How to treat leg cramps at home?

Leg cramps are common and can occur at any age. Mostly they are celebrated by people who are already 50 years old. Moreover, even children are not immune from them, since seizures can be triggered by external factors.

The phenomenon is an involuntary muscle contraction in which a person experiences intense pain. Often people are interested in the question of how to get rid of an unpleasant symptom. Experts often recommend folk remedies for leg cramps, because they are not only effective, but also safe.

Causes of pathology

Often, convulsions occur unexpectedly, and during them the patient experiences severe pain. The leg feels stiff and may temporarily go numb. Often, a similar situation occurs when a person is sleeping, and a sudden cramp forces him to wake up.

People quite often ignore such a symptom and do not think about what exactly could have caused it. It is worth understanding that muscle contraction can often occur due to illness. That is why, before starting treatment, you should definitely figure out what exactly triggered the pathology.

Main factors:

Lack of vitamins and microelements in the body. For example, with a lack of potassium, calcium and magnesium, a person may experience involuntary muscle contractions in the legs. That is why it is important for a person to eat right, as well as get rid of bad habits, because as soon as in this situation it will be possible to prevent the occurrence of a lack of microelements.
Sudden temperature changes . For example, if a person was initially exposed to heat for a long time, but then immersed in cold water, then he may experience convulsions.
Dehydration. It is important for a person to ensure that the water balance is at a normal level. Otherwise, with the loss of fluid, beneficial microelements will disappear. As already mentioned, their deficiency directly leads to convulsive conditions.

Significant stress. In this situation, the functioning of the nervous system is enhanced. As you know, it is responsible for conducting impulses to the muscles. If the central nervous system becomes overloaded, then signal transmission will be significantly disrupted. As a result, convulsions in the limbs may occur.
Significant physical activity. A large number of exercises on the legs, pain, as well as standing in one position for a long time can overload the body. As a result, convulsive conditions may occur. Mostly they appear at night.
Various diseases . The legs can be cramped, for example, due to spinal injuries, lumbar osteochondrosis, and also due to problems with the vascular system. In such a situation, it is extremely important to treat the disease itself, and then think about how to deal with seizures.

People often treat seizures with folk remedies. This therapy option has its advantages, such as the fact that it is safe for human health. It is for this reason that people choose alternative medicine in order to cope with pathology. It is only important to choose suitable recipes that will help a particular person.

First aid for cramps in water

In most cases, involuntary spasm of the leg muscles when swimming occurs if the water is too cold. However, knowledge of this fact does not stop daredevils who decide to plunge into an ice hole or swim in a cold spring. In addition, water coolness indicators are a purely individual factor. Each person tolerates low temperatures differently.

If cramps in the legs appear while swimming, but the person has already reached land, you need to pull both toes towards you, sticking out your heel as much as possible. This will relieve the pain in a couple of minutes. Then you should massage the affected area of the leg and perform stretching exercises. If the cramp does not go away, it is recommended to press the heel of the numb leg firmly against the butt.

If a leg cramp appears at depth, you need to change your position: swim on your back, turn over on your stomach, or vice versa. To cope with the pain, you should sharply pull the foot of the flattened leg towards you. You can also dive in, grab your big toe with your opposite hand and pull strongly towards you.

Cramps during pregnancy

Some people experience cramps in their legs during pregnancy. Women often wonder what this might be connected with. There are several reasons that can contribute to the occurrence of cramps during pregnancy. First of all, hormonal changes in the body lead to negative symptoms. It can cause disruption of mineral and vitamin balance in the body.

The growing fetus takes away calcium, potassium, magnesium and other nutrients from the mother. That is why a woman must carefully ensure that a sufficient amount of these microelements enters the body. In another situation, convulsions may begin due to a lack of minerals.

Often, leg problems appear due to increased blood sugar levels and vascular diseases. A woman needs to carefully monitor her health if she does not want it to deteriorate significantly. In particular, when seizures occur, it is important to find out what exactly triggered them.

