Probably, everyone at least once in his life experienced what a cramp is. These are involuntary brain symptoms that can lead to impaired consciousness, emotional disturbances, or severe spasms of muscle fibers in the arms or legs.
If you have cramps often enough, then this is the reason why you urgently need to see a doctor. They can signal serious diseases not only in the nervous system, but also in other organs. After the examination, the doctor will definitely prescribe the appropriate treatment, which will include anticonvulsants, to reduce the frequency of seizures.
Causes of convulsive conditions
Seizures can appear in a person at different periods of life, the most common causes of such conditions include:
-
anticonvulsants Congenital malformations of brain structures. These people usually have seizures from early childhood.
- Lack of oxygen in tissues.
- Brain diseases.
- ARVI.
- Insufficient content of certain elements in the blood plasma,such as calcium and magnesium.
- Tranio-cerebral injuries.
- Brain tumors.
- High body temperature.
- Poisoning with various drugs.
- Epilepsy.
In order to get rid of such problems, it is necessary to determine their exact cause, because in each case, anticonvulsants are prescribed individually.
Types of seizures
You can give the following classification of convulsive conditions:
1. Generalized convulsions. They most often capture the entire body, as, for example, during epileptic seizures.
- Clonic. There is a change in muscle tension, twitching is observed.
- Tonic. Spasm of muscle fibers.
- Tonic-clonic. Mixed convulsions, which are characterized by both alternating involuntary twitching and spasm.
2. Local. Seen in certain muscles, such as calf cramps.
Generalized seizures are more serious because they affect the entire body. They may be accompanied by loss of consciousness.
Any convulsive conditions have a cause that must be identified in order to prescribe adequate treatment.
Epilepsy, its causes and symptoms
This is a disease of the nervous system, it is characterized by sudden epileptic seizures, during which convulsions cover the entire body of the patient. If a person is diagnosed correctly, then it is possible, using new generation anticonvulsants, to achievegood results.
The main causes of epilepsy include:
- Damage to brain neurons.
- Pathology during pregnancy.
- Birth trauma.
- Hereditary factor.
- Impaired blood circulation in brain structures.
- Oxygen starvation of the brain.
- Viral infections.
Many doctors still cannot speak with high accuracy about the causes of this disease in each individual.
The most common and striking symptom of this disease are seizures. They happen periodically and always start suddenly. During an attack, the patient does not react at all to external stimuli, after it ends, the person usually feels weak, but the attack itself does not remember.
A seizure may not cover the whole body, then the patient simply loses consciousness, or spasms of the facial muscles and illogical, same-type movements are observed.
Epilepsy can only be diagnosed after a thorough examination. If timely and correct treatment is prescribed, then in most cases it is possible to avoid attacks, and the quality of life of a person improves significantly.
Epilepsy treatment
Most patients diagnosed with epilepsy are on the path to recovery if the treatment is correct, and the patient and his family members are actively involved in this process.
In treatment, it is very important not just to prescribe anticonvulsantsdrugs (for epilepsy), but to solve a number of problems:
- Find out the causes of seizures.
- If possible, exclude the influence of those factors that can become provocateurs of seizures.
- Get the correct diagnosis of the type of epilepsy.
- Prescribe adequate medical treatment. It can be inpatient treatment.
- Pay great attention to rest, social problems, employment of patients.
Among the basic principles of epilepsy treatment are:
- Selection of a medicine that will match the type of seizure. Prescribe anticonvulsants (drugs such help eliminate or mitigate seizures).
- It is desirable to use monotherapy, that is, to use one drug for convulsive conditions.
- Using physical therapy treatment.
Anticonvulsants
The following classification can be given, which is used for drugs for seizures.
- Benzodiazepines. This group includes: "Diazepam", "Clonazepam", "Dormicum" and others. These drugs are used to relieve an attack and to prevent it.
- Valproates. Anticonvulsant drugs of this group interfere with the conduction of a nerve impulse, so there are fewer seizures. These include: Valproic acid, Acediprol, Apilepsin and many others.
