Nutritionally Speaking: You Can Prevent Charley Horses

Dear Dr. Meinig: Two or three times a week I am awakened by extremely painful cramps in my legs. I find it hard to get rid of the rigid cramp and my leg is stiff and sore for 2 or 3 days. Is there something that can be done to stop the cramping, and more important, prevent its occurrence? – E.P.

 

Dear E.P.: Cramping of the calf muscle, toes, feet, or thighs is more common than most people realize. It is estimated that 50% of individuals over 14 years of age will experience this problem sometime in their lives. When the muscle cramps it becomes hard as a rock, causing excruciating pain.

Such a muscle cramp, sometimes called a “Charley horse”, occurs commonly at night while in bed and becomes more frequent as people get older. Interestingly enough scientists have not come up with any clear-cut explanation of the cause. In view of numerous personal experiences with severe leg or foot cramps starting as a teenager, and my subsequent involvement in the nutrition field, I believe I can offer a few remedies along with some methods of prevention.

As you so well know, once the cramp occurs the whole body becomes contorted in an attempt to minimize this discomfort. As most cramps occur during sleep, one becomes entangled in sheets and blankets while desperately trying to get at the stiffened muscle. My first experiences in reducing leg cramps were with light massage. This generally took some time and often cramping would recur. After the cramp was over, the muscle would be stiff and sore for two or three days.

Later, I found that if I jumped out of bed and walked around for several minutes, the cramp would disappear, and usually there would be no after soreness. Once this pattern was established, I found when the cramp was coming on, it triggered a warning in the leg muscle so that I would awaken and have a few brief seconds to throw off the blankets and bound out of bed, thus minimizing the pain and discomfort.

During the cramp, the toe and foot are forced to point downward. Walking forces the toe and foot back and upward, and it is this action that eliminates the cramp. After many of these episodes, I wondered if the cramp might be aborted while still in bed, if the toe and foot were forced up toward the knee as hard and as far as possible. This worked magnificently, and if done immediately, as soon as the coming cramp is sensed or felt, 95% of the cramps can be avoided. What happens is the sole of the foot and the back part of the leg are stretched, preventing the contraction of the muscles. Another version of this principle is to stand about three feet from a wall and lean forward with the head touching the wall, keeping the feet flat on the floor. This produces the same stretching action of the leg.

Since learning this method many years ago, others have suggested a somewhat similar technique, taking hold of the toes and pulling them up as far as they will go. This is named the dorsiflex method.

Should these methods fail, another one many have found helpful is carried out by pressing the finger firmly against the upper lip, just below the nose. This puts pressure on an acupuncture point that stops the cramp. Moist warm compresses (not dry heat) have also helped.

One of my earliest lessons in the study of nutrition was the revelation that calcium was not only used for bones and teeth, but also by our muscles during movement. Recalling that my teenage cramping problem usually followed strenuous swim team practice, it seemed probable that a calcium deficiency could be the cause of the difficulty. Long hours of standing that are a part of a dental practice, plus continued swimming exercise, seemed to be a plausible reason for the continued occurrence of my leg cramps.

Supplements in the form of calcium lactate almost completely eliminated their occurrence and continued to do so until a few years ago when they suddenly reappeared almost nightly. The only thing that was different in my diet was an increase in dosage of the vitamin E supplement I was taking. Well, you guessed it. Stopping the vitamin E immediately stopped the cramps. This was an interesting finding, as the other prevention method that comes closest to calcium in effectiveness in stopping leg cramps is vitamin E. This is an excellent example of the old story, “if a little does good, more doesn’t do better.” In other words, what can cure may also cause the same malady, when overdone.

Joggers and long distance runners, swimmers and bike riders have frequent problems with cramps. While calcium and E are found to be the most common deficiencies in these cases, a need for magnesium can also cause cramps. This occurs fairly often in heavy milk drinkers, as milk is low in magnesium and its high calcium content creates an imbalance of these two elements.

John Ellis, M.D. has found vitamin B6 will prevent cramps. A variety of other supplements have also proved helpful, such as B complex, vitamin C, and silica.

Those that have Charley horse cramps that occur during walking or running should see their physician to rule out a blood clot in the leg or the presence of Buerger’s Disease, which usually is the result of nicotine constriction of the arteries of smokers. Limping or cramping during walking is called intermittent claudication. Vascular surgeon, Kraut Haeger, M.D. found only one leg amputation necessary out of 95 patients placed on vitamin E, while 11 out of 104 not on E needed leg amputations. Stopping smoking was also part of his program.

Another preventive is the homeopathic remedy called Schuessler’s cell salt, calcium phosphate, which is allowed to dissolve under the tongue.

There are also heat cramps that occur in hot weather due to the excessive loss of sodium caused by profuse perspiration. A slight increase in the use of salt or food high in sodium is a preventive in such cases. Salt tablets should be avoided as they are too concentrated.

While these techniques for stopping this painful situation are a boon to sufferers, a most valuable lesson as to the importance of calcium metabolism is afforded those who learn how to prevent leg cramps.