Why do legs cramp in old age?

Some older people experience cramping in their legs. There are various explanations for this, and it is extremely important to find out what exactly a particular patient is experiencing. For example, active aging processes, as well as poor condition of leg blood vessels and muscle atrophy, could lead to cramps. If a person is given intramuscular injections, then because of this, convulsive conditions may also occur later.

It is worth understanding that older people are susceptible to various diseases. We are talking about liver and kidney diseases, varicose veins, and arthritis. In addition, seizures can occur due to diabetes mellitus, as well as neurological pathologies. That is why it is important to find out exactly what a particular person has to deal with.

Folk remedies for leg cramps

Leg cramps are a very painful phenomenon caused by continuous muscle contraction and cannot be controlled. Immediately at the moment of spasm, the muscles experience an acute deficiency of oxygen and nutrition. In addition, in a short period of time, a significant amount of metabolic products is formed in them, which further irritate the nerve endings and increase pain.

Fighting cramps means first eliminating their cause. Sometimes it can be simple overexertion, hypothermia or overwork, but in some cases muscle spasms occur against the background of systemic diseases - for example, diabetes or varicose veins.

Statistics show that every person has felt muscle cramps in different parts of the body at least once in their life. A painful spasm always strikes at the most inopportune time and often bothers you at night.

In a healthy person, a seizure can be triggered by a lack of vitamins or minerals, nervous stress, or taking certain medications. Some drugs interfere with the absorption of calcium and magnesium - these include activated carbon, Maalox, Almagel, and contraceptives. Eufillin and Insulin promote the leaching of magnesium from the body.

During periods of psycho-emotional stress, the excretion of calcium, which is necessary for relaxing skeletal muscles, accelerates. If a person consumes a lot of protein foods, calcium absorption deteriorates.

During the hot season or during sports training, a large amount of mineral salts is lost along with sweat, which may also be accompanied by periodic muscle cramps.

First aid

Folk remedies for seizures can prevent the occurrence of seizures, but they do not completely eliminate the likelihood of their occurrence. That is why it is extremely important for a person to know what to do if his leg cramps. First aid will help you quickly get rid of pain, as well as bring your muscles back to normal. If a person is prone to this phenomenon, then he needs to remember a few simple recommendations that will quickly eliminate cramps.

First of all, you should start rubbing the problematic leg, while trying to stretch the muscles as much as possible. This will help reduce pain and quickly relieve discomfort. If your lower leg is cramped, then you should stretch your limbs in a sitting position, grab your toes and pull them towards you. If a cramp appears in the hips, then you need to stand on a healthy limb, then grab the patient’s knee and pull it up.

It is important that you feel the muscle tension during these exercises. If this does not happen, then the procedure will not help the person. After this, you should rub the limb and then apply a cold compress to it. This will prevent further development of seizures. Be sure to leave your legs in a calm state and try not to overload them for as long as possible.

Folk recipes

Some people treat seizures with folk remedies. There are many recipes that allow you to get rid of an unpleasant symptom. A person will be able to choose the one that suits him best. For example, you can use lemon juice for leg cramps. This option is well suited for those people who have cramps in the calf.

You will need to rub your feet and calves with lemon juice in the morning and evening, and then let the product dry. After this, you can put on your shoes and continue doing your usual activities. The procedure must be carried out every day, and the treatment period is 14 days.

Laurel helps well against leg and arm cramps, but it is important to carry out the treatment correctly. You will need to take about 50 grams of bay leaves, break them, and then pour in 250 ml of sunflower oil. The jar should be closed and left for two weeks in a dark place. After this, the product should be filtered. If a person regularly cramps his leg, then he needs to rub himself with this oil about 2-3 times a day.

