A Chiropractor in West Palm Beach can help you with many ailments by way of adjustments. However, the food you consume on a daily basis has a very large impact on your body and the thousands of underlying processes that go on inside it every day. Nutrition is certainly a significant factor in your health. So some of your lifestyle choices outside of the doctor’s office can influence the effectiveness of treatment. When you eat well, your immune system fights off illness better, you elevate your brain function, you lose weight and your energy soars. By incorporating certain foods into your diet, you can contribute to faster healing and continued wellness.
In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at Chiropractic and Your Diet: Muscle Spasm and Cramps.
What is a Muscle Cramp?
A muscle cramp is an uncontrollable and painful spasm of a muscle. Any muscle can be affected, but the muscles of the thigh, calf and foot are particularly prone. This involuntary contraction (“charley horse”) of a muscle occurs suddenly and then does not relax. You will have sudden, tight, and intense pain caused by a muscle locked in spasm.
Additionally, there’s fasciculation, or muscle twitches, which are usually not painful the way a sudden cramp may be. And cramps and fasciculation are the result of muscles contracting involuntarily.
Many truly pathologic (caused by disease) causes exist, such as hypoparathyroidism, vascular insufficiency (circulation problems), and various kinds of trauma for muscle cramping. Nevertheless, many incidents of muscle cramping have no known obvious cause.
Muscle Cramps, positioning, and stretching
Perhaps there is a position you are in when the cramping occurs? For instance, you may be doing repetitive plantar-flexion of your (extension of the ankle so that the foot points down and away from the leg) foot while sleeping or exercising which may “shorten” your muscle. Then when there is further voluntary or involuntary contraction of the already shortened muscle, cramping occurs. Ladies who wear high heeled shoes regularly may have this problem.
Of course, stretching of the muscle helps in both preventing and resolving the cramp.
Water and Electrolytes
Firstly, if you have muscle cramps during strenuous exercising you may be dehydrated. Simply increase your water intake.
Secondly, mineral imbalances or deficiencies may cause muscle cramping. A decrease in potassium, perhaps due to a diet high in salt and low in fresh fruits and vegetables may negatively affect local circulation. Furthermore, this hastens fatigue and increase irritability of muscle tissue.
Nutrition for muscle cramps
Increasing magnesium and calcium intake helps. Moreover, if you are pregnant, this may help reduce leg cramping.
Cramping can be due to vascular disorders such as atherosclerosis (thickening or hardening of the arteries), intermittent claudication (narrowing or blockage in the main artery taking blood to your leg) or thrombophlebitis (a blood clot (thrombus) inside an inflamed vein). Large doses of vitamin E may help.
Chiropractic Adjustments/Joint manipulation for muscle spasm, cramping and pain
Muscle spasms can be a response, which occurs as the body takes steps to protect itself after an injury. Other neuromusculoskeletal causes could be arthritis and fibromyalgia
Adjustments allow your spine and extremity (limb) joints to restore normal motion, which in turn leads to reduced pain and a decrease in muscle spasms.
Without treatment, chronic muscle spasms can result in permanent damage, so treatment is important. At Meiri Chiropractic, soft tissue techniques is utilized along with adjustments to the spine and extremities. Lastly, regular stretching and strengthening exercises are prescribed to prevent future muscle spasms.
Regular chiropractic care will stop muscle spasms and cramping. And on-going adjustments may help patients remain pain free.
Chiropractic and Your Diet: Muscle Spasm and Cramps
According to the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners’ (Nabco’s) Practice Analysis of Chiropractic 2015 “Chiropractic is based on the premise that the body is able to achieve and maintain health through its own natural recuperative powers, provided it has a properly functioning nervous system and receives the necessary health maintenance components. These components include adequate nutrition, water, rest exercise and clean air”.
Your chiropractor in West Palm Beach will adjust your spine and extremities to stop the muscle pain, spasm and cramping. Call Dr. Natalie Meiri, your chiropractor in West Palm Beach at 561-253-8984 to find out more about Chiropractic and Your Diet: Muscle Spasm and Cramps or to schedule an appointment.
References: Handbook of Preventative and Therapeutic Nutrition by James Gerber, 1993