gel;
5. Roll over the muscle with a roller massager, or attach a needle applicator;

After the pain subsides, you need to raise your legs to ensure a good outflow of venous blood and the removal of stagnant decay products from the muscles. These recommendations also work effectively if the leg cramped at night. Now you know what to do.

If such a symptom is quite periodic, you can put a roller massager or applicator near the head, so that it is easy to find it with your hand at night, and give yourself first aid on your own. When there is nothing like that nearby, the first and second tips in the list above are effective.

For the treatment of leg cramps, in addition to urgent help, you can outline the tips that patients suffering from cramps should heed:

1) Stop taking diuretics uncontrollably, talk to your doctor. Sometimes diuretics are part of the combined drugs for hypertension. Therefore, observe whether there is a connection between taking drugs and the appearance of seizures.

If there is such a connection, and it is necessary to take drugs, then along with an antihypertensive drug, you need to take a tablet of "Panangin", or "Asparkam", or their analogues, which are sources of potassium and magnesium.

2) Change your diet. You need to eat dried fruits, compote, baked potatoes in their uniforms, fresh vegetables and fruits. Seafood, dates, legumes, coarse bread, seeds are very useful. There is a lot of calcium in dairy products.

To increase the intake of vitamin D in the body, you need to use egg yolk, cod liver. To replenish potassium, you can eat bananas, chicken, fish.

3) Walks in the fresh air, subject to sunny weather. Stimulates the production of vitamin D.

4) You need to drink fresh clean water without denying yourself.

5) With the permission of the doctor, you can start taking vitamin complexes, which include mineral supplements and trace elements.

6) It is necessary to completely eliminate the use of stimulants, such as coffee, especially at night. Do not eat irritating and spicy foods - peppers, garlic and onions before bed.

Leg cramps at night at the age of 50, the treatment of which with the help of the above measures was not successful, you can try to treat with the appointment of mild sedatives: Fitosedan, Novo-Passit. Sometimes Corvalol helps.

In the event that there is or - a lot depends on the treatment of the underlying disease. To restore venous blood flow and reduce edema, Phlebodia, Aescusan, preparations containing horse chestnut extract are used. Compression hosiery is used as prescribed by the doctor. Sometimes an operation is indicated, which in modern medicine is called “endovascular laser correction”.

Equally important is the correct choice of orthopedic insoles and shoes in case of flat feet, the rejection of high heels. The physical load on the legs should be moderate: you need to alternate periods of load with periods of rest.

Massage and self-massage of the lower legs will help to avoid cramps before bedtime, and such a remedy, a warm bath or shower will improve sleep. You can also do foot baths with aromatic oils, such as peppermint oil.

Leg cramps at night, the cause and treatment of which we have considered, are a collective symptom. This means that there is no specific disease that they directly indicate. To determine this disease is the role of the attending physician. But the patient also has a lot to tell the doctor and take appropriate action. We hope this short article will help him in this matter.