First for Me....Forearm Cramp Curled My Hand and Fingers!

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
I've had cramps every now and then even in my younger days, many times while lying in bed. They were mostly leg cramps or Charley Horses. Many years ago I became familiar with Magnesium Oil and I found that if I applied that immediately to my calf cramp it would disappear within seconds. So I always have it on hand. I really never had cramps that often at all, but when I did they were pretty intense.

Several years back I was going to the gym and taking Zumba classes, lots of dancing around, up on toes, back and forth, etc. Only after that did I start to experience foot cramps, cramp in the arch of my foot which would curl my toes uncontrollably until cramp was gone, again I used Mag Oil to lessen the duration. Foot cramps were another first for me.

This evening I was sitting out in the back yard with my husband, having a Perrier and listening to the radio. We were playing with the puppy, throwing his squeaky ball for fetch.

Earlier today I was helping my husband as he did a brake job on our Jeep, the back brakes. He asked for my assist to hold a couple of things in place while he set some springs, etc. Nothing too taxing and didn't take too long to help him out.

Anyhoo, just a little while ago in my yard I got an intense cramp on the underside of my forearm. Quickly my hand uncontrollably turned up toward my wrist and my thumb bent on its own. I quickly came inside to apply Mag Oil and as usual it helped it subside. The skin on my arm appeared extremely wrinkled, not like my other arm at all, I attribute this to the Mag Oil, as you could see the salty residue on my arm.

I'm a big fan of Magnesium for muscle health, and I'm currently running an Epsom Salts bath, something I haven't had in a long time. I put in some bubble bath from the health food store because if I'm going to bother taking a bath it has to have lots of bubbles and smell good. :p

I rarely go to doctors unless absolutely necessary, so I'm self treating my problem as I usually do. Hopefully the Epsom Salts will relax me for the night too, an added bonus. :bath:


Anyone here ever have a cramp/spasm in your forearm that affected you hand and fingers?
 

SeaBreeze said:
Anyone here ever have a cramp/spasm in your forearm that affected you hand and fingers?
Click to expand...

I sometimes get a cramp in my thumbs after I've been doing some heavy duty work...chainsawing for several hours, etc. I also get an occasional charlie horse in my thigh muscles, if I've been doing a lot of lifting and bending. Any more, when I am getting ready to do some serious work, I eat a couple of bananas, and that seems to limit these "inconveniences". I think the extra dose of potassium from the bananas helps keep the muscles and tendons from locking up.
 
Thanks Don for your reply. I do eat bananas sometimes, but they spoil and turn brown so fast I rarely buy them anymore. When I do I just get a couple. There is some potassium in my multi vitamin/mineral, but I'm sure it's not much.
 

If I could find fragranced Epsom salts in twenty pound bags I would get it. I don't know what to tell you but hope you feel better soon. Maybe there are range of motion exercises on line?
 
SB, are you getting enough calcium and magnesium in your diet? I once was experiencing horrible muscle cramps/spasms, and blood work determined I was way low on those minerals. DOc prescribed a high level calcium/magnesium supplement and the problem went away. I still take calcium and magnesium to this day, and almost never have the problem.
 
I get them in my hands but they are not the painful type. I have gotten them in my toes at night, painful ones that cause my toes to stand up. Legs-calves, those twister type that really hurt. I've already gotten them down the front of my calves--that's one of the unusual ones I've had. I guess we can get them anywhere, especially when a muscle is stressed. My dr suggested COQ10 but I didn't see a big difference.
 
Thanks Fur, everything's back to normal now, didn't last long at all but was very strange. I had the fragrance from the bubble bath, I like the good smells too. For my husband I just squirt in some Suave coconut shampoo, he's not big on perfumes but he likes the smell of that stuff....and it makes bubbles. I do some stretching exercises now and then, but not enough for sure.

Butterfly, I get plenty of Magnesium, I take 300mg of Magnesium Citrate capsules almost daily. I don't take calcium anymore, as I don't want calcification and blockage in my arteries which might cause stroke. I think I get enough calcium in my diet daily.

My father in law had a major stroke in his old age, the doc said his carotid artery was 99% blocked with calcium deposits. I asked if it might have been due to his taking Oyster Shell Calcium for years, and he said that would contribute to it. It's good if calcium goes into the bones, but when it ends up in the blood and arteries it can cause heart attacks and strokes. I also take vitamin K2 which helps the calcium stay in the bones.

I heard this host on the radio saying he went in for one of those virtual artery scans and they informed him that his arteries were narrowing with calcium. He started taking some supplements/herbs to clear the arteries, not sure what he used, but he said his next scan was a big improvement.

I don't know much about medicine or the body, but I figure in my old age I'd rather break a bone than have a paralyzing stroke like my FIL. Like I said, it doesn't happen too often, if it happened a lot I'd start to worry.

Thank you both for your advice. :)
 
Carla said:
I get them in my hands but they are not the painful type. I have gotten them in my toes at night, painful ones that cause my toes to stand up. Legs-calves, those twister type that really hurt. I've already gotten them down the front of my calves--that's one of the unusual ones I've had. I guess we can get them anywhere, especially when a muscle is stressed. My dr suggested COQ10 but I didn't see a big difference.
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Wow Carla, I don't ever remember getting one in front of my legs, that's gotta hurt! I agree it's more when the muscle is stressed for some reason. Sometimes cleaning out the bottom cabinets and kneeling or squatting I'll get the one in the foot that affects the toes...ouch! :D
 
SeaBreeze said:
I've had cramps every now and then even in my younger days, many times while lying in bed....... :p

I rarely go to doctors unless absolutely necessary, so I'm self treating my problem as I usually do. Hopefully the Epsom Salts will relax me for the night too, an added bonus. :bath:


Anyone here ever have a cramp/spasm in your forearm that affected you hand and fingers?
Click to expand...

I've only gotten them in a very minor way but my husband gets them constantly. He even get's them in the muscles under his throat and you can see them bulging outwards! And he's asked the doctor, tried the epsom salts bath, the bar of soap under the mattress, magnesium tablets, Power-ade to replace electrolytes, you name it he's tried it and they still happen. The doctor didn't have any ideas either on what would eliminate them. His big concern is that final cramp that would take him out. After all, the heart is a muscle....

Sorry to hear that you're a regular sufferer. They can be a real pain:playful:
 
If you haven't been to a doctor in a long time, perhaps seeing one and getting some blood work done would tell you what's going on.

I was getting cramps something terrible until I couldn't stand it anymore. Went for blood work and found out I was very low on vitamin D. How, I asked, since I'm always outdoors in the sun. Anyway, I now take 5000 mg of Vitamin-D daily and haven't had a cramp since. Might be something to look into.
 
It's not really a big or frequent problem for me, and I've been really physical all my life so when I stress a muscle in an area I think sometimes I just get a reaction. I have had bloodwork done periodically and my numbers are always good. I paid extra for a vitamin D testing and that showed I was a bit low, but I do take D3 supplements year round, up to 5,000 IUs daily. When I do get a cramp, it's really not that bad, I'm just amazed at the times when my body will react uncontrollably like curling of the toes or hand...that to me is something I haven't experienced in my younger days.
 

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