Leg Cramps - Home Remedies - Leg Cramps

Pinch away pain. Ready for instant relief? Try this acupressure technique. Grab your upper lip between your thumb and index finger, and squeeze for about 30 seconds.

"It's hard to believe, but it works great," says Patrice Morency, a sports injury management specialist in Portland, Oregon, who works with Olympic hopefuls. Although there's no definite explanation for why acupressure works, it's a pain relief technique many athletes have found to be effective.

Let your fingers do the massaging. You can use the direct approach, too: Grab the cramping muscle tightly, pushing your fingertips deep into the cramp for about 10 to 15 seconds, then release. You can repeat as often as necessary to relieve the cramp, says Morency.

Contract and relax. Contracting any muscle that opposes a cramping muscle forces the cramped one to relax, says Morency. When you suffer a severe leg cramp in the calf muscle, for example, flex your shin muscle (which opposes your calf muscle) by pulling your toes toward your knee.

Better yet, while you're pulling your toes up, have a friend gently press the top of your foot the other way to provide resistance, says Morency. That maxes out the tension on your shin muscle, which should cause the cramped calf to release.

Stretch toward comfort. After the cramp is gone, stretch out the muscle--but begin slowly and without bouncing on it, says Andy Clary, head trainer for the University of Miami football team in Coral Gables, Florida. Here's a stretch that will ease the hamstring, which lies under the thigh, almost behind the knee: To begin, sit down on the floor and extend the leg. Then reach out and gently pull your toes toward your knee. That applies pressure over the belly of the hamstring muscle, stretching it comfortably. "You simply want to elongate the muscle," says sports injuries specialist Craig Hersh, M.D., of the Sports Medicine Center in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Water your pain. Drinking a cup of water (about eight ounces) every 20 minutes before, during and after exercise will help keep your system from dehydrating. And when you prevent dehydration, you prevent cramping, says Dr. Hersh.

Give your electrolyte balance a boost. "People who are maintaining their weight and seem to be well hydrated but are getting recurrent cramping may have an electrolyte imbalance--too little sodium or potassium in the blood," says Dr. Hersh. He recommends any sports drink that replenishes sodium or potassium. "But you should probably have a blood test to make certain that's the problem," Dr. Hersh adds.

Train harder. Longer runs and walks will teach your muscles to better tolerate fatigue.