Home Articles General Health & fitness



When you are experiencing painful brief cramps in your muscles, this might be heat cramps. This problem is usually characterized by involuntary jerks or spasms. It may occur while you are working out in an environment which is really hot. There may be some instances when you feel the cramps a few hours after you exercise. The muscle parts which are typically affected are your thighs, calves, and shoulders. These are the areas which are heavily fatigued due to too much workload.

When you are constantly exposed to the following situations, the risk of going through cramps is heightened:

• When you perform your activities or tasks within places that do not have enough ventilation or the environment is very hot. The cramps may appear during the first days, especially when you are not used to working within places like these.
• When you sweat a lot while you are working out and you drink huge water amounts or other kinds of fluids that do not have enough salt.

With the aforementioned risks, you can say that the most likely the general cause of the spasms is heat exhaustion. When it comes to what the specialists know, they declare that there is still no exact known cause for heat cramps. However, its onset is associated with electrolyte conditions. These conditions are manifested through an imbalance, or chemical changes which are undergone by your tissues. These typically happen when you lack certain necessary nutrients like potassium, sodium, magnesium, and calcium.

Your sweat is comprised of huge amounts of sodium. When you take in fluids which do not contain enough amounts of this mineral after you sweat excessively, you are posed with the risk of developing a serious ailment. You will likely be affected with hyponatremia, which occurs when you have low levels of sodium within your body.

Heat exhaustion symptoms may not be a lot. The most common sensation that patients feel are spasm to the muscles within the shoulders, calves, or thighs. This sensation may be described as:

• Involuntary
• Painful
• Occurs in alternating periods
• Brief
• Fades away on its own

When the cramp gets really painful, you should seek medical help immediately. This goes especially when it does not fade away when you rest or take in fluids. On the other hand, when you experience the following, it is necessary that you consult with a specialist:

• When you keep on vomiting, making you unable to replenish the fluids that you have sweated off. You may require normal saline rehydration through an IV.
• When your cramps is felt along with extreme exhaustion.
• When you are experiencing serious symptoms like; fatigue, dizziness, head pains, vomiting, breath shortness, malaise, and a temperature which measures more than 104 degrees F.

The symptoms usually go away, especially when the case is not severe. All you have to do is treat it with natural remedies, like:

• Making your own solution of salt and water. The salt should be a half of a teaspoon, which is dispersed in one quart of water.
• You can also opt to purchase electrolyte fluids, which contain the proper content of salt.
• Avoid taking in salt tablets, since these might lead to stomach upset.

Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.

 More articles from the General Health & fitness Category