Traditional healers note that it is good to treat cramps with folk remedies using lilac tincture. To do this, take fresh flowers, pour them into a liter jar and compact them tightly. The flowers should be filled with alcohol or vodka, after which they should be left for about 14 days in a dark place. The resulting product will need to be rubbed on the calves twice a day.

There is a fairly easy anticonvulsant method that is available to everyone. You will need to consume 2 teaspoons of natural honey every morning on an empty stomach. In this case, about half an hour after eating, you will need to consume a chamomile decoction. People note that this method of combating seizures helps well, so it is recommended for all patients.

If a person constantly has cramps in his legs, then a massage will help. You will need to stretch the muscles in the problem area to improve their condition. In this case, it is worth using mustard oil, which is used to rub the leg before the massage. It has a warming effect and has a positive effect on the condition of the muscles.

Experts say that even an ordinary magnet helps to cope with this unpleasant phenomenon. The main thing is to know exactly how to use it to improve your well-being. Healers recommend applying it to the place that has cramped. After about a few seconds, the resulting spasm will disappear, and the person will no longer experience sharp pain.

Effective treatment for leg cramps

Traditional medicine knows a lot of ways to get rid of night cramps. In this case, we are not talking about quick methods when the spasm has already manifested itself, but about how to cure the phenomenon itself and reduce attacks to a minimum. So:

You can eat a tablespoon of honey on an empty stomach for five days in a row, washing it down with kefir. Repeat the course after two to three weeks.
In the mornings and evenings, rub your feet with freshly squeezed lemon juice. After drying, put on socks. And so on every day for two weeks.
Grind the onion peel, pour a glass of boiling water over it and leave for ten minutes. Drink the tincture before bed.
If you don’t know how to get rid of cramps in your arms and legs, eat baked potatoes regularly. Helps a lot!

This method, of course, will not be liked by everyone and will raise doubts, but the Japanese, who know a lot about medicine, successfully use it. They recommend that people suffering from seizures help themselves... with a stick. The latter must be smooth and round with a diameter of approximately two and a half centimeters. And so, with this stick you should beat yourself a hundred times twice a day in the area of the base of the fingers (on the pads). The cramps will gradually disappear.

It is possible to get rid of cramps only with an integrated approach. You will have to reconsider your lifestyle: eat right, give up bad habits, do physical exercise.

Most often, the first drugs prescribed to a person are vitamin complexes

If this therapy does not help, move on to more serious drug treatment.

At home, treatment with traditional methods often provides good results:

The area that is cramping should be rubbed with lemon juice every day. After the juice is completely absorbed by the skin, it is best to wear socks made of natural wool.
During an attack of convulsions, you need to rub the sore spot with mustard oil or plain mustard. Pain and numbness will quickly pass thanks to the warming effect of the product.
A compress of table vinegar and vodka also helps to cope with convulsive spasms.
Warmed honey will help get rid of an attack. It should be applied to the sore spot in large quantities and wrapped with cotton cloth. Keep the compress for 30 minutes.
An ointment made from 5 g of turpentine, 10 ml of apple cider vinegar and 1 egg yolk will help prevent attacks. It must be applied daily at night.
For internal use, you can prepare a decoction of cinquefoil. 40 g of herb must be poured into 1 liter of boiling water and allowed to brew. After this, the decoction can be taken 4 times a day, 1 glass per dose.
You can prepare drops from thyme seeds (10 g) and vodka (100 ml). It is necessary to infuse the product for 2 weeks. After this, the course of treatment will continue for another 2 weeks. Every day you will need to drink 10-15 drops of the product 3 times a day before meals.
Garlic oil helps a lot. To prepare it, you will need 1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped, pour any oil (200 ml) and put everything in the refrigerator for a day. After this, the product can be taken 5 ml three times a day.

Treating seizures on your own may not be safe, so you should see a doctor if seizures recur. Only an experienced specialist can prescribe adequate treatment.

Here are some effective and common methods of treating seizures using folk remedies.

