Muscle Cramps and Spasms

While running, walking, riding a bicycle, standing up for a long time, doing yoga stretches incorrectly, or even sleeping, a person can get muscle cramps. Any muscle—upper arm, forearm, leg, calf, or even a toe or the baby finger—can undergo sudden spasm.

Muscle cramps and spasms have numerous causes. They may be due to insufficient blood supply to the muscle or, in some cases, to excess blood supply, as in the case of “writer’s cramp.” Muscle spasms can be due to lack of calcium in the diet or malabsorption of calcium, since calcium plays a significant role in relaxing the muscle. A related problem is hypoparathyroidism (underactive parathyroid), in which the person loses calcium; this may also cause the muscles to undergo spasm. Exposure to cold and poor circulation may also be responsible.

The Ayurvedic understanding is, in simplest terms, that muscle spasms are caused by vata dosha. Vata, increased by mobile, cold, or rough qualities, makes a muscle stiff and hard, and it undergoes spasm.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELIEF. Whenever a muscle is under spasm

• Grab hold of it.
• At the same time, press your index finger deeply into the “belly” of the muscle (the bulging central part of the muscle) for 15 to 20 seconds. A marma point (like an acupressure point) is located in the center of the muscle; pressing on it helps the muscle relax.
• Take a few deep breaths.
  This procedure will increase circulation, and the muscle will relax.

ANOTHER PRESSURE POINT REMEDY. A marma point is located at the midpoint of both the lips. If there is a spasm in the upper body, such as in the arms or fingers, grab hold of your upper lip, in the middle, between your thumb and index finger. If the spasm is in the legs or the lower part of the body, grab the lower lip.

These energy points on the lips send messages to the brain, which in turn relays a signal to the motor system to relax the muscles. Just grabbing the lips for 30 seconds should help relieve the spasm. Press fairly strongly, but not hard enough to be painful.

CONTRACT AND RELAX THE MUSCLE. Repeatedly alternate contraction and relaxation of the muscle. This will improve circulation and help to release lactic acid, which will relax the muscle.

MASSAGE. Another approach is to apply a little oil to the muscle belly and gently massage. Mahanarayan oil is best if you have it; otherwise, some sesame oil or other oil will do. Gentle massage of the painful cramped muscle will relax the muscle fibers, improve the circulation, and pacify the vata. That will help relieve the spasm.

After rubbing in the mahanarayan oil, apply a little heat. For best results, use a hot water bottle (not an electric heating pad).

Winter, with its dry, cold weather, is vata season. During winter season, when vata individuals get exposed to the cold, their muscles may cramp. Rubbing the muscle with mahanarayan oil (or sesame oil) and hen applying heat will be soothing and healing.

SOAK IT. For a cramp in your foot, soak the foot in a bucket of warm water that contains salt (1 or 2 tablespoons).

A hot ginger powder-baking soda bath (2/3 cup baking soda and ¼ cup ginger per tubful of water) is also effective for muscle relaxation.

HERBAL RELAXANTS. Make yourself a cup of chamomile tea, jatamamsi tea, or comfrey tea. Or, even better, you can make a tea using equal amounts of all three of these herbs (⅓ teaspoon of each per cup). It will help to relax your muscles.

FOR PREVENTION. As a preventive measure against future cramping, drink some dashamoola tea—½ teaspoon of dashamoola powder steeped for a few minutes in 1 cup hot water. Have a cup or two of dashamoola tea every Saturday.

MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS. Getting repeated muscle cramps suggests that you either have a calcium deficiency or are not absorbing enough of the calcium in your food. First, take some supplements of calcium, magnesium, and zinc. Your formula should contain approximately 1,200 mg. calcium, 600 mg. magnesium, and 60 mg. zinc. Take these supplements at bedtime.

Second, to improve absorption, take triphala every night or in the very early morning. Use about ½ teaspoon triphala powder per cup of boiling water.

YOGARAJ GUGGULU. Yogaraj guggulu tablets (200 mg. per tablet), taken 2 or 3 times a day for 1 month, are effective for pacifying vata in the muscles, which is the root cause of muscle cramps.

EFFECTIVE HOME TREATMENT FOR ABDOMINAL CRAMPS. Muscle cramps and cramps in the stomach may be related. Muscle pain can happen anywhere in the body, in the skeletal muscles as well as in the smooth muscles of the abdomen. As with spasm in the arm or leg, abdominal cramps may have many causes, such as eating too big a meal, or lifting too heavy a weight, which strains the abdominal muscles. Gases in the stomach, constipation, or acid indigestion can also create cramps in the stomach or abdomen.

• For painful cramps in the abdominal muscles, take the herbal

compound shankavati (one 200-mg. tablet after dinner).

• This antacid formula may also be effective:

shatavari ½ teaspoon
guduchi ¼ teaspoon
shanka bhasma pinch

Take this entire amount once or twice a day, after meals.

• Warm milk is helpful for abdominal muscle cramps. Its alkaline property helps pacify acidity, and it is also a good source of calcium, which helps muscles to relax. One cup of warm milk taken at bedtime will help to dispel acid irritation and spasm of the stomach.
• Lasunadivati (garlic compound) is effectively used for smooth muscle spasm as well as skeletal muscle spasm. Take 1 tablet after dinner for 5 days. You can also buy odorless garlic tablets; take them as directed on the package. Garlic relaxes the muscles, calms down vata dosha, and helps to take care of muscle cramps.
• Hingwastak churna, ¼ teaspoon taken twice a day after lunch and dinner, will also help relieve abdominal muscle pain. It may also create some gas, however.
• Triphala is very effective in relieving gases, promoting proper elimination, and facilitating absorption of calcium and other key minerals. Take ½ teaspoon of triphala daily at bedtime with warm water. It will minimize your chances of getting muscle cramps in the stomach.