Contents:
- Medical Video: How to Stop Leg and Foot Cramps at Night - Why Do Legs Cramp at Night?
- Why do muscles feel cramp during cold weather?
- How do you deal with muscle cramps?
- Apart from the air temperature, is there another cause of cramping?
- Factors that make you at high risk of experiencing cramps
Medical Video: How to Stop Leg and Foot Cramps at Night - Why Do Legs Cramp at Night?
The onset of cramps can feel like a nightmare in some people, when abdominal cramps appear during your monthly menstrual period, or when leg cramps are able to wake you who have fallen asleep in the middle of the night. But did you know that cold weather can also be one of the causes of cramps? Here's the review.
Cramps, some people also call it charley horse, is the onset of pain in your muscles because the muscles experience sudden tension (spasm) and lasts a few seconds, up to several minutes. In most cases, cramps usually occur on the part of your feet.
Why do muscles feel cramp during cold weather?
Indeed, the air pressure will be higher along with the lower temperatures around you. High pressure at low temperatures can affect the muscles in your body. Enlargement of the soft tissues contained in your muscles, is one of the reactions given by your muscles when there is a change in the air pressure around your body. Unfortunately, this reaction actually causes tension in your muscles accompanied by a painful sensation.
How do you deal with muscle cramps?
Stretching, followed by a gentle massage on the part of the body that has cramps, can help the cramping muscles for relaxation. If the cramps occur in your legs, stretching can be done in several ways, such as raising your legs straight up when you are lying down, or bending your knees slightly if you are in a standing position.
The longer the run will actually increase the pain in the leg muscle cramps. To overcome this condition, you can do walking techniques like when you push a shopping trolley in a shopping center.
Apart from the air temperature, is there another cause of cramping?
Cramps are generally harmless and do not require a long time to heal. However, if the cramps occur more frequently and the condition still does not improve with stretching or massage, you should immediately check your cramps, because the occurrence of cramps can be an indication of the existence of certain medical conditions, such as:
- The use of certain muscles that are too frequent or too long, is one of the causes of cramps.
- The lack of blood in the body. In addition to pain due to reactions given by muscles to changes in air pressure, pain can also be caused due to the narrowing of the blood vessels in your body. In most cases, this condition often occurs when you are exercising.
- Apart from blood, the lack of levels of some minerals in the body such as potassium, calcium and magnesium can also cause cramps.
Factors that make you at high risk of experiencing cramps
Some risk factors can also increase your chances of experiencing cramps, such as:
- Age. The older a person is, the greater the muscle mass is lost. Decreasing muscle mass will make it easier for your muscles to feel stressed.
- Dehydration. Some cases of cramps in athletes occur because athletes feel dehydrated after exercising for a long time or frequency frequently.
- Pregnant. Cramps can also occur during pregnancy.
Reporting from the Mayo Clinic, several health conditions such as diabetes and disorders of the nerves, liver, and thyroid, will increase your chances of experiencing cramps.
