Muscle cramps, do you know how to combat them?

Muscle cramps - scientifically muscle spasms - is something that almost all have been sometime in our life. What exactly are?, what are the causes?, are preventable? Through this article, we will try to bring us closer to this problem to know and how to act in front of him.

muscle cramps, what are they?

Muscle spasms are brief and involuntary muscle contractions. This contraction causes stiffness in the muscle, causing its immobilization for a few seconds. The result is a sudden, intense in some cases, and always unpleasant pain.
Cramp lasts a minute or two, but the pain can take to disappear a few seconds more, until the muscle relaxes.
Can occur in any part of the body, but more usually appearing in the muscles of the hands, feet and legs-especially.
Muscle spasms can occur at any time of the day, even at night while we slept - in the section "Causes of muscle spasms," explained more in detail-, and can happen to anyone, although there are two centres of population are more likely to suffer from them: the athletes, since undergo prolonged workouts, and the elderly, due to muscle atrophy (progressive weakening of the muscles).
Suffering muscle spasms is something that hurts nearly everyone at some point in our lives, and we must not give much importance, although we can learn remedies for when happens to us, and we can try to prevent them. But if the spasms are regular or if they produce a very intense pain, it is advisable to go to a doctor or specialist to check us and advise us what to do.

causes of muscle cramps

The causes of muscle spasms can be multiple: may be due to the muscle is injured or overloaded, or to a lack of minerals and vitamins.
Another cause is the lack of fluids, and is very common because of the training that we do, during which not we ingest sufficient quantity of liquids, causing dehydration in our body.

Make some unusual or intense movement can also cause us a cramp. As opposed, also physical inactivity causes cramps: not long in a same position, having to move.
Depending on the area of the body where to suffer cramp, there are causes of why they appear. For example, cramps in the neck is usually a manifestation of stress. Cramps in the upper part of the legs appear normally when we perform activities such as running and jumping. And cramps in the calves, very common during sleep, often occur when we do swimming.

Prevention of muscle cramps

We can prevent muscle spasms of easily, following these guidelines:

• From mild daily exercise. For example, walk for half an hour, so that the muscles are not rigid.

• Stretching to improve flexibility and prevent stiffness.

• Drink plenty of fluids during physical exercise.

• Maintain a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals: natural fruits and vegetables.

• Relaxed and comfortable postures in bed sleeping.

with the emergence of a cramp remedies

When a cramp, for example, while we are asleep, we can remedy them and trying to soften the pain by following these tips:

• Keep the area at rest, without exposing it to more moves, and wait patiently without nervous.

• Massage gently away from the course of pain, to achieve muscle relaxation.

• Applying heat to the painful area.

• Placing a band around the cramp area to reduce pain. Not too tight so that there is no swelling.

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