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Treating Muscle Cramps Quickly and Efficiently

By Julie Donnelly, LMT

Getting a muscle cramp while you are running can be the "straw that broke the camel´s back." If you don´t treat it properly and quickly when it is happening, you can suffer from its effects for days afterward.

Cramps are often caused by a nutritional imbalance, in addition to potassium, also check your calcium level since calcium is one of the minerals used to produce energy in the muscle. Calcium is a relaxant, and if your body is short on calcium the body will take it from the muscles in order to supply the heart, which needs calcium to function properly. The best sources for calcium are oysters, and certain vegetables, not dairy products.

If you experience a sudden cramp, don´t try to stretch out the fiber while the contraction is still happening. Muscles have an "all or nothing" response and will not stop in the middle of the pull. When a muscle is cramping, it is violently shortening, if you stretch it during the cramp you will be pulling it in the opposite direction and you may tear the muscle fibers. This is one of the reasons that often a person will feel pain in the muscle long after the cramp has ended.

Instead of stretching and pulling on the muscle fibers, hasten the completion of the cramp by assisting the fibers in their contraction. This will be extremely painful for about five seconds – the longest five seconds of your life! But, once you assist the muscle to complete the contraction, the pain will begin to alleviate immediately.

Calf Cramps

To hasten the end of a cramp in the calf muscle, tightly grip above and below the muscle – just below the knee and just above the ankle – and push your two hands together, shortening the muscle. Hold the muscle together for about 15 seconds, and then release. You will be breathing deeply from the pain, but the additional oxygen will help the muscle to relax.

Repeat this same movement to help any last fibers to complete the contraction. The pain will be substantially less during the second movement. After the muscle fibers are fully contracted, then begin to squeeze your calf, as if you were squeezing bread dough, moving from behind your knee and going down toward your ankle. Always move in this direction to help the muscle to lengthen. The pressure should be just enough to feel good, not to cause you any more pain.

After you have thoroughly squeezed the lactic acid out of the muscle, then you can move into the stretch for both the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles.

Arch Cramps

The arch of the foot is treated in a similar manner. Grip your foot around the ball at the base of the toes, and at the heel. Then push the two ends together as much as possible. This treatment is fast, and less painful, because the muscle is so short. It also helps to press your thumb into the knot that has formed in the center of the arch.

After treating the foot cramp you can proceed to stretch it out by standing up on your toes and leaning forward. You can also push your thumbs deeply along the arch – as if you were trying to lengthen the muscle from the heel toward the toes.

Finally, if your toes begin to cramp, sit down and using your fingers, press deeply in all the areas around the base of the toe, and in the areas in between each of the muscle tendons to the foot. Also, press into the ball of your foot, arch, and work up your leg. There will be places in your arch that are very painful – you´ll know when you find a spasm. Just hold your finger pressure on it for about 60 seconds; you´ll feel it melt away.

© 2002

Julie Donnelly is a licensed massage therapist specializing in the treatment of chronic pain and sports injuries. She has co–authored several self–treatment books, including "The Pain-Free Triathlete" and "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome–What You Don´t Know CAN Hurt You." She teaches Julstro self–treatment workshops nationwide and is a frequent presenter at Conventions and Seminars. Julie may be contacted through her website: www.julstro.com.