- "Lamotrigine". It is usually used in complextreatment of epilepsy until the patient's condition returns to normal.
- Hydantoin derivatives. This includes "Difenin", it reduces the excitability of nerve cells. Has an anticonvulsant effect.
- Succinoids. In their action, they are similar to the drug of the previous group.
- Oxazolidinedione derivatives. This is "Trimetin", which is ineffective for complex and extensive convulsions, but can be useful for local ones.
- Iminostilbenes. This includes "Finlepsin", it does not allow the reproduction of repeated action potentials, which are precisely the basis of convulsive activity.
- Anticonvulsants of the barbiturate group belong to the older generation of drugs. Compared to modern drugs, they are already ineffective, so they are used less and less. In addition, when taken for a long time, they are addictive.
Any anticonvulsant drugs for epilepsy should be prescribed by a doctor. Only then can effective treatment be guaranteed. It is worth considering that if they are abruptly canceled, the condition may worsen, so the doctor selects the dosage for the entire course of treatment.
Treatment of seizures in children
Convulsions in childhood are much more common than in adults. This can be caused by many things, ranging from brain disorders to the usual high fever during a viral infection.
Predisposition of young children to frequent seizures can be explained by the immaturity of brain structures. Atthe first symptoms of an attack, it is necessary to take all necessary measures to stop it, otherwise irreversible changes in the central nervous system are possible.
According to the degree of danger, anticonvulsant drugs for children can be divided into two groups:
- Drugs that practically do not depress breathing. These include benzodiazepines: Droperidol, Lidocaine.
- Respiratory depressants. These are barbiturates, "Magnesium sulfate".
If you have diagnosed a seizure in your child, then you should not wait for its recurrence, but you must urgently consult a doctor. With single convulsions during a high temperature, the next time you should not wait for the thermometer to rise above 38 degrees, bring it down earlier and do not provoke an attack.
If such conditions are observed in a child often, then he will be prescribed treatment. Any anticonvulsant is used strictly in the dosage prescribed by the doctor. In young children, Phenobarbital is most often used in treatment.
It not only prevents cramps, but also calms the nervous system and has a slight hypnotic effect.
Doctors often prescribe for children in the treatment of such conditions one anticonvulsant - a mixture of Sereysky and its varieties. It consists of: luminal, caffeine and papaverine. In combination, they relieve spasms well and improve the nutrition of nerve cells.
Muscle spasm in legs
If an epileptic seizure, which is accompanied by convulsions, is a relativelyinfrequent, since the percentage of such patients is relatively small, then a sharp spasm in the legs, probably, was experienced by almost every person. It appears at a time when the muscle stops contracting. Most often, this phenomenon can be observed in the calf muscle. This spasm usually lasts for several minutes. After it ends, pain may disappear without a trace, and in some cases, pain in the muscle can be felt for several more days.
Often such attacks happen at night, some remember the feeling when in the water while swimming in the sea, the leg cramps. In this case, it is desirable that someone be nearby and provide assistance.
If this happens to you often enough, then you should not dismiss this problem, but you need to see a doctor.
Causes of leg cramps
If we talk about the reasons that can provoke the development of a sharp muscle spasm in the leg, then the following can be noted:
- Idiopathic leg cramps. They occur for an unknown reason, most often at night, especially in the elderly. Athletes are aware of such problems. According to scientists, this occurs when the muscle is already in a contracted state, and the nervous system sends another impulse to it to contract. If you periodically train your muscles and do stretching exercises, you can reduce the number of such attacks or eliminate them altogether.
- Another group of seizures can signal a number of problems in the body:
- Dehydrated.
- Pregnancy.
- Flat feet.
- Overweight.
- Lack of calcium and magnesium.
- Nervous strain.
- Thyroid diseases.
- Imbalance of potassium and sodium in the blood.
- Narrowing of the arteries in the legs, often seen in smokers.
- Alcohol abuse.
- Hypothermia feet.
- Lack of B vitamins, lack of vitamins D, E.
