A charley horse is often due to long exercise or physical labor, especially in the heat. Dehydration, age, pregnancy, and certain medical conditions may increase the risk of charley horse.
A charley horse is harmless but can be very painful. It often awakens a person during the night.
Massage can relieve cramping pain. Stretches and hydration during exercise or work can prevent a charley horse.
Common
More than 200,000 US cases per year
Usually self-treatable
Usually self-diagnosable
Lab tests or imaging not required
Short-term: resolves within days to weeks
A muscle cramp is a sudden and involuntary contraction of one or more of your muscles. If you’ve ever been awakened in the night or stopped in your tracks by a sudden charley horse, you know that muscle cramps can cause severe pain. Though generally harmless, muscle cramps can make it temporarily impossible to use the affected muscle.
Long periods of exercise or physical labor, particularly in hot weather, can lead to muscle cramps. Some medications and certain medical conditions also may cause muscle cramps. You usually can treat muscle cramps at home with self-care measures.
Common causes include:
- Decreased blood flow to muscles
- Injuries to the muscle
- Exercise during extreme heat or cold
- Intense physical activity
- Overworking the same muscles
- Exercising without prior stretching
- Compression of nerve in the spinal cord
- Medications such as diuretics which can cause decrease in potassium levels
- Deficiency of calcium, potassium or sodium in the blood
- Dehydration
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