- All right, Bob and our viewers.
We have three videos already on this topic.
However, this video is the mother load of 'em all.
- Of course it is. - Absolutely.
- Right. - So stay tuned for details.
And we'll show you five different ways
to address those cramps.
♪ Bob and Brad, the two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists on the internet ♪
And we're talking about leg cramps here, right?
Because they're the most common.
Hamstrings and calves are probably prevalent.
But, you know, you get toll cramps,
calf or thigh cramps as well. - Right.
- Typical causes of cramps, Bob.
Number one, night cramps.
That's not a cause, but that's
when they occur for a lot of people.
And I don't know about you, would you say
that's more in the elderly people?
Maybe 50 and over? - I would guess.
Absolutely.
I know myself, I get cramps
when I stretch a certain way.
- Ah, yeah, yeah.
I've had a number of patients in the middle of the night.
They are awakened right by this
painful cramps in their legs. - Right.
And of course we talk, 'em how to get through that.
- Right. - Also athletes,
people who exercise a lot, maybe they exercise too much,
too much intensity.
There we can have some waste to deal with that.
- Right.
- And cramps associated with fatigue.
And this is like when you're maybe
exercising or walking and all of a sudden
you start to feel pain associated with that.
But there's something you have to know
that it may not be a cramp,
and people get this confused.
This pain, think it's a cramp,
and it's actually a circulation problem.
- Even a test, we could show you, that you could try.
- Yep, absolutely.
So we're gonna start with number one.
Now, this number one, I've kind of put
a few of 'em together and I'm calling under one.
- Sure. - First of all, medications.
If you're on medications or you started a new medication
or you've changed something that could lead to cramps.
- So side effects spread. - Yeah, exactly.
So you need to check with your doctor
to make sure that's not a problem.
- Right.
- Dehydration, how many glasses of water, Bob?
- Right. Well, they say eight a day.
But you might have to do more of that.
- Right. Depends how big your glass is.
- Right? (Brad chuckles)
I think it's eight, eight ounce glasses, right?
- Depends, how much you sweat a day and you know.
- There's a lot of varied factors.
But many people, I know my mother
she's in her eighties and she does not take near enough.
And you know, we're working on that.
- As you get older, I think you have less thirst.
- Yeah. I dunno.
She's still drinks a lot of coffee, though.
(both laugh)
- Yeah, she does.
That helps.
- Yeah. There's some water in there.
Electrolyte your diet.
You know, make sure you're getting
enough vegetables, fruits, good things like that.
Or what do you use when you...
- Nuun tablets.
N-U-U-N. - Yep.
I actually take 'em before I go out and golf.
- Yeah. - Because I often
will get a imbalance. - Yep.
- And so it helps. - A lot of perspiration.
- Right. - Anything like that.
That's always an option.
And there's a lot of other products out there
that offer that electrolyte in tablet form.
So, and again, blood flow issues
in a little more detail, if you are walking
and you get cramps in your calf.
- Right. - Or your feet.
My father had this, he always felt
like his feet were cramping up.
- Yep.
- And it was a matter of blood flow circulation.
They weren't cramping. They just didn't-
- Clogged. - There you go.
- Right.
- That could happen in the calf.
- Right. - And possibly
even a D-V-T. - Right.
- Deep vein thrombosis.
Or blood clot.
- So if you endorse your ankle.
- Yeah, yeah. - Bring it this way.
And squeeze on the calf.
And it there's pain that could be a blood clot.
Or it could be DVT.
- It may not. - It may not?
- That's not the best test.
It's still something you should get it checked on.
- Right. - Exactly.
All right. Let's go to number two.
Let's look at those night cramps.
Now, if you get a night cramp
you need to stretch the muscle to stop it.
- Right.
- So in other words, if I'm lying here
and I get a cramp in my calf.
What's gonna happen is my toes
are gonna point down and it gets painful.
So either just pull your toes up this way.
Sometimes you can't. - Right.
- If it's a bad cramp, you actually
gotta get out of bed - And get some weight on.
- Point it down and then put weight down,
and stretch, stretch, stretch.
And at that point - It's not fun.
- No.
These things are very uncomfortable.
Painful, not even uncomfortable.
It's not even good.
- I feel like you're, they're gonna tear the muscle.
- Oh, gosh.
