Leg cramps

Leg cramps are common and usually harmless. When one hits, the muscles in your leg suddenly tighten and become painful.

A leg cramp is a sudden pain in the muscles of your leg. It happens when a leg muscle contracts (shortens) without you choosing to move it.

Most cramps start in the calf muscles, but they can affect any part of the leg, including the feet and thighs. They can last from a few seconds up to 10 minutes, and thigh cramps tend to last the longest.

While a cramp is going on, the affected muscles become tight and painful, and your feet and toes will feel stiff. Once it passes, the leg may stay painful and tender for several hours.

Leg cramps often come at night, while you're asleep.

Leg cramps can sometimes be a sign of a more serious health condition.

• your leg cramps last longer than 10 minutes and don't get better when you start to move
• your leg cramps start after you've come into contact with a substance like mercury, lead or dirt that gets into a cut

If your doctor's chamber is closed, call a doctor or the 16263 health line.

Speak to your doctor if:

• your leg cramps are affecting your quality of life
• you're having frequent leg cramps
• your leg cramps are interfering with your sleep
• you also have numbness or swelling in your legs
• your leg muscles are shrinking or becoming weaker

Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine your legs and feet. They may also ask if you have other symptoms, like numbness or swelling. This may be a sign that you have secondary leg cramps caused by an underlying condition.

In this case, you may need further tests, like blood tests and urine tests, to rule out other conditions.

Sometimes nobody can say why a person gets leg cramps. Doctors call these idiopathic leg cramps. In other cases there is an underlying condition or a cause that can be found, and these are called secondary leg cramps.

Idiopathic leg cramps, meaning leg cramps with no clear underlying cause, may be caused by:

• abnormal nerve activity during sleep
• excessive strain placed on leg muscles, for example during exercise
• a sudden restriction in the blood supply to the affected muscles

Tendons also shorten naturally as a person gets older, and this may explain why older people are particularly affected by leg cramps. Tendons are tough bands of tissue that connect muscles to bone. If your tendons become too short, they may cause the muscles connected to them to cramp.

Secondary leg cramps happen because of an underlying condition or some other cause you can identify. These are the main ones:

• pregnancy: the extra weight of pregnancy can strain the leg muscles and make them more likely to cramp
• exercise: leg cramps often come on when you are resting after exercise
• neurological conditions: for example, motor neurone disease or peripheral neuropathy
• liver disease: if your liver stops working properly, toxins build up in your blood, and this can make your muscles spasm
• infection: some bacterial infections, like tetanus, can cause muscle cramps and spasm
• toxins: in some people, high levels of toxic (poisonous) substances in the blood, like lead or mercury, can cause leg cramps
• dehydration: in some people, low levels of water in the body can lead to a drop in salt levels, which can trigger muscle cramps

Most people only need medicine when the cramps keep coming back and don't ease with exercise.

If your leg cramps are secondary, meaning another problem is causing them, treating that underlying cause may help relieve your symptoms.

Leg cramps that start during pregnancy should pass after the baby is born.

Cramps caused by serious liver disease can be harder to treat. Your treatment plan may include medicines such as muscle relaxants.

Some medicines have been known to cause leg cramps in a small number of people. If you develop leg cramps after starting a new medicine, speak to your pharmacist.

Never stop taking a prescribed medicine unless your doctor or another healthcare professional tells you to.

Most cases of leg cramps ease when you exercise the muscles that are affected. If you exercise your legs during the day, you'll often get cramping episodes less often.

To stretch your calf muscles:

• Stand with the front half of your feet on a step, with your heels hanging off the edge.
• Slowly lower your heels so that they are below the level of the step.
• Hold for a few seconds before lifting your heels back up to the starting position.
• Repeat a number of times.

If you often get leg cramps, stretching the muscles in your lower legs on a regular basis may help prevent them or make them less frequent. You might find it useful to stretch your calves before you go to bed each night.

If you sleep on your back, make sure your toes point upwards. Place a pillow on its side at the end of the bed and prop the soles of your feet against it. This may help keep your feet in the right position.

If you sleep on your front, let your feet hang over the end of the bed. That keeps them relaxed, and it helps stop the muscles in your calves from contracting and tensing.

Keep your sheets and blankets loose.