Clinically reviewed by What is leg cramps
A leg cramp is a muscle in the leg gripping hard on its own and refusing to let go. It usually hits the calf, sometimes the foot or the thigh, and it can be strong enough to stop you walking for a minute.
In Urdu it is pindli ya taang mein khinchao. A cramp is the short, sharp version of a muscle spasm. Our muscle spasm page covers the longer kind that locks up a back or a neck.
Most leg cramps are harmless. They come from heat, fluid loss, tiredness, or a muscle doing more than it is used to. A smaller number are a signal from somewhere else.
Symptoms you might have
- Sudden, gripping pain in the calf, foot or thigh that you cannot release by willing it
- The muscle feels bruised and sore for a day or two afterwards
- Cramps that come on in hot weather, late in a shift or after heavy sweating
- Cramps that strike at night or while you stretch in bed
- Normal strength and normal feeling between attacks, which separates ordinary cramps from a nerve or muscle problem
Why it happens
- Heat and fluid loss, the commonest trigger in a Pakistani summer, especially outdoor, factory and kitchen work
- Salt lost through heavy sweating, which plain water alone does not replace
- A sudden amount of walking, standing or exercise the muscle is not used to
- Low calcium or vitamin D, both common here, and thyroid problems
- Pregnancy, particularly the last three months
- Diabetes and kidney disease
- Some prescribed medicines, water tablets among them, which your doctor can review
When you should see a physiotherapist
Come to physiotherapy if cramps keep returning, if they are breaking your sleep or your work, or if the leg feels tight or weak between attacks. Treating a cramp gives short relief. Finding what the muscle reacts to is what stops it returning.
See a doctor if cramps come with numbness, with weakness that is getting worse, with muscle wasting or twitching, or if they are spreading across the body. Blood tests for calcium, vitamin D, thyroid, blood sugar and kidney function settle many cases, and those tests are a doctor's job.
Go to a hospital the same day if one calf is swollen, warm and tender and does not ease, because that can be a clot rather than a cramp. Go the same day too if you pass dark brown urine after heavy work in heat.
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How it is treated
Physiotherapy for cramps has two parts: settle the muscle, then remove whatever keeps setting it off. Skipping the second part is why the same cramp returns every few weeks.
- Exercise therapy, stretching and then strengthening the muscle that cramps, because a muscle that tires easily cramps easily
- Manual therapy and soft tissue release for the calf, foot and thigh between attacks
- Dry needling for a tight band that will not release with hands alone
- Hijama (cupping therapy) for broad tightness through the calves and thighs
- TENS and electrotherapy for the soreness that follows a bad cramp
- Ultrasound over one stubborn, localised area of tightness
- Hydration, salt and workload advice, which does more than any machine in the hot months
Surgery has no part in ordinary leg cramps. Muscle relaxant tablets and supplements are a doctor's decision, not a physiotherapist's. If the assessment points to a nerve in the lower back, treatment shifts to that, and our sciatica page covers it.
Exercises, and what to avoid
What helps
- During a calf cramp, straighten the knee and pull your toes up towards your shin until the grip lets go
- Calf and hamstring stretching, held 20 to 30 seconds, daily and again before bed
- Calf raises and sit to stand work, built up slowly, so the muscle has strength in reserve
- Walking and changing position every 30 to 40 minutes through the working day
What to avoid
- Rubbing or pounding the muscle hard while it is still cramping. Lengthening it works better
- Pushing through repeated cramps in hot weather. That is the body asking for water and salt
- Going straight back to heavy work on the day a bad cramp settles
- Guessing at supplements. Fix the water, salt and workload first, and let a blood test decide the rest
What you can do at home
Heat suits a cramped muscle. A hot pack for fifteen to twenty minutes afterwards eases the soreness that follows.
Ice is for a fresh injury, where a muscle has torn and there is swelling or bruising. Heat on a fresh tear makes it worse. Getting these two the wrong way round is the commonest mistake.
Drink before you feel thirsty in the hot months. If you sweat heavily at work, plain water is not enough on its own. Oral rehydration salts, or water with a little salt, replaces what you lost.
Stretch the calves for a minute before sleeping if your cramps come at night. Our night cramps page covers that in more detail.
How long it takes
A single cramp passes in seconds to a few minutes. The muscle can stay sore and tender for a day or two after a bad one, and that is normal.
Cramps linked to heat and workload usually stop within two to four weeks once the fluid, salt and work pattern are corrected.
Cramps linked to weakness or long hours in one position take four to eight weeks of strengthening, because strength is slower to build than hydration is to fix.
If cramps are still coming after six to eight weeks of doing the right things, stop guessing and ask your doctor for blood tests.
Urdu / Roman Urdu
Choose your reading script / اپنی پسند کا رسم الخط منتخب کریں
اردوUrdu script
پنڈلی یا ٹانگ میں کھنچاؤ یعنی ٹانگ اکڑن میں پٹھا اچانک سخت ہو جاتا ہے اور چھوڑتا نہیں۔ گرمی اور پانی کی کمی اس کی سب سے عام وجہ ہے۔
گرمیوں میں محنت کرنے والوں کو صرف پانی کافی نہیں۔ نمک والا پانی یا او آر ایس لینا چاہیے۔ کھجور، کیلا، دہی اور لسی بھی فائدہ دیتے ہیں۔
کھنچاؤ کے وقت گھٹنا سیدھا کر کے پنجوں کو اپنی طرف کھینچیں۔ بعد میں گرم پانی کی بوتل لگائیں۔ پنڈلی کی ورزش روزانہ کرنا کھنچاؤ کم کرتا ہے۔
اگر کھنچاؤ کے ساتھ سن ہونا، بڑھتی کمزوری یا پٹھوں کا گھٹنا ہو، یا ایک پنڈلی سوجن کر گرم ہو جائے، تو ڈاکٹر کو دکھائیں۔
Roman Urdu
Pindli ya taang mein khinchao yani leg cramps mein pattha achanak sakht ho jata hai aur chhorta nahi. Garmi aur pani ki kami is ki sab se aam wajah hai.
Garmiyon mein mehnat karne walon ko sirf pani kaafi nahi. Namak wala pani ya ORS lena chahiye. Khajoor, kela, dahi aur lassi bhi faida dete hain.
Khinchao ke waqt ghutna seedha karke panjon ko apni taraf kheenchen. Baad mein garam pani ki bottle lagayen. Pindli ki warzish rozana karna khinchao kam karta hai.
Agar khinchao ke sath sun hona, barhti kamzori ya pathon ka ghatna ho, ya ek pindli sooj kar garam ho jaye, to doctor ko dikhayen.
Treatment at the clinic, and online
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Questions people ask
Why do I keep getting cramps in my legs?
What should I do the moment a cramp starts?
Are leg cramps a sign of calcium deficiency?
Do magnesium tablets stop cramps?
When is a leg cramp something serious?
Related conditions
- Muscle spasm and cramp treatment
- Night cramps treatment
- Muscle strain treatment
- Calf pain treatment
- Thigh pain treatment