Night Cramps Treatment

Everyone gets night cramp from time to time which, if prolonged, propels the sufferer out of a warm bed to spend minutes walking up and down the bedroom floor. They become more frequent with the passage of years and, for those seriously afflicted, can disrupt a restful night's sleep. The pain is caused by acute spasm of the muscles and its cause is not known. Standard medical therapy is quinine sulphate tablets taken on retiring, though why it should work is not known.

Home Remedies for Night Cramps
There are a variety of home remedies including two of the most unusual in this collection — nets and corks.

Tonic water: Tonic water contains quinine, and a tumblerful on retiring is reputed to be as effective as quinine sulphate tablets.

Pillows: Cramp sufferers are advised to keep their legs flexed by, for example, placing a pillow under the knee or against the foot. This prevents the leg muscles from relaxing completely and thus going into spasm.

Exercises: Lady Ford from East Lothian suggests the following manoeuvre: 'Stand facing a wall about a yard away and place both arms flat against it. Brace legs, straighten knees and push hard ten times, then relax. Repeat two or three times.’ Alternatively, Mr F. A. Murphy from Merseyside has a simpler suggestion: 'If you have cramp in the legs point the big toe upwards and it goes.’

Rebreathing: Miss R. T. Clark from Newmarket suggests a remedy similar to the 'paper bag cure' for hiccoughs. 'At the onset of leg cramp I cup my hands closely over mouth and nose and breathe deeply, thus reinhaling the exhaled breath. Gradually the inhaled carbon dioxide reaches the taut muscles and relaxes them. It may take forty to fifty breaths but it always works and the cramp does not return.'

Corks: Mrs M. S. Geering from Hertfordshire reports:

Both my late husband and I used to have our sleep broken by cramps perhaps two or three times a week. When visiting my doctor on another matter I mentioned this to him and he suggested I put a cork under our martress. This I did without telling my husband. Neither of us suffered cramp again. The first my husband knew about the cork was six months later when a dinner party guest mentioned he suffered from cramps and I passed this remedy on to him.’

This account is particularly compelling because it would appear the cork worked for Mrs Geering's husband even though he was unaware of its presence under the mattress. Mrs Angela Beckon from Huntingdon describes a similar instance where the remedy worked independently for both partners:

'Many years ago I was told to put a few corks beneath my mattress. It worked wonders. No more creeping out on the cold kitchen floor to alleviate it.

My husband did not believe in it until his leg cramp became more frequent - when he tried it too. Complete success. The ladies from the Social Services, however, did wonder whether the corks might have had something to do with secret drinking.’

If the cork is displaced for any reason, the remedy no longer appears to work. Mr Geoffrey Bellis from Wrexham describes how his wife was advised by a friend to place a cork in her bed—with excellent results. 'After a few months a severe attack of cramp caused her to doubt the efficacy of the advice she had been given. Surprise, surprise, when she later made the bed she found the two corks on the bedroom floor.’

Magnets: Mrs Hilary Bonye from Kent has found that magnets have worked to prevent her cramps for over twenty years.

I put a magnet on the affected part of my leg and the pain disappears in a few seconds. My husband, a physicist, was doubtful at first, but he agrees the effectiveness of the treatment is no coincidence.’

Further, as with Mrs Bellis's experience, if the magnet is displaced, the remedy no longer works. Mrs Eileen Lynch from Suffolk uses a four inch magnet purchased from a toy shop:

'When I had a cramp again a few nights ago, I discovered the magnet had slipped down the side of the mattress.’