What Would Cause My Calves To Ache

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What Would Cause My Calves To Ache

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You don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to feel the excruciating pain of a leg cramp or a stabbing pain that appears out of nowhere. You don’t even have to be a weekend warrior. Leg cramps, calf cramps or hamstring cramps, sometimes affectionately known as leg cramps, can affect all of us – athletes and benchers alike.

The good news is that most cramps – which can occur anywhere on the legs – are really nothing to worry about in most cases. But in rare cases, leg cramps can be a sign of an underlying illness.

“Leg cramps are really just spontaneous spasms and tightness of the muscles,” says emergency medical specialist Dr. Scott Dresden of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. “The problem is that it can be very painful for a few seconds or even minutes.”

Why we get leg cramps, calf cramps or even hamstring cramps is really not well understood. “There are many thoughts about why this happens, but there is no definitive answer,” he explains.

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Some potential causes of cramps include dehydration (especially in athletes or any of us who work in hot, humid conditions). Another potential cause could be an electrolyte imbalance. Or it could be some form of miscommunication between the nerves that cause the muscle to contract and the nerves that prevent the contractions. Some medications even have leg cramps as a side effect.

Don’t be surprised if your leg muscles, calves, or hamstrings are sore for a while, even after the cramps have subsided.

“What happens, especially when it’s a bad, painful contraction, is that some People may develop small tears in the muscles due to strong contractions. “The small tears will heal, but it may take about 24 hours to feel better.”

So you’re dozing off, having a nice dream and the next thing you know you’re tossing and turning in bed because your calves, thighs or seemingly your entire leg is tight. Maybe even your legs are stiff.

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“These types of nocturnal or nocturnal cramps are very common, and most of them are not a sign of illness,” said Dr. Michael Hanak, assistant professor of family medicine at Rush University Medical Center. diseases”.

Night pain can occur in any part of your legs and can affect everyone, young and old, men and women.

There is a whole list of reasons why you might get leg cramps at night. Maybe you stand all day at work, or maybe you sit all day, or you sit with your feet not flat on the floor. You may be pregnant or dehydrated. “Maybe everyone was just fast asleep,” DeAngelo said. “A lot of nighttime leg cramps have a lot to do with sleeping position.”

You may want to ensure that you wear appropriate footwear during the day. “If your gait is off, for example due to shoes that don’t fit properly or aren’t appropriate for the sport you’re playing, you may experience cramps at night,” he says.

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If you want to avoid this rude awakening, stay hydrated and consider stretching your legs before nodding off. To reduce the ooh when you wake up, prolong it.

Don’t confuse nighttime leg pain with the “crawling” feeling that occurs with a sleep disorder called restless legs syndrome, which is nonspastic.

So this summer, you start running or walking but only feel the burn in your calves, quads, and hamstrings. According to DeAngelo, you’re most likely just dehydrated.

All that sweat means you need to drink more water. Otherwise, the communication between the nerves that cause your muscles to relax or tense can break down, leading to leg cramps, he says.

Leg Cramps At Night: Tips To Reduce Discomfort

“The best thing to do is to stop exercising when you get leg cramps, then stretch and rehydrate,” says DeAngelo, adding that it’s also helpful to hydrate before starting a workout. a smart thing.

To prevent leg cramps, fitness contributor Stephanie Mansour recommends dynamic stretching (which includes movements, such as bending and pointing your legs to stretch your calves) before exercising and static stretching after (such as downward-facing dog yoga pose or hip curl, while standing and curling one of your toes so it’s off the ground).

She also recommends getting enough magnesium and potassium through foods and drinks like bananas and coconut water, and drinking half your body weight in ounces of water each day.

Many people worry that leg or calf cramps are a sign of a serious problem, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which is essentially a blood clot that forms in one of the deep veins of the body. body, usually the legs.

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In addition to cramps that often occur in the calves, other symptoms include (usually) unilateral swelling in the legs, feet, and ankles, and severe pain in the feet and ankles. One area of ​​the leg may be warmer than other areas of the leg. And the skin may be discolored, pale, or slightly red

According to Dr. Dresden, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, this is a serious condition that can lead to life-threatening pulmonary embolism.

“It would be smarter to see someone immediately if you have symptoms of DVT or are just worried,” he explains.

But for some people, leg cramps can happen frequently. People with endocrine problems such as diabetes, structural problems such as flat feet and poor circulation, and people with neurological or neuromuscular disorders often experience leg cramps.

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“Once the underlying problem is better controlled, leg cramps may no longer be a problem,” says Dr. Hanak of Rush University Medical Center.

Some medications used to treat high blood pressure, such as diuretics and beta agonists used to treat breathing problems, can also cause cramps. “If it’s a problem, my advice is to talk to your doctor to see what can be done and what changes can be made,” says Hanak.

Follow Health and Wellness on Facebook and sign up for our One Little Thing newsletter for simple tips to improve your life every day of the week! The calf complex is a powerful machine in the leg and is made up of two main muscles, the gastrocnemius located further towards the surface and the soleus muscle located below the gastrocnemius. Pain in this area can be caused by muscle tension, cramps, higher level pain such as nerve pain in the legs or lower back, and medical causes such as deep vein thrombosis.

Calf pain is usually just below the knee and above the Achilles tendon. Calf strains are the most common type of calf pain and can occur in the gastrocnemius, soleus and soleus muscles. Although less common, they can occur in other muscles of the lower extremities.

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The most common areas of calf muscle strain are the medial head of the gastrocnemius muscle 58-65%, the lateral head 8%-38% and the soleus muscle 58%-66% (Counsel 2015). In elite AFL players, calf-only strains were present in 84% of all calf strains (Green et al. 2020).

Calf muscle strains often occur after vigorous exertion such as sprinting, changing direction, or can even occur over time as the feeling of tightness and discomfort continues to worsen until you stop the activity. . Calf strains can occur at any age, but elite male runners (>35 years of age) have the highest incidence of calf strains (Taunton 2002).

This usually occurs due to a decline in calf capacity (strength and endurance) and errors in training load, such as increasing training volume (more kilometers) or intensity (increasing speed). are the biggest factors.

Less common types of calf pain may be related to lower leg pain from the lumbar spine or gluteal muscles. This can present as a sudden, intense pain or a gradual onset with a sensation similar to a muscle strain in the calf such as tightness, cramping or discomfort.

Exercises For Cramping Feet/calves. Hope It Helps Someone!

Lumbar calf pain often changes and is more widespread in locations and tends not to be localized to one area. Referred pain can be ruled out by having a neurologic test (which basically rolls your nerves to see if it reproduces your pain) performed by a physical therapist.

The most typical type of cramp is exercise-associated muscle cramps (EAMC), which can occur during or after exercise. Cramps can occur for a variety of reasons (e.g. low electrolytes), but in a workout setting they tend to occur in people who are less conditioned or who have a high intensity workout. makes their muscles constantly tired.

However, cramps are often caused by fatigue or poor muscle endurance/ability and electrolyte loss. Cramps are usually not serious and can be relieved with gentle stretching and soft tissue mobilization. The most important thing is to ensure your calf capacity

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