Foot massage

The first treatment is a foot massage. Massage is especially useful when the cause of leg cramps is stagnation in the circulatory system. The massage will have a therapeutic effect and relieve muscle tension, regardless of the cause of numbness.

Don't neglect physical exercise. Therapeutic gymnastics can work wonders in some cases. An effective exercise to cure leg cramps is considered to be: sit on the floor, stretch your legs forward, reach your toes with your hands, then pull your socks towards you. Exercise relieves muscle spasms. It is better to do a massage after the above exercise; it would not be superfluous to use apple cider vinegar, warming ointment, or alcohol during massage.

Locally, immediately during a cramp, it is permissible to warm up: sit down or try to do a squat. After a while, lower your legs or, conversely, lift them up. Urgent intervention will affect the blood circulation - the circulation will change. The condition will improve noticeably.

The second important rule: review your diet. The food complex should be balanced, healthy, rich in microelements, especially calcium. Kefir, milk, cottage cheese, cheeses and sour cream will be very useful. It is better to replace sweets with natural honey, provided there are no allergies. There are many vitamins and nutrients in vegetables and fruits. Try to forget about fatty, spicy, fried foods. It's tasty, but extremely harmful.

Healthy eating

Alternative medicine recommends proven recipes for relieving leg cramps:

Bay oil, or bay leaf oil. The recipe is simple. It’s easy to prepare the recipe yourself at home. You will need 100 g of bay leaf and 500 g of vegetable (olive, sunflower, flaxseed) oil. The bay leaf must be crushed by hand, poured with the selected oil, and left in a dark place for at least two weeks. Then strain the mixture. Apply to areas where cramps occur. For frequent seizures, the procedure can be performed daily until the condition stabilizes.
Traditional healers claim that lemon is considered the best remedy for leg cramps. The procedure is performed in the evening, before bedtime. Lubricate the feet or shins with lemon juice; there is no need to wipe the juice off the leg, let it dry on its own. The duration of the procedure is at least 2 weeks.
For leg cramps, it is recommended to massage using mustard oil.
A regular magnet will help. It is recommended to apply a magnet to the place where the cramp occurred. The spasm will disappear in a few moments.
It is effective to use alcohol tincture of lilac. Recipe for making the tincture: pour lilac into a half-liter jar and pack tightly. Lilac flowers are poured with alcohol, any alcoholic drink - leave the infusion in a dark place for two weeks. Then smear the caviar with the tincture in the morning and evening.
Take 2 teaspoons of natural honey orally every morning, drink chamomile decoction half an hour after meals.

Chamomile decoction

Let's talk exclusively about herbs that can overcome cramps.

