Beware of leg sore in summer

Study suggests leg cramps at its peakin summer as in winter.

 Dr Hitesh Kubadia,Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon at HKS Clinic, Dadar.

If you are an athlete, an expectant mother or a senior citizen, the night time leg cramps becomes a regular feature – especially during summer. Heat injury may result in mild heat cramps to life-threatening heat stroke. 

A growing number of children and young adults are found playing sports during summer. As more people exercise in hot conditions, muscle cramp is a common feature and often occurs when the muscle is overused or injured. Working out when you haven’t had enough fluids or when you have low levels of minerals such as potassium or calcium can also make you more prone to muscle spasm. Muscle cramps can occur while you play tennis or golf, bowl, swim, or do any other exercise.

“It’s not just the athletes who suffer from leg cramps, but even pregnant women and people over the age of 50 years are also affected by the seasonal problem. It’s a shockingly prevalent issue during summer time. Figures show that one in three people over the age of 50 years will have at least one or more cramps a day, half of those people experience it multiple times at night,” informed Dr Hitesh Kubadia,Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon at HKS Clinic, Dadar.

Elaborating on the co-relation between summer time and leg cramps, DrKubadia, said, “In summers, the weather is much warmer and this causes us to sweat and loose body fluids at a much faster rate. Sweat contains magnesium and potassium in the form of electrolytes. This loss causes a low-grade deficiency which results in increased muscle cramps. The fluid loss causes possible dehydration as well.”

“Muscle cramps, also known as spasm or twitches, are a noticeable increase in muscle tone for no apparent reason. This increase can be intense enough to cause an increased pain. Often cramps occur during sleep or rest and sometimes they occur with exercise. If they occur with activity, cramps will predispose you to ‘muscle pulls’, added DrKubadia.

Doctors warn people to prevent heat injury. Prevention begins with understanding the causes of heat illness. “Knowing the signs of heat injury and being able to treat it immediately will reduce the number of severe cases. Possible preventive measures include taking daily supplements of calcium, magnesium and potassium and drink lots of water,” says DrKubadia.

Medical care when you have suffered from muscle cramp:

If you have a muscle cramp, stop your activity and try stretching and massaging the muscle.Heat will relax the muscle when the spasm begins, but ice may be helpful when the pain has improved.If the muscle is still sore, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications can help with pain. The most common cause of muscle cramps during sports activity is not getting enough fluids. Often, drinking water will ease the cramping. However, water alone doesn't always help. Salt tablets or sports drinks, which also replenish lost minerals, can be helpful.

Other tips for relieving muscle cramps:

·         Change your workouts so that you are exercising within your ability.

• Drink plenty of fluids while exercising and increase your potassium intake (orange juice and bananas are great sources of potassium).
• Stretch to improve flexibility.

 story initiated by Gloocal Communications