It’s always happened to me. Sometimes when I point my toes, I get a brutal, painful cramp in my arch (it seems to run from toe to mid-shin) and I have to use my hands to get things moving again. It happens a lot when swimming, for some reason, and sometimes when sleeping.
Recently I noticed that, when in full cramp, there seems to be a tendon running from ankle <–> big toe, but right across the arch (rather than across the top of my foot). It’s this tendon that disappears after I massage it for a while.
There’s one yoga move in particular that helps straighten them out, but such a position (lying on my back, legs bent etc) is not always practical !
Is there something wrong with my feet? (I have long suspected this for a number of reasons; this is the only one that could be said to be a ‘problem’.)
The electrolytes magnesium, potassium, calcium, and sodium (salt) are all involved in the process that makes our muscles work. Here is a site that discusses leg cramps: http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/cond/C466089.html
I had leg cramps while I was pregnant and then a few years ago I began to get killer leg cramps at night. It turned out that my thyroid was no longer working very well. I now take the thyroid supplement synthroid and no longer have cramping.
Yah, I thought it might be something like this. But I don’t think I could possibly eat any more bananas than the 2 a day I already eat !
Also, it doesn’t seem to make a difference if I have or haven’t been taking my vitamin supplements.
miss smartypants: it doesn’t seem to be leg cramps - I’ve never been pregnant, I’ve had them all my life, and it’s predominantly a foot/arch cramp rather than shin/calf.
I have gotten these all my life, too. Vitamin supplements seem to help cut down the number of incidents.
Try this next time a foot cramp hits: grab the toes of the affected foot and pull them towards your knee, pushing your heel out and straightening your leg. That’s the clearest way I can explain it. And don’t point your toes for a while afterwards! I learned this trick in Girl Scout Camp. Good luck, hope this helps.
I get cramps in my big toes when I wake up and stretch in the morning. If this is true I can drink “Gin and Tonic” or my favorite “Rum and Tonic” this summer and not have to worry. Thanks.
I get exactly the same thing. I get it while swimming (which puts considerable strain on one’s feet), stretching, or putting twisting pressure on my feet while exercising.
I can only echo what Cub Mistress said: putting more pressure on the area removes the pain. If I’m in bed, I’ll use my hands to bend my toes back; if I’m standing up, I’ll balance on the toes of the offending foot.* The cramp lasts for a few more seconds, but the pain instantly goes away as long as I’m putting weight on the arch of my foot.
I eat bananas daily too.
If I’m in the pool, I gurgle in pain and sink slowly to the bottom…
I get these, also usually while swimming, but only in my left foot. I have no idea what causes it but it’s crazy painful. I’m with the rest of you that have them, pull the toes back and don’t do any toe-pointing for awhile.
The only other time I got them regularly was when I was pregnant and would stretch (and point my toes) in bed upon waking. It got so regular that I completely changed my way of stretching to avoid it.
Actually, now that I’m thinking about it and flexing and pointing my toes, I find that I can almost force my foot to cramp by pointing my toes but lifting my big toe up (if that makes any sense). Weird.
My doctor told me this as well. Man, is there anything as painful as waking up with these? They usually are part of a dream, then I wake up with my leg rigid from the pain and have to leap out of bed to stretch my feet.
i used to do gymnastics and now i dance and i get them too (especially when my teacher goes “point your toes!” “i AM pointing my toes!!” and then grabs my foot and proceeds to stretch it farther than i thought possible). They’ve never really been excrutiatingly painful for me and i’ve always been able to rid myself of one by flexing my foot back. i’m also flat-footed (fallen arches, flat feet, whatever you want to call it). do flat feet have a connection here? occasionally, i can cramp my foot up on command and then my big toe starts to twitch because of the tendon that reaches all the way up into it (i guess that’s what makes it twitch). for some reason, that’s amusing to me, despite the pain.
but yeah. if these are chronic cramps that you can’t get rid of, ask your doctor what’s up. but i mean - mine, i’ve never had an issue getting rid of them. who knows, maybe i should see the doctor, too . . .
Wow, I thought it was just me. Same thing as everyone else - when swimming - pretty much every time. I guess it’s the only time I’ve got my toes pointed for any length of time. I guess there is a toe-pointing/flat-footed connection here.
It’s funny the OP says that toe-pointing will cause a foot cramp whereas I found the opposite. A foot cramp is often relieved by pointing the big toe (and ONLY the big toe) upwards…while holding the other toes still.
Most recently, I found that leg and foot cramps during the night can be relieved by coming to a sitting position, and planting both feet firmly on the floor. I admit, I see the best results with this for releasing leg cramps, but foot cramps will subside, too. (If it matters, I am flatfooted…and the cramps are 99% of the time forming in my left leg or left foot.) Last, I find trying to walk on it (“walk it off”) is the worst thing to try! Ouch!
No, I’m not flat-footed, my arches are nice and high. I can almost summon a cramp by pointing my toe - I can feel it coming, and if I flex my foot back a bit it recedes again. Happens just about every time I point my toes (which doesn’t come up much in my everyday life - except for yoga class - but I don’t like my feet being limited in their actions!)
I quite like the idea of gin and tonics as a cure. Even if it doesn’t help, there will certainly be placebo effects, no? I will begin my research immediately ! (I wonder if I can get a grant …)
I used to get foot cramps often when I was taking a weight loss supplement with ephedra. I thought they might have been due to dehydration but that’s just a guess. Now I only get them occasionally after rowing (which involves a lot of pushing with the legs up to the toes). To get rid of them, I usually do the pulling the opposite direction of the cramp trick. And whine loudly to my team mates
I used to get them too, but not as much any more. Unfortunately, there are several things I did all at once that might have helped, such as losing weight, changing to a diet based more on whole grains and vegetables, exercising more, and taking up yoga. When I started, I got terrible cramps when we did active relaxation (where you tense your muscles before relaxing them, which includes toe-pointing) but the problem gradually abated, and now I can pretty much point my toes as hard as I want.
A pose that seems to help me with foot and ankle flexibility is Virasana. Not recommended if you have knee problems, though. I honestly don’t know if this is useful for cramps, but it makes my feet happy in general. Maybe regular practice with active relaxation helped too? Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but I changed too many factors at once, so it’s hard to say what helped.
