Leg Cramp

If there’s a more brutal way to wake up than a Monday morning alarm clock, this is it: a knot of pain grabbing your calf with the white-knuckle intensity of a clenched fist.

Nighttime cramps, known as recumbency cramps, usually occur during light sleep and are caused by spasmlike muscular contractions. Other leg cramps occur after exercise, especially if you’re dehydrated, overheated or overtired.

Leg cramps usually aren’t serious, but in rare cases, they can be symptoms of intermittent claudication, a form of atherosclerosis that causes inadequate blood supply to the legs. Minor cramps can often be prevented by drinking enough water and stretching before and after exercise. The remedies in this chapter—in conjunction with medical care and used with the approval of your doctor—may help prevent and relieve leg cramps, according to some health professionals.

Acupressure

For a cramp in the calf, press point B 57, suggests Michael Reed Gach, Ph.D., director of the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, California. Point B 57 is situated at the bottom of the calf muscle bulge—on the back of your leg in the center of the base of the calf muscle, midway between the crease behind the knee and the heel. (For help in locating the point, refer to the illustration on page 565.) Hold for one minute, says Dr. Gach.

Aromatherapy

“Lavender is the Swiss army knife of aromatic oils,” says Los Angeles aromatic consultant John Steele. He packs the versatile oil on long road trips to treat “driver’s leg,” that painful cramp in the calf that comes from hours of braking and accelerating. To use, he suggests massaging four or five drops directly on the affected area. “It works every time,” says Steele. Tarragon and chamomile essential oils are also effective for leg cramps, he says.

For information on preparing and administering essential oils, including cautions about their use, see page 19. For information on purchasing essential oils, refer to the resource list on page 633.

Food Therapy

“Frequent leg cramps are often a sign of an electrolyte imbalance. I believe that part of the answer is to increase your intake of calcium and magnesium,” says Michael A. Klaper, M.D., a nutritional medicine specialist in Pompano Beach, Florida, and director of the Institute of Nutritional Education and Research, an organization based in Manhattan Beach, California, that teaches doctors about nutrition and its relationship to disease. That means eating your vegetables, particularly dark green leafy ones such as broccoli and kale, which are good sources of both calcium and magnesium, and drinking calcium-fortified orange juice.

Other health professionals say that besides vegetables, good food sources of calcium include low-fat dairy products and sardines with bones. Good sources of magnesium include nuts, beans and whole grains.

Since some cramping may be caused by low potassium levels, eating foods rich in potassium may be the best thing for cramps, says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California. The Daily Value for potassium is 3,500 milligrams. Foods high in it include bananas, orange juice, prune juice, broccoli, baked potatoes with the skin and red snapper.

For other food sources of calcium, magnesium and potassium, see “Getting What You Need” on page 142.

Homeopathy

Gelsemium 6C is the remedy of choice if you have a burning sensation in your legs, feel better with movement and have fatigue after the slightest exercise, says Chris Meletis, N.D., a naturopathic physician and medicinary director at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon. If you have twitching in your legs, with cramps localized in the calves and soles of your feet, Dr. Meletis says to try Cuprum metallicum 6C. He suggests a 6C dose of Veratrum album if the cramps are localized in your calves, you feel relief with massage and the pain is worse when walking, especially if your legs feel cold and look bluish. Take the remedy of choice two or three times a day until the cramps subside, he says.

All of these remedies are available in many health food stores. To purchase the remedies by mail, refer to the resource list on page 637.

Massage

To relieve a cramp in your calf, sit on the floor or your bed and draw the cramped leg toward your chest, bending it at the knee. Now push your thumb gently into your calf, hold it and breathe normally until you feel the cramp relax, says Elaine Stillerman, L.M.T., a massage therapist in New York City.

You may also use the effleurage stroke (page 570) to work the calf for several minutes. Then place your hands on either side of the calf and roll the muscle from left to right, as if you were shaking it. Do this until the pain subsides. Stillerman warns that you shouldn’t rub too hard on a cramp, because that may cause it to return.

Vitamin and Mineral Therapy

To prevent leg cramps that strike very quickly and unexpectedly—the so-called charley horse—take a daily supplement of 400 international units of vitamin E, suggests Charles Kuntzleman, Ed.D., associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. If this doesn’t stop them, he says to add daily dosages of up to 1,000 milligrams of magnesium and 500 to 1,000 milligrams of calcium.

Yoga

Yoga compression poses will increase blood circulation to your legs, relieving leg cramps, according to Alice Christensen, founder and executive director of the American Yoga Association. She suggests trying the knee squeeze (page 612), seated sun (page 616) and baby (page 618) whenever you have a cramp. You can also include these poses in your daily yoga routine as a preventive, she adds.

See also Muscle Cramps and Pain