Sleeping and suddenly kicking legs

It is quite common in life that your legs suddenly kick while you are sleeping. There are many reasons for this, such as dreaming while sleeping or being too nervous or stressed during the day, etc. Of course, you should also be alert to calcium deficiency, especially for infants and young children. Because their bodies develop quickly, they are prone to calcium deficiency at this time, so calcium deficiency should be supplemented in time.

Why do my legs suddenly kick when I'm sleeping?

Many people think that leg cramps are caused by calcium deficiency and can be treated by calcium supplementation. In fact, calf cramps while sleeping are caused by various reasons, not just calcium deficiency.

Causes of cramps

1. Sleeping in the cold

Exercising in a cold environment, not doing enough warm-up, or swimming in low water temperatures in the summer can easily cause leg cramps. If you don’t cover yourself with a blanket when you sleep at night, your calf muscles will be stimulated by the cold and will cramp so much that you will wake up in pain.

2. Muscles contract too quickly and continuously

During strenuous exercise, the whole body is in a state of tension, the leg muscles contract too quickly and relax too briefly, the local metabolic product lactic acid increases, and muscle contraction and relaxation are difficult to coordinate, thus causing calf muscle cramps.

3. Metabolism Problems

When you exercise for a long time, in large amounts, sweat a lot, and do not replenish salt in time, a large amount of fluid and electrolytes are lost in the body, leading to the accumulation of metabolic waste. The local blood circulation of muscles is poor, which makes them prone to cramps.

4. Excessive fatigue

When climbing mountains or ascending heights, the calf muscles are most likely to become fatigued. Because one foot supports the weight of the entire body, the strength required for the muscles of this leg to lift the foot will be six times the human body weight. When it fatigues to a certain extent, cramps will occur.

5. Calcium deficiency

Calcium ions play an important role in muscle contraction. When the calcium ion concentration in the blood is too low, muscles become easily excited and cramp. Teenagers grow and develop rapidly and are easily deficient in calcium, which is why they often suffer from leg cramps.

6. Bad sleeping posture

For example, lying on your back for a long time with the quilt pressing on your feet, or lying on your stomach for a long time with your feet resting on the bed, certain calf muscles are forced to be in an absolutely relaxed state for a long time, causing "passive contracture" of the muscles.

What to do if you have calf cramps?

1. Lift your toes and lift your feet to quickly relieve pain.

2. Immediately grab the big toe on the cramped side with your hand, and then slowly pull the sole of the foot towards you, which can stretch the gastrocnemius muscle. Then slowly straighten your feet, and then stretch your legs forcefully, and your calf muscles will stop cramping.

3. Or use both hands to massage your calves vigorously.