Condition
Muscle cramps
Sudden, involuntary, painful muscle contractions, often in the calf and often at night.
Affects Calf
See a clinician
Some causes of muscle cramps need medical care, not self-treatment. Seek help for any of these:
- A leg cramp with swelling, redness or warmth (to rule out a clot)
- Progressive muscle weakness, wasting or twitching
- Cramps linked to a new medication or to kidney or thyroid disease
What may help
Remedies studied for muscle cramps, ranked by strength of evidence.
- D Magnesium nutrient
For idiopathic or nocturnal leg cramps in older adults, magnesium is probably no better than placebo; pregnancy-related cramp data are inconsistent.
Most cramps are harmless. Popular remedies are not always supported by good evidence — magnesium, for instance, does not reliably help idiopathic cramps in older adults.