Adonis is a rare but useful herb. Take adonis, chop it, pour boiling water over it. Take the decoction orally, a large spoon twice a day. Small children are given 6 drops of decoction, children under six years old - a teaspoon.
Birch buds are poured with boiling water, usually a glass of decoction is prepared, which is recommended to drink two days in advance.
Broadleaf ragwort. A number of preparation methods are described. In the first case, the roots of the ragwort are poured with boiling water and drunk daily. The approximate amount is 40 drops per adult or 2 tablespoons. In the second method, an alcohol tincture is used: ragwort roots (25 g) are poured with ½ tbsp. vodka. Take a large spoonful of the remedy daily; for regular and frequent cramps, the tincture can be taken up to 3 times a day.
Cinquefoil goose. A decoction is prepared and taken three times a day. It is better to drink the decoction fresh; brew a glass daily.
A decoction of linden is useful in the treatment of seizures. Take 50 g of linden leaves, chop them well and pour boiling water over them, leave for 20 minutes. Strain the broth. Drink 50 g three times.
Special collections of medicinal herbs against cramps have been developed: lily of the valley, mistletoe, heather, barberry, dill, hawthorn, hops, blackberry, thyme, chamomile, valerian, oregano and elderberry.
These herbs are taken in equal quantities, depending on the proportion of the finished product. Boiling water is taken twice as much as the mass of herbs. Herbal treatment
An effective decoction against cramps is fennel, anise, cumin and peppermint. Pour boiling water over the collection and let it brew. Take in small quantities several times a day.
Medicinal plant – wormwood. There are two known methods for preparing a medicinal product. First: take wormwood seeds and crush them. Pour in olive oil. Let it brew for at least 8 hours, preferably in a dark place. Take 2 drops, it is permissible to add sugar to the decoction. Second method of preparation: take the roots of wormwood, add 500 ml of water or beer, and boil the decoction.
If you complain of cramps, it is useful to take a decoction of the prickly tartar. Tatarnik (20 g) is poured with boiling water and left to steep for a short time. Take 3 times a day, 20 g.
Common thyme will relieve cramps and have a general strengthening and calming effect. Pour boiling water over 15 g of thyme, take 20 g daily 3 times. It is permissible to use an alcohol tincture of thyme. Thyme (10 g) is brewed in ½ glasses of vodka. Take no more than 3 times a day, 15 drops for an adult.
It is possible to use a decoction of poppy seeds. Take dried poppy petals and grind them into powder. Prepare a decoction with milk, add honey. Take the decoction for at least a week. It is permissible to prepare a decoction of poppy petals using water or vodka.
Try making an ointment from egg whites and saffron. The method is popular and effective. Take a little saffron, 10 g is enough, mix with 3 egg whites. The ointment is applied to the bandage, then the area prone to cramps is bandaged.

If the problem of spasms does not bother you too often, you can try to solve it at home. For this, recipes from traditional medicine are suitable, of which there are many. The most common remedy for relieving muscle spasms is regular mustard. It is mixed with natural honey and the finished ointment is applied to the feet. It warms up the muscles perfectly.

Among the anticonvulsant herbs, horsetail is worth highlighting. It is widely used in folk medicine in the form of lotions from decoctions and compresses. The course of herbal treatment is usually 2 weeks. At this time, you can not only drink a medicinal decoction of horsetail, but also add it to the bath, which will create a relaxing effect for the muscles.

Useful herbs

When it comes to traditional methods of treatment, many people immediately think about using healing herbs. Certain plants, which are recommended by traditional healers, help against seizures. You just need to choose the option that suits you to have the opportunity to significantly improve your well-being.

What herbs have an anticonvulsant effect:

Goose cinquefoil . You will need to prepare a decoction from it. Take one tablespoon of herb per glass and pour boiling water over it. You should let the remedy brew for about an hour, after which you need to drink the healing remedy. You need to take it 100 ml three times a day.
Birch buds have a positive effect on health. They will need to be poured with boiling water, you need to use 1 tablespoon of the plant and 250 ml of water. You should drink approximately 50 ml three times a day.
Adonis is good against cramps. It will need to be finely chopped and then poured with boiling water. The decoction should be taken in a large spoon twice a day. In this case, small children should use no more than 6 drops of the product.

Linden decoction . You will need to take about 50 g of linden, chop them, and then pour boiled water over them. Leave for about 20 minutes. After this, you need to strain the product, then drink 50 g three times a day.
You can use a decoction of poppy seeds . You will need to take dried petals, grind them into powder, and then add milk and honey. The product must be used for at least 7 days. At the same time, it is allowed to prepare the decoction using water and even vodka.

It is much easier to prevent seizures from occurring at night and during the day. To do this, it is important to eat properly so that all the necessary microelements are present in the body. It is also necessary to wear only comfortable shoes and avoid significant overload, both emotional and physical. If there are any diseases, then it will be important to start treating them on time. Even ordinary osteochondrosis can lead to negative consequences, including seizures. If you have any alarming symptoms, the right decision is to consult a doctor. A medical specialist will be able to tell exactly what is happening to the person, as well as what can be done in such a situation.