Leg Cramps

[Fae Oonagh]

Home Remedies For Leg Cramps
We've learned that leg cramps can be caused by a variety of nutritional deficiencies. For instance, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E, calcium or protein. Are you eating lots of greens? (And we don't mean having two olives in your martini.)

Cut down on fatty meats, sugar and white flour. After a week, see if there's a difference in the incidence of leg-cramping.

Go Bananas!

If you take a diuretic, you may be losing too much potassium from your system, which may be causing leg cramps. If that's the case, eat a banana or two every day. You might also want to ask your doctor to take you off the chemical diuretic and find a natural one, like cucumber, celery or lettuce.
Drink a glass of tonic water. It may have enough quinine to help you and not enough to harm you.
If you get leg cramps while you sleep, keep a piece of silverware-a spoon seems the safest-on your night table. When the cramp wakes you up, place the spoon on the painful area and the muscle should uncramp. Incidentally, the spoon doesn't have to be silver-stainless steel will work as well.
Cramp bark is an herb that-you guessed it-is good for any sort of cramping. The tincture is available at health food stores. Take 1 to 2 teaspoons, three to five times a day.
Muscular cramps that tend to occur at night may often be relieved within 20 minutes by taking this combination-1 tablespoon of calcium lactate, 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and 1 teaspoon of honey in half a glass of warm water.
The late D.C. Jarvis, MD, suggested taking 2 teaspoons of honey at each meal, or honey combined with 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water before each meal, as a way to prevent muscle cramps.
WARNING: Diabetics and people with honey allergies should not try the honey remedy.

Walk on the Wall Side

Before you get out of bed in the morning, turn yourself around so that you can put your feet against the wall, higher than your body. Stay that way for 10 minutes. Do the same thing at night, right before you go to sleep. It will improve blood circulation and may help to prevent muscle cramps. It's also an excellent stretch that in itself may prevent cramps.
Take advantage of the therapeutic value of a rocking chair. Rock whenever you watch television and for at least one hour before bed­time. For those of you who sit most of the time, a rocking chair may prevent varicose veins and blood clots. It may also improve circulation as well as relieve you of leg cramps.
Drink 1 cup of red raspberry-leaf tea in the morning and 1 cup at night. Do this every day and you may no longer have leg cramp attacks.
According to one doctor, three weeks after prescribing vitamin B6 to his patients suffering from leg cramps, they were no longer bothered by them. The B6 also took care of numb and tingling toes. Take 100 to 200 mg of B6 along with a B-complex supplement.
CAUTION: Check the amount of B6 in the B-complex. Make sure it does NOT exceed 300 mg of B6 daily. High doses of B6 can be toxic.

Pinch It

We were told about a simple acupressure technique called "acupinch." It may help relieve the pain of muscle cramps almost instantly.
The second you get a cramp, use your thumb and your index finger and pinch your philtrum-the skin between your upper lip and your nose. Keep pinching for about 20 seconds. The pain and cramp should disappear.

Try drinking an 8-ounce glass of water before bedtime.
Jogger's Leg Cramps

After your run, find a cool stream of moving water in which to soak for 15 to 20 minutes.
For those of you who can only dream of that.. .every night, right before going to bed, walk in about 6 inches of cold water in your bathtub for three minutes.

The feedback from runners who do this has been very convincing-cold water walks prevent leg cramps. Be sure to have those non-slip stick-ons on the floor of the tub.