As you can see, there are many reasons why leg cramps can bother you and make your life difficult.
First aid and treatment for leg cramps
When a person's leg or arm is cramping, the primary task is to remove this attack as soon as possible. What can be recommended to do to stop the spasm?
- Stand on a leg that has cramped, only holding on to a chair. Although this action is painful, it is considered quite effective.
- You can put your foot in hot water if possible.
- Sharply press on the middle of the muscle.
- Massage yourself from the ankle to the hip.
- With both hands, grasp the toes of the closed foot and pull up and towards you.
- Try pinching your spasmodic spot a few times.
- Tip from athletes is to stick a pin in the muscle.
After you manage to relieve painful muscle spasm, it is advisable not to delay a visit to the doctor, especially if you are often visited by convulsions. Treatment must be prescribed by a doctor, taking into account the established causessuch a state.
There are several ways to deal with this problem:
- Medicated treatment.
- Using folk remedies.
- Special gymnastics.
If we talk about drug treatment, then the best anticonvulsants for the legs are "Orthocalcium + Magnesium" and "Ortho Taurine Ergo".
The first medicine saturates the body with magnesium, as well as other minerals and vitamins, without which normal muscle function is impossible. Sometimes after the first application, the effect is noticeable, but most often it is necessary to undergo a monthly course of treatment with this drug.
"Ortho Taurine Ergo" is even more effective, it is prescribed even for epileptic seizures. He, like all anticonvulsants (anticonvulsants), relieves an attack. Its action is enhanced by the presence of vitamins E, B, zinc and lipoic acid.
Doctors often prescribe new generation anticonvulsant drugs for the legs because they not only help to quickly relieve spasm, but also reduce mental and physical fatigue.
An even greater effect will be achieved if these two drugs, Orthocalcium + Magnesium and Ortho Taurine Ergo, are taken together. Spasms will be less and less disturbing, and the treatment will go faster.
Gymnastics can positively influence the speed of treatment and ego efficiency. Some exercises (best done in the morning) will help your muscles bounce back faster:
- Standing near a chair, put your feet crosswise and lean onto the outside. After a few seconds, return to the starting position.
- Sitting on a chair, bend your fingers with all your might, and then straighten them.
- From a standing position, rise on your toes so that your heels are off the floor, and then drop sharply.
- Before going to sleep, you can perform rotational movements of the feet, as well as flexion and extension of the toes.
The ability of traditional medicine should also not be discounted. Healers offer the following tips for leg cramps:
- Every morning and evening, rub lemon juice into the skin of the legs. You don't need to wipe it, it needs to be absorbed by itself.
- Laurel oil helps a lot. You can prepare it in the following way: 50 grams of a leaf should be poured with 250 ml of vegetable oil and left for two weeks in a dark place. After straining, it is necessary to smear them with places where cramps most often occur.
- Mix celandine juice and vaseline in a ratio of 1:2, rub hands or feet with this mixture where spasms occur.
Any disease requires an integrated approach. Seizures are no exception. Treatment will be more effective if medicines, folk remedies and exercise are used together.
Prevention of seizures
If the cause of seizures is epilepsy, then this requires serious treatment. Only regular intake of medications and the implementation of all the recommendations of doctors will help to avoid periodic convulsive seizures.
With frequent muscle spasms in the arms or legs, you canadvise to follow these recommendations:
- Build a diet so that it contains a sufficient amount of all the necessary minerals and vitamins.
- In winter, you can replenish the supply of elements by taking synthetic vitamins and biological supplements.
- Drink about 2 liters of water a day.
- You need to limit your sugar intake.
- Don't get carried away with caffeine, it can leach calcium from bones.
- If you play sports, you need to properly distribute the load.
- Don't go into too cold water when relaxing on the sea.
- When sitting in a chair, never put your feet under you, especially both at once.
If, nevertheless, prevention did not help you, and convulsions occur, then you should consult a doctor. Do not buy anti-seizure drugs without a prescription, otherwise you can only hurt yourself more.
