Muscle Cramps

A muscle cramp is a sudden and involuntary contraction of one or more of the body muscles. Muscle cramps can cause excruciating pain. Excess exercise or physical labour, particularly in hot weather, may lead to muscle cramps.

Symptoms:

Most muscle cramps develop in the leg muscles, particularly the muscle of the calf. There is sudden and sharp pain in the muscle and the patient may be able to feel or see a hard lump of muscle tissue beneath the skin.

-          Sharp and sudden pain in the muscle involved.

-          May cause severe discomfort in the hands and feet.

-          Is associated with leg swelling, redness or skin changes.

-          Associated with muscle weakness.

Causes:

• Overuse of a muscle, dehydration, muscle strain or simply holing a position for a prolonged period of time may result in a muscle cramp.
•   Inadequate blood supply: Narrowing of the arteries that deliver blood to the legs, as in arteriosclerosis, can produce cramp like pain in the legs and feet while exercising.
•    Nerve compression: Compression of nerves in the spine can produce cramp like pain in the legs. The pain usually worsens the longer the patient walks.
•  Mineral Depletion: Deficiency of Potassium, sodium, calcium or magnesium in the diet can cause leg cramps.
•   Diuretics: Diuretics are water pills which are used in high blood pressure. They cause depletion of minerals like Sodium, Potassium, magnesium and calcium, causing cramps.

-

-         Risk Factors:

Factors that may increase your risk of muscle cramps include.

-          Age: Older people lose muscle mass. The remaining muscle may get overstressed more easily. This may increase the risk of muscle cramps.

-          Dehydration: Dehydration causes frequent muscle cramps.

-          Pregnancy: Muscle cramps also are more common during pregnancy.

-          Medical Diseases: Certain medical diseases like diabetes, liver diseases and thyroid disease is associated with a higher risk of muscle cramps.

Treatment:

• Stretching exercises and drinking plenty of fluid, such as water, is helpful in treating simple muscle cramps.
•    Sufficient salt intake improves symptoms. Sodium loss causes cramps.
•  Vitamin E, calcium and vitamin D3, vitamin B complex, folic acid and iron helps in prevention and treatment of cramps.
•   Calcium channel blockers and Quinine tablets are effective in cases not controlled by conservative treatment.

Prevention:

-          Fruits, fruit juices and green leafy vegetables

-          Avoid dehydration. Drink plenty of fluids.

-          Stretch the muscles. Stretch before and after you use any muscle for an extended period. If you tend to have leg cramps at night, stretch before bedtime. Light exercise, such as riding a stationary bicycle for a few minutes before bedtime, also may help prevent cramps while you’re sleeping.

STRESS OBESITY

Stress and anger is a potent mix. Anger leads to weight gain and stress prevents weight loss. Many women struggling with weight loss actually don’t eat much, but are unable to slim down. There are various reasons for this kind of rigidity of weight, and most are part of our daily lives.

THE ROLE OF ANGER.

An average city dweller experiences more anger than other people. When we get angry, the body pumps a large quantity of the fighter hormone (cortisol), which rushes to all parts of the body to prepare itself for a “fight or defend” situation. This hormone stays in the body for a long time and changes a person’s metabolism from the ‘consumption pattern’ to the ‘storage pattern’ variety. So the same foods that could have been used up by the body are now stored, which increases a person’s bulk. This hormone is also responsible for weak muscles and pot-belly fat, which are typical indicators of stress-related obesity.

FOOD CRAVINGS

Anger and stress also cause hormones (neuro-peptides Y) to set off cravings for food that are high in fat, sugar and salt. People find dieting painful not because they eat less food, but because their minds and bodies cry out for junk food. A stress-obese body displays certain body traits. In men, the person develops weak or soft arms or leg muscles, fat around the belly, an emerging double chin and darkening or hyper pigmentation. In women, stress obesity shows us as excessive fat around the belly, skin changes such as acne or roughness, and as fat deposits on the back and waist. They may also develop excessive facial hair, and retain water, causing them to feel bloated all the time.

STOP WEIGHT GAIN

Stress obesity cannot simply be treated by going on a diet because there is a combination of several hormones resisting weight loss. It requires greater help in terms of professional treatment, which involves herbal medicines, stress management, specific exercises and regulation of diet patterns. However there are certain steps that can easily be taken at home to halt the march of stubborn weight gain.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

-          Drink two litres of water every day. Begin your day with two glasses of water on an empty stomach.

-          Have triphala in the night to increase alkaline levels in the gut.

-          Keep dinner as light as possible with minimum or no salt.

-          Take natural diuretics such as jasmine tea, barley water, nimbu paani etc.