Leg cramps during the night are most often caused by having your feet and legs in the wrong position which leads to the leg cramps.
People will often sleep with their feet and toes extending away from the rest of their bodies, a position called plantar flexion.
Sleeping with your feet and legs in this position shortens the calf muscles, making them more susceptible to cramping.
Things that can cause legs to cramp up include, magnesium deficiency, vitamin deficiencies, overuse, muscle strain, standing on your legs too long, holding a position too long and dehydration.
Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is essential for regulating your body's functioning.
Magnesium is involved in more than 300 of your body's biochemical processes, including muscle contraction and nerve transmission.
Magnesium is a widely used remedy for leg cramps.
Some ways to get rid of leg cramps is to apply a heating pad or hot water bottle to the cramping leg.
Also try massaging the leg cramp and if possible move your leg around and shake your leg.
When you're experiencing leg cramps the best thing to do to stop the leg cramps is to sit down or lay down and then massage the leg where it's cramping.
Whenever I have leg cramps I will try to sit down or lay down and then massage the leg where the cramping is occurring and usually the leg cramping goes away within a few minutes to 10 to 20 minutes of massaging the legs.
Legs cramping up usually are caused by tense muscles in the legs and massaging those muscles can almost always stop the leg cramping.
Also you can apply a heating pad to the leg that is cramping or apply a hot water bottle or hot damp rag that can help with the leg cramping.
Sometimes you may also need to twist your leg back and forth or shake the leg if possible which also helps with leg cramping for some people.
Eating bananas does help with leg cramps because bananas are high in magnesium which helps stop leg cramps.
Low magnesium levels can cause leg cramps so by eating bananas which are high in magnesium, calcium and potassium they can help prevent and stop leg cramps.
The best vitamins for leg cramps are Vitamin D, Vitamin 1 and Vitamins B12.
Having those vitamin deficiencies can lead to leg cramps and also having low magnesium levels can lead to leg cramps too.
So taking some magnesium supplements can help stop leg cramps.
Leg cramps can be a sign of heart attacks but not always and most times the leg cramp is just due to muscle strain, sitting or laying the wrong position or even dehydration.
Leg cramps can be a sign of a heart attack because leg cramps can be a marker of peripheral artery disease which can lead to a heart attack.
So if you constantly have leg cramps then it could be a sign of a heart attack.
Although most leg cramps are nothing serious and usually go away on their own.
Some common causes of leg cramps are dehydration, low levels of sodium, low potassium, low carbohydrate levels, tense or stiff muscles, poor blood circulation and vitamin deficiencies.