Why do I still have cramps after taking calcium supplements

Calcium supplementation should be multi-pronged

Aunt Wang is 66 years old. Recently, she often wakes up in the middle of the night because of leg cramps. She has taken a lot of calcium tablets, but why does she still have cramps after taking calcium supplements?

A cramp is a spontaneous, rigid contraction of a muscle. Many people's first reaction after leg cramps occurs is to supplement calcium, but the effect is often poor, because leg cramps are not always caused by calcium deficiency. In addition to calcium deficiency, there are also the following reasons:

1. Cold stimulation

For example, if the water temperature is too low when swimming or the room temperature is low at night in winter, if the quilt you cover yourself with is too thin when sleeping or if your legs and feet are exposed outside the quilt, the calf muscles may contract and cramps may occur.

2. Excessive fatigue

During strenuous exercise, the whole body is in a state of tension, the leg muscles contract too quickly, and the local metabolic product lactic acid increases, causing calf muscle cramps.

3. Bad sleeping posture

For example, lying on your back for a long time with the quilt pressing on your feet, or lying on your stomach for a long time with your feet against the bed, forcing the calf muscles to passively contract, which is a common cause of sudden calf cramps at night.

4. Causes of disease

Many diseases can cause calf cramps, such as vasculitis, lumbar disc herniation, lumbar spinal stenosis, heart disease, etc. In the elderly, leg cramps are mostly caused by lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans.