Tips on reducing the severity of leg cramps
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| Cramps in calves |
"Leg Cramps" by polaristest is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Leg cramps - especially below knees - have been bothering me for a few years now. Based on a lot of stuff I read on the subject and my own experiments & experience, here's what worked for me:
- Eating freshly cooked food especially for dinner, or in other words - avoiding leftovers.
- For my body type (Pitta - Vata as per Ayurvedic body type test) baked goods, pulses, certain vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, some leafy green vegies, raw salads cause my vata to increase and possibly trigger cramps at night. So I avoid these foods at dinner time.
- Hydrate well, as per your body requirement. I used to skip drinking water post-dinner to avoid night-time bathroom visits. But now I realized that bathroom visits are preferred compared to excruciatingly painful cramps later on. In fact, when I know I may get cramps if I've eaten some cramp-inducing stuff, then I drink an extra glass of water when I get up for bathroom break. That helps!
- Stretch legs before going to bed - almost up to the point of being painful.
- Rub oil on calves and below. This is called abhyanga in Ayurved which recommends using sesame oil
- I get less or no cramps in humid weather generally than dry weather. So weather in Mumbai or Kokan is easier on me than Pune or the Deccan plateau in general.
- Avoid air conditioning. Essentially cold weather is more cramp-inducing that hot weather.
- Having regular bowel movement helps
- Lying on your back, rather than on left or right side helps. In cold weather I prefer lying on either side rather than on my back - especially in the early hours. But that can lead to cramps
- Dipping your legs calves down for 10-15 minutes in warm water seems to help too. Put regular salt or Epsom salt (recommended by Luke Coutinho) in water. Evening or just before bed is a good time to do the dipping.
My conclusion from the above experience is when your vata increases or is imbalanced, chances of cramps are higher. Allopathy has no such theories hence websites generally say the actual cause of cramps is unknown!
For the readers of this post, if you have your own experience about leg cramps I would like to hear about them. So please add your comments.
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ReplyDeleteDrinking water helped me a lot. I used to get leg cramps during leg workout but now I drink enough water during workout and before.
ReplyDeleteWhen cramps do occur, just as they begin, if you can sit up or stand, and set your feet in the Relevé ballet pose, it will stop the cramps. Only toes touch the ground. A friend suggested it and it has really worked for me.
ReplyDeleteIf it is a cramp in the middle of the night then it is usually very painful and the pain increases by slightest movement. A "Raam baaN" upay is drink a glass of salt water and you will say " pain chole gayoche"
ReplyDelete