Are you being kept awake by pain and cramps in your legs, night after night? If so, you are not alone in struggling with this issue. Many experience leg pain at night. The causes may include poor blood circulation, joint injuries, muscle fatigue, or wear and tear
In most cases, seeking physiotherapy help is your best option to treat leg pain at night. If both your legs become completely numb, act urgently to seek medical attention. If your pain ever gets so bad that you lose mobility, you need to seek medical attention immediately.
If your leg pain is simply making it difficult for you to sleep at night, some home remedies can help. These nine home remedies for leg pain at night should provide relief.
Remedy #1: Apply a hot or cold compress to your painful leg
If you know your leg pain comes from muscle cramps, try applying a hot compress to the painful area. The heat will help relax your muscles and should ease your pain. Use a heating pad or a bottle of hot water wrapped inside a small towel.
You could follow your hot compress with a cold compress or use just a cold compress to relieve your pain. The cold will soothe inflammation and provide some relief.
Remedy #2: Massage your leg with clove oil
Gently massaging your painful leg should help relieve the pain. But for your message to be even more effective, you should consider using some massage oil or essential oil.
Clove oil is a good option, as it has strong anti-inflammatory and anesthetic properties. To use this oil properly, you should warm it up, rub it on the painful areas, and massage your leg for 5 to 10 minutes. Then, you should rinse it off with lukewarm water before going to bed.
Remedy #3: Stretch your legs
Stretching your legs is another way to relieve the pain caused by leg cramps. You could do different stretches, but let’s focus on the one you can do while sitting on your bed.
Simply stretch one leg out in front of you, and bend the other one, bringing your knee close to your chest. Grab the toes of your bent leg with your hands, and hold this position for as long as you can. Repeat the stretch on the other side.
Remedy #4: Add Epsom salt to your bath
Another good home remedy for leg pain at night is Epsom salt. This salt is rich in magnesium and sulphate, which help ease inflammation, soothe aching limbs, improve muscle and nerve functions, and get rid of toxins.
To enjoy all these benefits, simply add two cups of Epsom salt to a warm bathtub, and soak in it for 20 minutes before you go to bed.
Remedy #5: Eat more foods that are rich in potassium
The pain you feel in your legs at night could be due to a potassium deficiency. If that is the case, eating foods rich in potassium could be all you need to do to get rid of your pain.
Potassium can be found in bananas, oranges, raisins, dates, apricots, broccoli, spinach, cabbage, mushrooms, potatoes, fish, yogurt, almonds, and dark chocolate should be easy to add at least a few of these to your diet.
Remedy #6: Drink some milk daily
A phosphorous deficiency could also be responsible for leg cramps and pain. If you don’t drink cow milk daily, you should consider trying it, as it contains phosphorous and plenty of calcium, which could help relieve your pain.
You could also heat some milk in a mug and add one teaspoon of turmeric to it. Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties, making it a good home remedy for pain. Drink this milk and turmeric mixture twice a day until your leg pain is no more.
Remedy #7: Drink some apple cider vinegar
You could drink apple cider vinegar instead if you don’t have turmeric or simply don’t enjoy its taste. Simply mix one tablespoon of this vinegar with a glass of warm water, and drink it once daily.
Apple cider vinegar is rich in potassium, which can help rid you of leg cramps, and it contains nutrients that will help prevent dehydration.
Remedy #8: Drink more water
Leg pain and cramps can be caused by dehydration. If you avoid drinking water before going to bed because you don’t want to get up to go to the bathroom during the night, you are probably not helping your cramp problem.
Drink more water each day, and try to limit your alcohol consumption, as too much alcohol makes it more difficult for your body to stay hydrated.
Remedy #9: Avoid tight bedsheets or covers
Finally, if your bed sheets or bed covers are very tight, you should loosen them up. Why? Because they might be partly responsible for your leg cramps and pain by forcing your toes to point downward while you sleep.