[witchery]

Hey guys, what's it called when your leg muscles tense up heaps (in the calf area) for a brief period of time, and then slowly loosens? And then your calves feel really sore afterwards.

I think it's "*something* horse", but I'm not sure.
Does anyone else experience this?

It's so painful T_____T I wake up in the middle of the night because of it, and occasionally if I run (eg catching bus or whatever ==;;) the muscles will also tense up on my feet and I can't move.

I wanted to do some more research on it because I get it so often and apparently lots of people my age don't (and my friend even told me that only pregnant women get them o__o), and I also want to find out why (eg certain lack of nutrients or something).

Thanks in advance~

[outerspace]

In my case, I haven't exercised in such a long time, and gained ton of weight. Recently I started exercising again, and that's what i'm getting past couple days, but now it's starting to get better, and it's not hurting as much anymore as I started working out/running often. Also it can be your shoes when you run. Or you just need to stretch more. Try rubbing IceHot/BENGAY. lol

[tofu plushie]

You mean a Charley horse? Ouch, sounds horrible. Um, sorry I don't know too much about it but here's a link that answers what nutrients you may lack: here.

quote from the link:

What to do? Take a potassium supplement. Eat bananas, DARK veggies such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc; dark leafed lettuces such as endive, romaine lettuce, etc.

[vinylswing]

I used to have leg cramps in the middle of the night when I sleep with my legs curled up.

[mars*]

hahahha omg i hate those!! T_T i get those randomly..more often than a normal person should haha..when i sleep. sometimes it's in my calf, but most of the times it's in my feet. it's like you can't move and it keeps getting more and more painful and then it goes away. so annoying~

[funkkeh]

I get them sometimes during my period too. Sometimes I get them when I don't exercise enough too. Yes, you get them when you're pregnant too.
I don't know the official term, but my mom says you get it because your body is lacking calcium. So, she told me to drink more milk.

[ilynspiration]

ASDFGHJKL I absolutely hate those! D:
Lack of potassium? Wah

[Koala<3]

I hate Charley Horses. When I get them, i stand up on my toes and go up and down til the pain is gone.

[jN x3 sK]

lol yeah they are really uncomfortable, stretch out or something.

[EXQU1S1TE]

Gotta eat more bananas!
I used to get them all the time while I was sleeping.
Sucked, because I lost a lot of sleep lol.

[witchery]

Oh wow, that's true, my last blood test did show I lacked potassium and I've been told I'm seriously lacking calcium in my diet.
And yeah Charley horses, that's the name.
Thanks guys for the responses

[ShukakuOTS]

Water might help too, I believe. I used to get pretty bad cramps in the calves after a lot of tennis and my coach said it's because I did not drink enough and got dehydrated.

But yeah, bananas are very important as well. That's why you also see a lot of tennis players eat bananas during a match. So eat a bunch of those lol.

Good luck with everything.

[juju<3]

oh my gosh.. i thought i was the only one that got these :x
it hurts like hell and it goes on for lke a minute or so sometimes :S
well now i know its because either i lack potassium/calcium/didnt exercise.

[Makaveli]

My room mate experiences this. I heard that
it's because a lack of a certain vitamin or mineral.
I'm not exactly sure. I've also heard that
eating bananas helps, well according to my room mate.

[WildSevenGirl]

OOH!
I get that randomly. xD
For me, it starts tightening up and I'm like o-o Wow, this kinda feels good.
And hten...
"omgowowowoww."
And then it loosens up and it feels good again. xD
I get this often-ish on my left leg 'cause I go OD when I do kendo.
xD So yeah.

[EHNerJI]

lol yeah, i used to get those a lottttttt when i slept T_T;;
and sometimes i'd cry cuz it hurt so badly ><;;
but yeah, i mainly just ate bananas =/ lol.

[I'm coral.]

That used to happen to me when I slept.
Then I found out I was diabetic so it could be lack of water?

[fobbiyo]

I think this is like one of the worst cramps you can get! I hate it when I'm sleeping and it hits me out of no where. and THEN when I was swimming too. It was all bad. I heard you need electrolights? or something like that.

[alicimoo]

I got them in both legs at the same time during a practice once....-____-"

Drink lots of fluids and eat bananas!

[ultaeja]

Ahh!! Couple years ago, I never--- NEVER excercised and always had leg cramps, but now I LOVE excercising^^;;
I asked my health teacher about it and she told me that whenever you get leg cramps, you should stretch your leg no matter how much it hurts because it'll go away sooner.