14
Apr

This has happened to me a few times before… & i didn't really think anything of it. But when ill be laying down ,& i stretch my legs out, my right calf muscle suddenly tightens & starts too kind of harden? it feels like its a muscle spasm or something, i couldn't walk after and it hurt terribly causing me to cry and not be able to move. what could this be??


Answer:
Cramps are involuntary muscles contractions that generally cause pain and immobility. In the case of a general cramp stretching out your muscle in the opposite way of the contraction helps. It could be because of medications, B vitamin deficiencies or physical exertion after prolonged inactivity.
In the case of calf muscles — during the cramp — massage the muscle downwards until the pain subsides a bit (apply lots of pressure while massaging). Stretching out the muscle really helps prolong the recurrence of the cramp (especially during a physical workout).
A good stretching technique would be to bend down with your hands and feet touching the ground (hands about a meter away from your feet) — and then to bend one knee, while keeping the other leg straight and vice versa. The more you limber out the affected muscle with stretches and activity, the less prone it is to cramping.
(if there’s no reduction in the frequency of cramps after a month of this — then it could be claudication — in which case you must visit the doctor).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 5:23 pm and is filed under General Health Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or TrackBack URI from your own site.

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