Leg problems
Apr. 6th, 2019 01:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kengrWednesday morning, I was awaken abruptly by my right calf trying to kill me.
Ok, not really, but that's what the cramp felt like. Ouch.
Fortunately my current bed frame has a convenient 2x4 to jam my foot up against to fight cramps. So I got it somewhat under control and it faded.
Mind you, even now there's a slight twinge of soreness. But it's not even annoying.
Thursday while getting out of bed I figured out *why* my cramps tend to come as I'm waking up. I sleep on my side, so as I roll over to my back and on to the other side, I point my toes (so they are out of the way for the roll).
That pointing involves contracting the calf muscle, which triggers the cramp (note that jamming your foot up against something and pushing it to keep the muscle stretched is what works best to shorten and "minimize" the cramp, so this makes sense)
Ok, good to know but not likely to be a lot of help as it's something your body does pretty much automatically. And being half asleep means you're unlike to remember to be careful in time.
Tonight my leg attacked me again. Apparent my old Croc flip-flops have worn down enough that they no longer give as much support to my heel. This means that my heel is now *lower* than my toes. Which stretches the Achilles tendon. And after a few hours the tendon reacts by informing you that it doesn't *like* being stretched that much that often.
Oh well, they need replacing anyway and they have lasted for many years.
Ok, not really, but that's what the cramp felt like. Ouch.
Fortunately my current bed frame has a convenient 2x4 to jam my foot up against to fight cramps. So I got it somewhat under control and it faded.
Mind you, even now there's a slight twinge of soreness. But it's not even annoying.
Thursday while getting out of bed I figured out *why* my cramps tend to come as I'm waking up. I sleep on my side, so as I roll over to my back and on to the other side, I point my toes (so they are out of the way for the roll).
That pointing involves contracting the calf muscle, which triggers the cramp (note that jamming your foot up against something and pushing it to keep the muscle stretched is what works best to shorten and "minimize" the cramp, so this makes sense)
Ok, good to know but not likely to be a lot of help as it's something your body does pretty much automatically. And being half asleep means you're unlike to remember to be careful in time.
Tonight my leg attacked me again. Apparent my old Croc flip-flops have worn down enough that they no longer give as much support to my heel. This means that my heel is now *lower* than my toes. Which stretches the Achilles tendon. And after a few hours the tendon reacts by informing you that it doesn't *like* being stretched that much that often.
Oh well, they need replacing anyway and they have lasted for many years.
