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Foot cramps are a type of cramp which is caused by painful muscle contractions in your body. It happens for several reasons, but some common reasons are also responsible for foot cramps like dehydration, lack of physical exercise, prolonged standing and other medical conditions.
If any shoe is not fitted in your foot, you will get foot cramps.It happens mainly in the arch or upper side of the foot. When muscles involuntary contract at any time of the day, whether day or night, the spasms of the muscles lead to cramps.
It gives you intense pain until and unless the muscles get relaxed and foot cramps or, in other words, muscle cramps get over. When you gently massage the foot cramps, they settle down, but when they get intense, you should consult your physician.
You should ask him why these cramps are occurring again and again and speak about them and the cause of them coming too soon.
What are the causes of foot cramps?
There are a lot of causes of this cramp we feel in daily life, but they are harmless and not permanent. Sometimes, foot cramps are easy to diagnose, and we can treat them quickly, but when they worsen, it is a bit difficult to treat them, affecting our blood circulation.
1. The quantity of potassium is low in the body.
As everyone knows, potassium is a type of electrolyte that works and controls the functioning, which is essential for the movement of the muscles. Only these types of foot and leg cramps occur when our potassium becomes low.
Deficiency of potassium is the leading cause of foot cramps. When it is deficient and worsens the situation, it causes hypokalemia. It is a type of disease when a person feels cramping, nausea, fatigue, weakness, constipation and low heartbeat. In this situation, you must visit a doctor and get your potassium level.
2. Dehydration can lead to Foot cramps
It is a situation when a person drinks less water or the body does not get enough water. Our body lacks adequate water, which helps our body and different organs function correctly.
When our body requires the necessary amount of water, it automatically gives signs of chills, dry mouth, fever, sweet craving, dark colour urine and other symptoms.
Dehydration is quite a common problem, but it occurs when we have any disease like diarrhoea, vomiting, overheating, exercise and many more. You should always drink enough water and keep hydrated to relieve foot cramps.
3. Over-exercising is one common factor
Our lifestyle becomes so overwhelming for fitness that it becomes necessary for anyone to join Gym and other activities for fitness levels. For athletes, fitness should be their first concern, but for people who work late nights and aren’t able to do it because of timing issues, they also join a gym and do exercises just to become fit.
They push their muscles so hard that their strengths sometimes rupture, and other problems occur. They force their body to work out, and their muscles spasm effectively, which causes more foot cramps than usual.
Use of different Medication
The medication causes different problems, and every medicine has side effects on body organs. Some cause muscle cramps, which directly affect the organs in the body. Many people don’t get these cramps, but some will give them for specific reasons. Medicines like diuretics, statin drugs and many more are responsible for foot cramps.
Overly Fitted and Tight Shoes
It is one of the essential reasons for foot cramps. When anyone wears too-tight shoes, blood circulation stops, and muscle spasms occur, leading to Foot cramps. If anyone wears uncomfortable shoes, they can feel numbness, tingling in their feet, shoes leaving marks on the feet, etc.
Always wear your size shoes so that your muscles are relaxed and you don’t have any blood circulation problems in the future.
Different Disorders like Endocrine Disorder
There are different kinds of disorders occurring in our body. One is Endocrine Disorder, which happens when our hormones are imbalanced in the body, and our electrolyte levels are generally affected, leading to Foot cramps or muscle camping.
Numerous diseases like Diabetes, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism and others occur due to endocrine disorders.
Pregnancy
In pregnancy, generally, we see legs and feet swollen in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy as our body adjusts to many different changes like weight, hormones, a growing fetus, stress levels and others. We started getting foot cramps when we didn’t take proper care of our bodies.
Best Home Remedies for foot cramp
Various practical and best Remedies for foot cramps depend upon the person’s condition. When they are all fit and fine and still experiencing these cramps, home remedies can also treat them and their muscles will relax afterwards.
Home remedies like massage, stretching, and exercise can also relieve foot cramps.If the condition of a person is like he has low potassium levels, then taking supplements or vitamins can increase the potassium level in the body.
Anyone can improve their potassium level by having potassium-rich fruits and increasing dietary fibre foods in a healthy diet.
When dehydration problems occur, drinking enough water can increase the electrolyte. Fluid intake can increase the electrolytes and relax the muscle cramps.
If anyone is experiencing cramps due to tight footwear, just wearing the correct shoe size can solve this problem, and he can get relief from foot cramps.
By doing regular exercise, which increases muscle strength to build the strength of the foot and ankle, you can avoid foot cramps, which occur randomly. If anyone is overweight, losing weight decreases the strain on the arches of the feet.
Always consult your physician before taking any medicine according to your physical condition.
What are the Prevention of Foot Cramp?
Not every foot cramps are preventable, but some are preventable. Some muscles are stretched due to excessive weight gain or doing a lot of exercises, experiencing dehydration and other things.
You can easily prevent them by taking measures and following healthy routines.
- Regular exercise can reduce the muscles’ cramps time and effectively vanish them.
- A healthy diet with vitamins and minerals like potassium, C, and A is essential to relieve foot cramp problems.
- Wearing comfortable shoes can change muscle strain and make you feel more relaxed.
- Try to wear well-fitted shoes which are perfect for your foot. It will help to get you sound sleep and reduce your foot cramps.
- Before changing any medicine, you should consult your doctor unless any type of harmful effect will lead to adverse impacts on your body.
- Drink plenty of water and fluids to solve the dehydration problems.
Different foot cramp, Stretches
Stretches quickly solve foot cramp problems. Wearing uncomfortable shoes is bad for your foot health, but women love to wear heels.
According to some working conditions, this is mandatory for them to wear heels, but just by raising your heel and your toes touching the ground, you can feel relaxed throughout the day.
You can relieve foot cramps just by flexing up your toes while your toes are pointing in an upward direction. Then hold it for 4 seconds, point your toes out and hold it for 4 seconds. Do this exercise regularly to get relief from foot cramps.
Stretching is the best exercise for foot cramps. You can do this in the morning, evening or whenever you get a break in the office to prevent foot cramps.
When to see a Physician
If the foot cramp occur so frequently and the pain is unbearable, you have tried everything like
· Massaging
· Stretching and every possible way to reduce the pain still can’t get relief, and then you can get the help of a doctor.
If the cramps affect your sleep patterns and it becomes pretty difficult to sleep with the pain as the pain is increased to such an extent that you can’t bear it anymore, you should consult with the best doctor and start your treatment quickly.
You can also read our blog How To Reduce the Lower Back Pain
