3 Easy Ways to Relieve Leg Pain and Muscle Cramps at Night for Sound Sleep
Learn what causes nocturnal leg cramps and how to stop them from ruining your sleep
You’re sound asleep when out of nowhere, a terrible pain in your calf yanks you from your dreams. It feels like your muscles are seizing up, and all you can do is rock back and forth waiting for the pain to pass. What gives? Few things are more disruptive to sleep than leg pain at night—most often caused by muscle cramps. They strike without warning, can be very painful and become more common with age. Understanding what causes leg pain at night and how to relieve it can help you get the deep, restorative sleep you need.
What causes leg pain at night?
To understand what’s behind leg pain at night, it’s important to first understand what a cramp is.
“A cramp is when your muscle tightens suddenly, often causing sharp pain,” explains Raj Dasgupta, MD, Chief Medical Advisor for Sleepopolis. “Leg cramps, especially at night, usually happen in the calf or foot and feel like a painful knot or squeezing that can stop you in your tracks. They can last a few seconds to a few minutes, and the muscle might feel sore afterward.”
Woman's World Answers
Like all muscles, our leg muscles contract when we use them. But during a cramp, that contraction is spontaneous and uncontrollable, explains Brynna Connor, MD, Healthcare Ambassador at NorthWestPharmacy.com.
“What differentiates a leg cramp from a regular muscle contraction is that during a leg cramp, you’re unable to relax the muscles,” says Dr. Connor.
Many different factors can cause leg cramps at night, but there are a few common culprits to look out for. “Some of the most common reasons leg cramps occur are overuse during physical activity, dehydration or an electrolyte imbalance,” Dr. Connor explains. “It’s not uncommon for leg cramps to be a result of all three, as intense physical activity can lead to dehydration or an electrolyte imbalance.”
Muscle cramps vs. restless legs
Although nocturnal leg cramps and restless leg syndrome (RLS) both frequently occur at night and tend to impact older individuals, their symptoms are fairly distinct.
“Leg cramps are different from restless legs syndrome,” explains Dr. Dasgupta. “Cramps are painful, sudden muscle spasms, while RLS is more of an annoying, restless feeling in your legs that makes you want to move them. Cramps hurt and don’t go away until the muscle relaxes, but with RLS, moving around usually helps calm the urge.”
And unlike RLS, which is a lifelong condition with causes that aren’t fully understood, nighttime leg cramps can usually be traced back to specific triggers.
“The people most likely to get night leg cramps are anyone who’s dehydrated or low on electrolytes,” says Dr. Dasgupta. “If you overuse your legs during the day, stand or sit for too long without moving or if you have poor circulation, you’re also more likely to deal with cramps.”
How to relieve leg pain at night
The best way to relieve aching legs at night is by preventing muscle cramps the first place, explains Dr. Connor. Here’s how to do just that:
Drink plenty of water
“To prevent leg cramps, make sure you’re adequately hydrated, especially if you frequently engage in intense physical activity or work in the heat,” Dr. Connor advises. “In addition to drinking enough water, try to get more electrolytes. A great way to do this is by consuming sports drinks that contain electrolytes and carbohydrates, but you can also get more electrolytes from your diet.”
Some foods high in electrolytes include:
- Leafy greens, like kale and spinach (these also contain magnesium to curb cramps)
- Sweet potatoes
- Bananas (which are also rich in muscle-relaxing potassium)
- Orange juice and coconut water
- Dairy products like cheese, yogurt and milk
- Nuts, seeds and beans
- Certain fish, including sardines and salmon
Take a 5-minute walk break
If you work in an office or tend to sit for most of the day, try setting a reminder to stand up and walk around every hour. “Avoid sitting or standing in one spot for too long” Dr. Dasgupta recommends. Even just a few minutes here and there can make a big difference in preventing leg pain at night.
Stretch your legs
“Stretch your legs regularly, especially before bed,” to help prevent leg cramps, Dr. Dasgupta says. And if you’re actively experiencing a cramp, gentle massage and stretching is your best bet to speed relief.
“If you’re experiencing a leg cramp, you can try to relieve the pain by gently stretching the muscles,” Dr. Connor says. “Make sure not to stretch beyond your range of motion or to stretch too fast, as you can potentially injure the muscles. You can also try massaging the affected muscles and using a heating pad to loosen them.”
Check out the video below for a quick how-to:
The bottom line on leg pain at night
While leg cramps can be painful and disruptive to sleep, most of the time, they’re nothing to worry about. That said, in rare cases they may be tied to an underlying health condition.
“If you’re experiencing frequent leg cramps, leg cramps that linger for a long period or if leg cramps are happening in addition to other changes in your health, you should talk to your doctor,” says Dr. Connor.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Woman's World does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.
