Factors that contribute to Muscle Cramps

I know those of you that have had a muscle cramp or spasm may be fearful of it reoccurring. So I know what to explore some of the contributing factors to muscle cramps. The aim of this is by minimising the contributing factors you will reduce the likely hood of getting muscle cramps.

Dehydration

Muscle cramps commonly coincide with dehydration. So good hydration before, during and after exercise is important, especially if the exercise exceeds one hour. So how much should you drink? Hydration guidelines are personal but the goal is to prevent excessive weight loss i.e. >2% of body weight. You can weigh yourself before and after exercise to see how much fluid you have lost through sweat. One litre of water weight 2.25 pounds. Depending upon on the amount of exercise, temperature, humidity, body weight and other factors you can loose anywhere from 0.4 to 1.8 litres per hour. A good rule of thumb is to always drink enough fluids so that your urine is clear, pale yellow & copious.

Electrolytes

Sodium & potassium are the major components of sweat. So anyone who exercises hard for more than four hours in heat such as marathon runners, triathletes, tennis players etc should replace the lost electrolytes. While a lack of sodium and potassium may contribute to muscle cramps, it should be noted that a potassium deficiency is unlikely as your body contains more potassium than even a marathon runner might lose during a hot, sweaty race. However you can rule out this as an issue by eating potassium rich foods such as bananas and oranges on a daily basis.   Replacing the sodium lost during sweaty exercise is vital and this can be done by having an endurance sport drink or a salty snack.

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    In clinic I find neck pain is really common and while I see results, its always interesting to see what the latest research has to say.

  • Massage Therapy and Neck Pain

    Painful neckOne of the most common conditions we treat is neck pain which can range from a simple stiff neck, to inability to turn your head to either the right or left. So in this blog post I wanted to discuss the recent scientific research regarding massage therapy for neck pain in people with neck arthritis.

    Background

    • 1 in 5 people who visit a massage therapist do so because of neck pain
    • 28% of people with neck pain due to neck arthritis are likely to book a massage

    Until the most recent research the scientific literature on the effects of massage therapy on neck arthritis pain was mixed.  In this study an attempt was made to enhance the effects of weekly massage therapy by having the participants massage themselves daily.

    Methods

    Forth eight participants from a medical school, suffering from neck arthritis pain, were randomly split into two groups, one that received massage treatments and a wait list control group. The first group received a course of four 30 minutes weekly moderate pressure massages and supplemented this with 15 minute daily self-massage.  The control group started the same course of treatments after four weeks without massages.

    The effectiveness of the treatments were measured through self-reports and range of motion assessments, completed after massage treatments on the first and last days of the monthly study period.

    Results

    The group that received the monthly course of weekly massage treatments, showed significant reductions in pain and improvements in range of motion.  These ROM changes occurred specifically for nodding your head (flexion) and right and left lateral flexion motions.  Between the first and last day of the course of treatments showed on average a 50% decrease in pain during flexion.  Conversely the control group reported increases in pain and reductions in range of movement while waiting for massage treatments.

    The study Field T, Diego M, Gonzalez G and Funk C G (2014) Neck arthritis pain is reduced and range of motion is increased by massage therapy, Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 20(4): 219 - 223 supports my subjective experience that massage therapy helps reduced neck pain and increase clients range of movement when it has been compromised.

  • Cryotherapy

    We all know that sports stars take ice baths and I am often asked why they do it, and do I need to do it after I run.  So today I am going to answer that question. Cryotherapy is one of long accepted tools of a sports masseur.  If you have ever watched a football match on telly, you will have seen someone fall to the ground and the coach run on with a bucket of water and the magic sponge and the player then hopefully gets up and hobbles around before taking an active part in the game.  So the magic sponge, (the application of cold water to an injured area) is Cyrotherapy in its most basic form.  The local application of ice or cold water is beneficial because

    • It relieves pain
    • Reduces muscle spams (i.e. athletes take ice baths to avoid feeling stiff the next day)
    • When someone is injured it moderates inflammation
    Probably equally important to all those benefits is that the treatment is very convenient, inexpensive and effective. So to go back to the questions should I have an ice bath after training. If you have injured yourself during training you should definitely follow the RICE (Rest Ice Compression and Elevation) protocol
    • Rest - by which I mean avoid weight bearing activities and anything that causes pain for 24 - 48 hours.
    • Ice - Use either cold water or ice wrapped in a tea towel and apply for 2 - 20 minutes for 2-3 days then 3 times daily.    When applying ice you go through the cold, aching, burning and numbness sensation cycle, it is very important to stop at numbness to avoid burning yourself.
    • Compression  - use a compression bandage if necessary
    • Elevation - if the injury is to a limb, elevate it to help it heal.
    The only exception to using Ice for injuries is for people with a peripheral vascular disease e.g. diabetes, anyone who is hypersensitive or has a physiological aversion to cold if you are frail or if you have varicose veins in the injured area or  the injury is a broken bone. However, what if you haven't injured yourself, should you have an ice bath after training.    Taking an ice bath or sometimes a cold-water immersion is certainly now more popular amongst athletes than ever before.   The key reason is that as it reduces muscle tightness and soreness and it allows athletes to recover more quickly after intense training.   The big draw back is that is uncomfortable and not really scientifically proven.  My recommendation would be only to do it if you are training really intensively and you are not contraindicated (see above exceptions to using ice) and want to, as ice baths are optional.  For me the most important thing to prevent injury and allow you to recover quickly is a well designed training plan where you build up the intensity of the exercise slowly, with adequate warm up routine and a cool down routine and stretching. Remember if you do get injured or have tight muscles after training, a good masseur will be able to sort these out.