7 Most Common Causes of Leg Cramps

One of the most common questions I get from my patients is “Why do I get leg cramps?”

Most of us have had “Charley horses” of muscle spasms at some time in life. 

I saw some gnarly cramps when I was a sideline doctor for the local high school football team. I had them every night when I was playing high school football

I wish I knew then what I know now!

Cramps can be mild to severe. 

They can last a few seconds. They can last for many minutes. Then they can hang around on the verge of going off again for hours.

They are involuntary muscle contractions that seem to come out of nowhere. They hit you suddenly, at night in bed, when you are working out, sitting on the couch, when you least expect it.

Just because they hit you by surprise doesn’t mean they come out of nowhere.

Leg cramps are painful and usually are caused by something you are doing or a deficiency of some nutrient. They are usually pretty easy to resolve by natural means. But, I need to tell you, if you are having leg cramps all the time it could be the signs of a serious underlying problem. Talk to your doctor if you have leg cramps that won’t go away.

There are at least 7 common causes of leg cramps:

Dehydration

This is the biggie! Too many people drink too little water. Soda, coffee and tea are made with water but they have a little bit different effect on your body. People who drink lots of sugary and caffeine drinks have less water content in their body than water drinkers.

My favorite story is a little old lady who came in for treatment for leg and back pain. When she laid on her stomach, she couldn’t bend her knees more than 30 degrees due to tight muscles. She was only drinkiung 2 cups of tea and 6 oz of juice a day. I asked her to drink a quart of water a day. When she came back 5 days later, she felt much better and said I was the best doctor she every had! And she could bend her legs more than 90 degrees.

Our muscles need water to contract and relax. When they don’t have enough, they spasm.

Not Enough Minerals/Electrolytes

The 2nd most common cause of muscle cramps is not having enough minerals and other electrolytes. Muscles require certain levels of common minerals to contract and relax. The most common insufficiencies are Magnesium, calcium and potassium and or course, sodium. 

The reasons for not having enough are not getting enough in your food, not digesting/absorbing them into your system, or using too much of your supply of minerals; like for making stress hormones when you are stressed out.

If you are not eating enough veggies and fruits, you are more at risk for muscle cramps. 

If you have intestinal/digestive issues, you are more at risk for muscle spasms.

If you are stressed out, you are more at risk for muscle spasms.

Too Much Exercise

You can over-exercise to point where you use up your reserves of minerals and the muscles just can’t respond any more. Then your muscle can’t contract or relax, and it cramps up on you. This can happen even if you have enough minerals in your body when you start.

If you don’t give your body enough recovery time between strenuous exercise sessions to replenish your tissues, you can get cramps pretty easily. It’s the same as if you don’t get enough nutrients to start with. Your muscles just don’t have enough nutrients to do their job.

Too much sweating will also cause you lose your mineral and other nutrient reserves. While sweating is great for you as a way to detoxify. Too much sweating without replenishment can lead to cramping.

Not Enough Exercise

Your muscles and joints are made to move. To contract and relax. If you stay in one position too long, your muscles will get unbalanced. For instance, the front of your thighs, the quadriceps muscles, will stay in a slightly long position when sitting. At the same time, the back of your legs, the hamstrings, will be in a slightly short position. When you sit for 3-6 hours a day, these muscles tend to tighten up and not relax.

When you add the muscle imbalance to the lack of circulation of blood to these muscles, cramping happens much more frequently.

To solve this, just get up and move more. Do some jumping jacks. And you can actively contract and relax your muscles. When sitting, just hold your your legs straight out in front of you and move your feet up and down. Move your arms all around.

Some say, “Sitting is the new smoking!” That’s how bad it is for you.

Not Enough Sleep

Sleep is so underrated!

Lack of sleep cause so many problems with our bodies. Is messes up our hormones. It makes our nervous system jumpy or sluggish. It slows down your ability to heal and to detoxify. It throws your immune system out of balance and limits your ability to fight diseases.

In relation to leg cramps, lack of sleep is associated with nerve dysfunction and muscle fatigue. And, since there are few distractions at night, cramps can be much more intense at night.

Try to get 7-9 hours of good sleep every night.

Too Much Alcohol

Alcohol can dehydrate you. If you drink alcohol you know how many times you go to the bathroom when you are drinking. 

Alcohol increases the level of lactic acid in the muscles. Most have heard about how lactic acid buildup in the muscles can cause cramping. It the same as when you work out too hard and don’t cool down after a workout.

If you do drink, make sure you drink plenty of water to help relax your muscles.

Certain Medicines and Medical conditions

There are several medical conditions that can cause muscle cramps:

• Thyroid disease, Hashimotos Hypothyroid disease
• Some liver diseases, cirrhosis
• Digestive disorders
• Nervous system disorders
• Pregnancy (not really a disorder! But it can cause metabolic imbalances that lead to muscle cramps)
• Cardiovascular disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Diabetes type 2
• Peripheral artery disease

Some medications that can cause cramps are:

• Lasix and other “water pills”
• Cholesterol drugs; Lipitor, mevacor, crestor, zocor, etc
• Procardia for angina and blood pressure
• Proventil & Ventolin for asthma
• Conjugated estrogens, for menopause
• Naproxen a NSAID for pain, inflammation and fever

Leg cramps are not usually a sign of serious disease. Doing the common sense things mentioned in this article should take care of them. If you have ongoing leg cramps, consult with your doctor. 

The information provided on this document is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. Should you choose to use the information provided here WITHOUT the approval of a licensed health care provider, you concede that you do so of your own accord and are assuming full responsibility for it.