Treating muscle cramps naturally during pregnancy

How to naturally treat muscle cramps during pregnancy? This is a common question for expectant mothers, as almost fifty percent of all pregnant women suffer from muscle cramps during pregnancy.

Most muscle cramps during pregnancy occur in the legs, but don't be surprised if you notice muscle cramps in your back, abdomen, feet, or arms.

Like an involuntary contraction, your muscle spasms or cramps come on suddenly and are often accompanied by severe pain. Most pregnant women report that their muscle cramps are felt in the evening.

How to naturally prevent muscle cramps during pregnancy

The first thing you should do is take steps to help prevent muscle cramps while you wait. This is best achieved by stretching, drinking plenty of water, and getting essential minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium.

Hopefully, you will manage to prevent muscle cramps during pregnancy, but if you need pain relief, there are a few steps you can take to cure muscle cramps naturally during pregnancy:

Stretching: It is important to stretch the muscles before training and use them for a long period of time. However, stretching is also helpful in relieving cramps.
Massage: This method is most often used to relieve cramps and reduce the pain associated with them. Massaging the muscle causing the cramp, and sometimes massaging nearby muscles, can help relieve the cramp.
Add heat: Heat can be applied to your cramping muscle with a heating pad, a microwave-heated cloth bag of rice, or some over-the-counter activated heating pads.
Epsom salt: A warm bath can often relieve cramps and pain, but an Epsom salt bath is usually slightly more effective. This will help you relax in general and relieve tension in your muscles.
Ice for pain: You can wrap ice from the refrigerator or use an ice pack and apply it to the spasmed muscle. This cold often helps relieve the pain associated with muscle spasms.
Combination: Stretching and then massaging the muscles with a heating pad or ice pack often work together to stop cramps and relieve pain.

If your muscle cramps remain frequent and do not respond to the above treatments, you should see your doctor. You may have a separate medical condition that requires different medical care.

How to treat muscle cramps during pregnancy if it doesn't work naturally

It's more than likely that the natural remedies mentioned above will take care of your muscle cramps while you wait.

It's good to know that there are natural remedies for this general discomfort. However, those unfortunate few who continue to experience frequent muscle cramps or severe pain associated with their muscle spasms may need additional medical attention.