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Sometimes, you can be walking, sitting, or otherwise going about your business, when suddenly your foot starts to attack you.
We’re talking about foot cramps, of course. Muscle cramps in general, really. Whether it’s an excruciating cramp in your arch that just won’t go away, or a charley horse in your calf that feels like it’s the end of the world, they seem to come out of nowhere and only leave when they want to.
So what’s happening in there?
Luckily, most muscle cramps don’t mean anything sinister. If you’re otherwise healthy, there’s nothing to worry about.
However, doctors aren’t really sure what causes them, because they’re never really serious enough to warrant studying them.
Of course, that’s not very comforting to you when you’re experiencing one. It’s maybe even less comforting to know that even if they were to study muscle cramps, it’s hard to know where to start.
Janice Wiesman, M.D., a professor of neurology at New York University School of Medicine, expressed this frustration.
“If someone has a cramp, do you stick an electrode in their brain to see if the motor cortex is overactive?” she asks. It’s especially hard, she says, since the tests might not turn up anything if the person isn’t cramping right at that moment.
However, most experts believe that if you’re otherwise healthy, your nerves just go briefly haywire and cause your muscles to contract. Some doctors believe it could be made worse by nerve diseases, or an imbalance of electrolytes.
Pregnant women get more foot cramps because their blood vessels are fuller, and that throws electrolytes out of whack.
If you’re only getting them during exercise, that may be cause for concern—cramps during exercise could mean low thyroid function, or a metabolic disease of some kind.
But if not, they’re just one of those nuisances we all have to deal with every now and then. Get up and walk around and gently massage the muscle in question, and hope for the best.
