Why do you get cramps while sleeping?

Cramping while sleeping at night is a common phenomenon in the elderly. Although this type of cramp is not dangerous, it causes a lot of discomfort and inconvenience, causing patients to lose sleep at night.

Sleep cramps often occur in the elderly. About one-third of people over 60 years old and nearly 50% of people aged 80 years and older experience night cramps. Among them, about 40% of patients have sleep cramps with a frequency of about 3 times / week, some cases can even be every day.
Manifestations of sleep cramps is a sudden involuntary muscle spasm, most cases occur in the calf muscles, sometimes this condition occurs in the thigh and foot muscles. Sleep cramps can occur at any age, but tend to increase with age. For the average healthy person, sometimes cramps are also experienced at any time of the day. However, if the condition of sleep cramps recurs many times, then the patient needs to go to the doctor and get an accurate diagnosis because it is most likely a sign of an underlying medical condition.

Possible causes of leg cramps at night , including:
Cold feet Patient has leg cramps at night which may be caused by wind blowing from a fan or from outside. Usually in the summer, the wind from a fan or air conditioner blows directly to the feet. On a winter night, it becomes cold, the air flows into the room, the patient is wise.

Overexertion During the day, the patient over-exercises, causing muscle fatigue or injury. The process of exercise will consume sugar in the liver, if it is consumed too much without adding calories to the body, it will make the legs more prone to leg cramps at night.
Lack of water and electrolyte imbalance The body is often dehydrated, not adding enough water during the day is the cause of cramps at night.
Excessive exercise, prolonged sun exposure, outdoor activities often cause a lot of sweating, causing the body to lose a lot of water and electrolytes. If not replenished with enough water and electrolytes, it will be easy to get cramps at night. In addition, the habit of drinking diuretic tea, drinking coffee will also cause the body to lack water and lose electrolyte balance.
Poor blood circulation Sitting for a long time, standing for a long time will put pressure on the muscles and blood vessels, leading to poor blood circulation, especially in the legs. In addition, many people sleep often to bend their legs, bend their legs, causing the muscles in the legs to contract for a long time and not be stretched. If you maintain this sleeping position during the night, slight movement can cause cramps. In addition, for women who wear high heels all day, because the pointed toe presses on the toes, making it difficult for blood circulation, which is also the cause of the toe cramps in turn.
Deficiency of nutrients An unbalanced and unreasonable diet leads to a lack of nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, potassium,... The lack of essential minerals will cause an imbalance of nutrients. electrolytes, leading to sleep cramps.
Pregnant women Pregnant women are subject to a high rate of cramps because the body increases water retention and electrolyte imbalance, along with the weight of the fetus, causing blood circulation. less in the legs. In addition, hormonal changes during pregnancy can lead to hypocalcemia, which is also the cause of night cramps in pregnant women.

Kidney disease Patients with kidney failure, regular dialysis will not be able to metabolize excess substances in the body effectively. In a normal body, this metabolism usually takes place within 24 hours, but in dialysis patients, it takes 2 to 3 days. Electrolyte changes in the patient's body during dialysis can cause cramps.
Endocrine disorders, thyroid dysfunction occur in patients with impaired renal function leading to electrolyte metabolism disorders. People with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high blood fat, and diabetes are all susceptible to blood circulation disorders and sleep cramps. Besides, neurological diseases such as sciatica, sciatica can also be the cause of nocturnal cramps.
Stressful mood, anxiety People who are often under pressure, excessive stress will easily get cramps while sleeping, because stress can cause hormones in the body to be out of balance, rapid heart rate, High Blood Pressure.
Sleep cramps mostly occur in the legs, most commonly in the muscles of the legs, feet, ankles and toes. If the patient has cramps in the thighs, anterior thigh muscles, s

To limit the occurrence of cramps at night, the patient should be active, exercise regularly, regularly to help blood circulation. At night, before going to bed, you should exercise your muscles gently or stretch your calf muscles for a few minutes before going to sleep. During the day, patients can walk, jog, swim, practice cycling to exercise their legs. Do not bathe when the water is too cold, especially sea water or swimming pool water.

Every time you work hard, sweat a lot, you should pay attention to add water mixed with salt to rebalance electrolytes and avoid dehydration (it is best to use oresol solution). Drink enough water in a day (about 1.5 - 2 liters). As for the diet, it is advisable to eat a lot of vegetables in the main meals, after each meal should add more fruits such as bananas, grapes, beans, oranges, apricots, papaya, mangoes, durians, pomegranates, pears .
If there are comorbidities, such as diabetes, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, anemia, thyroid disease, metabolic disorder, neurological disease, the symptoms should be treated and resolved. If sleep cramps do not improve, repeat many times, affecting quality of life, patients should soon visit a doctor to determine the exact cause and receive appropriate treatment.
SEE ALSO :
Frequent cramps, is it worth worrying about? Causes of cramps during pregnancy How to treat and prevent cramps during pregnancy