Charlie Horses

A charlie horse is basically an uncontrollable muscle cramp, which causes your muscles to seize up. They occur in various places, the most common being the leg or the neck. 

They occur most often in the night, and is a most unpleasant way to be awakened. Charlie horses occur when your muscle suddenly spasms, and knots up, causing intense pain.

The only way to stop a charlie horse immediately is stretching the muscle to pull the knot out. 

For example, if you have a charlie horse in your calf muscle, reaching down, grabbing your toes, and pulling them forward, will pull the knot out of the calf muscle. 

This is just a temporary solution. Charlie horses are usually caused by sitting in one position too long, or over using a muscle. 

Almost everyone gets them occasionally, and normally after a long session of sweat-inducing labor.

Home Remedies for Charlie Horses:

Potassium:

Eating or drinking potassium rich foods can cure the problem completely.  Charlie horses are often a symptom of a potassium deficiency, and eating extra bananas, potatoes, prunes or drinking extra orange juice can give you the extra potassium you need to make it though that strenuous, sweaty exercise without a single charlie horse.

Warming the muscles with a hot shower, and stretching before exercise is a good way to prevent charlie horses. 

If you feel a charlie horse coming on, it is always a good idea to take a nice, warm soak, and even add epsom salts to the water, while you sip a glass of nice, potassium-rich glass of orange juice. 

The warmer tissue is, the more liquid it is, the colder, the stiffer, so warmth is a good, soothing remedy for charlie horses.

Calcium:

Sometimes calcium deficiencies are the cause of charlie horses, if your charlie horses don’t result in excess activity, you might want to increase your intake of calcium, by drinking more milk, yogurt, and cheese.

Acidic Foods:

If you suffer from recurrent muscle spasms, try to limit your intake of excessively acidic foods such as tomatoes and vinegar. 

These foods can inhibit your calcium intake and make the problem worse.

Tonic Water:

Tonic water contains quinine, and quinine has been shown to alleviate charlie horses. 

Old timers used to drink a shot of tonic water every evening, before bed to prevent charlie horses.