Have you ever been in a deep sleep and then suddenly became awaken by a muscle cramp in the leg? Since I have been at Penn State, this has happened to me quite frequently. Often, I have woken up during the middle of the night to a charley horse in the back of my leg and let me tell you, it is pretty painful. It is interesting to me that I have gotten more muscle cramps here at Penn State than I have ever received in my life. So, what causes these unpleasant aches?

Some basics about charley horses (or muscle cramps in the calf) are they produced by muscle spasms, which is the spontaneous and involuntary muscle contractions. According to WebMD, there are various causes of these muscle cramps. Some include poor blood circulation, overusing the calf muscle, dehydration, fatigue, a lack of minerals (potassium, calcium, etc.), and even certain treatments can cause painful muscle cramps. These leg cramps are more common in the elderly, obese, and athletes, but the interesting thing is it can happen to anyone at any time. These are the known factors that cause these muscle cramps, but scientists still are not quite sure of why they actually occur.

Dr. Jonathan Kirschner, a sports medicine aid at Icahn School of Medicine in New York City, states, “Leg cramps that happen during sleep are quite common but not fully understood.” A 2012 study conducted by the American Family Physician Journal discovered that roughly 60 percent of adults have gone through something called ‘nocturnal idiopathic leg cramps (nighttime cramps) and as we grow in age, we are more prone to these cramps. Reported by Next Avenue from PBS, one in every three individuals above 60 years old have been awaken by a charley horse at least one in the past month. Six percent of these individuals over the age of 60 declared that they have to handle this issue on most nights.

Dr. Kirschner also explains further about charley horses: “A charley horse is uncomfortable, to be sure, but usually harmless. Many times it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong. But if the cramps are getting worse or disrupting your sleep to the point where it’s impacting your waking hours, then it’s something you should bring up to your doctor.” Generally, there is nothing to worry about, but there are potential health concerns to having these cramps on a consistent basis. If you are getting charley horses on a nighttime basis, it could result in electrolyte imbalances and other nutrient imbalances. Deficiencies in certain necessary minerals such as calcium and potassium can lead to serious health problems. Constant charley horses can also indicate spinal stenosis (when spaces in your spine become smaller and smaller) and/or peripheral artery disease (plaque builds up in your arteries that reduces blood flow). Ultimately, there are strong correlations between charley horses and health conditions as mentioned above, but there is not definite direct causality. Other third variables can also cause these painful leg cramps such as overuse of the muscle in the form of exercise, the weather changing (particularly to warmer weather), and digesting different medications.

So, is there anything to do to help prevent or ease the pain? Putting a cold ice pack or cold bag of ice to the sensitive spot can help relax the muscle. Firmly massaging the area can help stop the cramp sooner, but usually you cannot even touch the back of your leg. Moving the muscle around and getting up to walk around (even though tremendously painful) can eventually stop the muscle cramp from continuing. Lastly, drink a sufficient amount of fluids. Sports drinks like Gatorade and Propel have been said to help with leg muscle cramps.

Should we believe this is what causes charley horses in the middle of the night? I think there is a strong enough correlation that points to why these muscle cramps occur. There needs to be further studies with a larger sample size of the population to determine if any of these factors actually cause charley horses because there are confounding variables such as the temperature around you and the amount of fluids you have consumed in that day. But, I think all of the factors I mentioned above like overusing the muscle and a lack of minerals is a strong cause of these cramps. Hope this helps with anyone experiencing the same thing as me!

Sources:

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/tc/nighttime-leg-cramps-topic-overview

http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2013-07/what-you-can-do-about-nighttime-charley-horse