Everyone experiences leg cramps at some point in their lives, to a greater or lesser degree. If you’re lucky it can be as minor as a short series of spasms or cramps in the leg muscles that don’t relax for several seconds. Often these can be caused by overuse or dehydration, or even just standing and walking for longer than usual.

Routine muscle cramps generally last just a few seconds or minutes and ease with warmth, rest and stretching. But you need to be able to tell the difference between that and more sinister conditions such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), peripheral artery disease, or even a clogging of the arteries which can reduce circulation to the limbs.

The most common leg cramps – also known as restless leg or night leg cramps – can appear as if from nowhere, and as the name suggests, occur mostly at night.

Characterised by a sudden movement in the leg muscles, causing painful, involuntary contractions to occur, they can last from a few seconds up to a few minutes.

While low levels of certain minerals such as electrolytes and some medications have been cited as causes of leg cramps, unfortunately there is currently no definitive cure. However, sufferers can take Crampeze long term to help combat these cramps.

Let’s take a closer look to help see if the leg pains you are experiencing may be simpler than you think to help identify – and hopefully ease.

What are the symptoms of common leg cramps or night cramps?

The symptoms of a muscle cramp include:

• Sudden uncontrollable and painful spasms in the muscle
• Muscle twitching
• Excruciating deep muscle pain in the calf
• Tightness of the calf and hardening of the muscle

A cramp can reoccur several times before it goes away. Cramps are common at night and generally occur in the calf muscles and feet.

What can be the underlying cause of such cramps?

The exact cause of muscle cramps is largely unknown, but there are some risk factors that include:

• Muscle injury
• Muscle fatigue
• Poor diet and lifestyle
• Low Magnesium levels or Magnesium deficiency
• Dehydration
• Physical overexertion
• Physical exertion of cold muscles
• Some medications
• Excessive perspiration

How can you stop leg cramps?

Many people turn to magnesium supplements to try relieve leg cramps. Magnesium is involved in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and around 300 enzymatic reactions in the body. It assists with energy production and is necessary for proper muscle and nerve function, while helping to maintain normal healthy functioning of the nervous system and may help relieve muscular cramps and spasms. However, magnesium alone is not a complete cramp solution to stop leg cramps.

Why choose Crampeze instead of a magnesium supplement?

Crampeze offers a wide range of muscular cramp relief products that fit in with your lifestyle and preferences. Crampeze products provide Magnesium supplementation and contain Viburnum Opulus (Cramp bark), which is traditionally used in western herbal medicine to help relieve muscle cramps and mild muscle spasms and twitches. Crampeze can be taken every day and easily fits into your routine to help you live your life cramp free from today.

Key Crampeze ingredients and how they work to stop leg cramps:

Crampeze Night Cramps contains:

• Viburnum Opulus (Cramp Bark) traditionally used in western herbal medicine to help relieve muscle cramps and mild muscle spasms and twitches.
• Viburnum Opulus (Cramp Bark) traditionally used in western herbal medicine as an antispasmodic and to maintain general health and wellbeing.
• Magnesium to support energy production and maintain muscle function.
• Ginkgo Biloba that acts as an antioxidant, reducing free radicals formed in the body.
• Ginkgo Biloba to support blood circulation to the peripheral areas of the body (legs, hands and feet).

Crampeze Night Cramps Forte contains:

• Viburnum Opulus (Cramp Bark) traditionally used in western herbal medicine to help relieve muscle cramps and mild muscles twitches and as an antispasmodic.
• Magnesium to maintain healthy immune system functions and support healthy neuromuscular system.
• Magnesium to maintain muscle function and support nervous system function.
• Nicotinamide, feverfew extract and vitamin B5.

Additional lifestyle tips to help reduce cramps

There are many things you can do to help alleviate night time leg cramps that can be incorporated into your daily routine, such as drink plenty of water during the day, daily calf stretches, trying not to sit with your legs crossed, taking a warm bath before going to bed, indulge in regular massages, and modifying your diet to include more potassium and magnesium-based foods.

Some extra cramp facts

• Leg cramps are reported in up to 60% of adults and 7% of children. Up to 20% of people have symptoms every day.¹
• About 1 in 3 people over the age of 60, and about half of people over the age of 80, experience regular leg cramps.²
• Approximately 50% of those over 55 suffer nocturnal leg cramping, with significantly more people experiencing nocturnal leg pain.³
• 40% of people who suffer from leg cramps have cramps at least three times per week.⁴

This is a sponsored article produced in partnership with Crampeze.

References:

1. Allen RE, Kirby KA. Nocturnal leg cramps. Am Fam Physician 2012;86:350–5. [PubMed] http://www.patient.co.uk/health/cramps-in-the-leg
2. http://www.backinmotion.com.au/news/article/how-to-combat-night-pains-and-cramps Adrian Quinn – Physiotherapist and Director, Back In Motion
3. Camberwell How to combat night pains and cramps Published: 19 March 2014
4. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/180160.php by Christian Nordqvist