General Chat

How do you treat it? Have just spent ten minutes in agony ! Never had such pain but I want to be ready for it the next time! Any suggestions? BC¬XX

strikes me from time to time especially when putting shoes on or in bed...screaming agony! you just have to keep pulling the toes up ( direction of knee) , if you cant move foot at all, you have to do this by hand. Then get walking as soon as you are able. If this is happening mostly in bed, socks really do help .

Rose xx

Thanks Rose, all I could do was grab a packet of frozen peas! I had just been up Oxford Street...maybe my toes were traumatised! Have to say I did a lot of screaming! BCXX

Thank you WW:-) BCXX

Oh i sympathise with you BC i get it quite a lot usually in the night, i go to the kitchen and stand on the cold tiles but it takes a few minutes to go then 9 times out of 10 i just get back to bed and it starts all over again lol
Could it be old age!!!!!! lol

Val

You could be right Val,it's probably catching up with me! lol BCXX

My first thought when you said foot cramp was heel spur. That caused me extreme pain in the foot. I now have it under control (keeping fingers crossed) thanks to special innersoles and enclosed shoes. I dont use the innersoles much now, get tired of changing them from one pair of shoes to another.

I did have a lot of minor leg cramps (restless legs) and the doc prescribed a course of pills and recommended stretching exercises. Now I rarely have the problem.

Huia.

A cold floor,like slate tiles or similar is supposed to help cramp.I do feel for you ,it is sooo painful.

This works - partner gets out of bed at sound of first shriek and presses your foot upwards towards leg as hard as possible. (Cramps were occurring oftenest when sufferer was not taking enough liquid during the day and especially after visiting friends who brew "proper" coffee).

Hope this helps.

I always get cramp if I am not drinking enough fluids.... very painful... also when my potassium levels are low.... on ongoing problem for me since the chemo...... so I just eat more potatoes, tomatoes and bananas (not that keen on bananas) and drink lots of water.... that seems to stave off any more attacks for a while... I get it in my left calf and left foot.... actually moving the muscle, which blinking hurts anyway.... eases it, and if you can reach, massaging the knot in the muscle with a really hard knuckle movement.

Love

Daff xxxxxxx

not sure but i get this in my toes and it is so painful at times and it;s usually only my right foot.

Thanks for all the tips:-) but as I still have a great deal of pain in foot, it is probably something else....have stuffed down some painkillers and have stopped screaming so that's good! BCXX

I am a lifelong horrific foot cramp sufferer. Bits of my feet -- different bits, it goes in cycles -- seem determined to separate themselves from my body regularly.

Two tips for preventing them, in case it helps:
- get enough potassium and calcium in your diet
- get enough sleep

Have a bowl of ice cream and bananas before going to bed early every night, and you may be plump and boring, but you shouldn't get foot cramps. ;)

Mine are worst at the end of days when I just haven't got enough sleep. I've been trying to get more sleep and also consuming bananas, both in connection with high BP and the meds (diuretics) to treat it. Haven't had a foot cramp in a few weeks.

When it happens, you need to stretch the cramped muscle, hurt as it does. If It's my big toe trying to rip itself off my foot, I clutch it back to where it belongs. I just sit clutching and bending and swearing, usually. Swearing does help. Mind you, when it happens in the middle of grocery shopping and you have to spend 10 minutes sitting on a case of tinned tomatoes in the middle of an aisle clutching your foot, you have to try not to swear quite as much ...

Thanks again folks:-) Of all the lovely things I could have inherited from my Grandma...she left me her bunions and awful feet. BUT I really like Janey's tips for cramp, bananas ice cream and lots of swearing...lol...BCXX

It's when your toes separate ,and 2 go up and 2 down.They have a life of their own lol.It's no joke though.

If, when cramp strikes, you tip a little salt on to the palm of your hand and lick it off, your cramp will disappear instantly in most cases.

Has only let me down once,even when I once fell over in the street with a cramped calf.

I think it is because your sub-conscious is distracted by the taste of the salt and lets go of the tight muscle.

I have found that wearing a pair of knee high mens socks in bed does the trick. I wear them in summer too.

Some say eating bananas regularly helps a bit with cramp.

I'm with you there, NS -- grandma's bunions! Haven't worn high heels in 30 years; it's genetic, not fashion-related.

But -- walking on tiptoes does give you foot cramps if you're prone. I used to do water aerobics, and I had to get the instructors to say once a minute, as we were running around in circles, "Heels Down!" It was too easy in water to prance around on toes, and I was getting struck down by foot cramps regularly, and looking like I was just trying to get out of phys ed class still all those years later. ;)

Painful BC. T sometimes gets cramp in bed and leaps out yelling (Quite a shock in the middle of the night when I am asleep. And if it turns out to be plantar faciitis, you know he will sympathise whole heartedly. Same exercise for PF as cramp, puut the toes towards yoyr knee and hold for up to five minutes (advice of chiropodist).