Or if you get a hamstring cramp
then your knee's gonna want to go this way.
- Right. - Then you've gotta try
and straighten it out.
And if you cannot do it in bed
or even if, you know, your partner in bed
can grab your leg and help straighten that out.
Ah! There you go.
Or if you're by yourself and you get up
and you try to go forward... - Right.
- When you flex forward that'll stretch that out.
So I've had a number of people,
if they have calf cramps, I'll show 'em the wall stretch.
Before you go to bed. - Yes.
- Gentle doesn't need to be too aggressive
but stretch that muscle out, get relaxed.
Do this one, the hamstring stretch
you can do in bed, lying down.
Or you could do it seated like Bob, and do the...
- [Bob] Pick it up like this?
- Yeah, this is far the easiest.
- Yep. - Yep.
- You really pull the heel that way.
- And you'll feel those hamstrings
stretch and loosen up.
And hold that, you know,
that one's kind of hard to hold for 30 seconds,
but you know, try to get, you know
five to 15 seconds on each leg and do that kind of reps.
Bob, do you wanna talk about if you heat up the muscle
to get circulation? - Right.
- Before going to bed I think it's a great time.
While you watch TV, to go ahead
and put the Thermotex or what you prefer
Because it's deep heat.
- Fire infrared. - Right.
So, how deep?
- 2.3 six inches, according to the studies.
And- - So that far.
- Yep. - Versus what normal heat is.
- Yeah, if you just get surface a regular hot pack
they're gonna just heat up the skin, essentially,
but not get into the muscle.
You can use a regular one, 'cuz these
are quite a bit more expensive.
- They're very pricey.
- But they do work well.
So one way or another, get some heat on you.
- Right.
Good for your back, good for your legs.
- Whatever muscle's the guilty one
if it's your hamstring, you know, get it under here,
or the calf muscle, or maybe the quads.
And, you know, you're gonna have it on there.
If it's a far in infrared 30 minutes at least, maybe 45.
If you have the other type-
- Well it takes 10 minutes to warm up.
- Yeah, if you have the other one-
- It's even heat, though.
- You interrupted me again!
- Oh, sorry. (beep)
Cut, cut, cut! (Bob laughs)
Number four. Now this one's interesting.
Use apple cider vinegar.
Now, this is a home remedy for the old fashioned type,
but actually we have a video on this.
- This is a pharmacist. - Yep.
And he did extensive research on updated information.
And if you go to Bob and Brad
and the title is apple cider vinegar used for leg cramps.
And we not only have information from that,
but as well as from anecdotal evidence.
Now, Chris cramps on a regular basis.
- Right.
- And he finds this to be useful.
And he was the last person to use it, you know,
coming from a pharmacist
and he starts using it and it works.
So anyways, there's also other products
that have apple cider vinegar, the base
that claim they'll stop leg cramps or cramps.
- And do they work? - Yeah!
- Oh. - Actually,
when he gets a cramp, as a matter of fact just last week
he was getting leg cramps and he has to get outta bed
and start to stretch it, then he takes...
Is it one tablespoon of the apple cider vinegar,
four ounces of water, you know.
The pharmacist, you gotta be exact and he drinks it.
And he says, within a minute, it'll make that cramp relax.
So, yeah.
And, you know, he's got it figured out.
There's a whole thing with the nerve connection
between the taste and how the cramp mechanism goes on.
And it's a theory, but- - Resolves it.
- Yeah, and he swears by it, works well for him.
Again, that video will go through in detail.
And number five, the last one.
Bob, now, you actually found this originally.
- Right, it was sent to us, actually.
It comes over the counter. - Okay.
- It's called tear works.
And, you wanna talk about the review spread?
- Yeah. Over 3000 reviews.
Four and a half stars, and four cramp relief
for stopping cramps! - Sure!
- I think it's fair work.
- It's helping a lot of people.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
So it seems to be working.
We have not actually tried it
Bob, you had it. - Oh, I had.
But I don't have cramps. - Right. (laughs)
We should have gave it to Chris
but Chris wasn't with us at the time.
- Right. - But anyways,
it's worth a try, I think, you know?
- Yeah. - It's got good reviews.
It's a foam, you spray it on. - Right.
- You rub it in before you go to bed and there you go.
I don't know, does it smell good?
- Yeah, it's all right.
- So it's not gonna be like one of those things that-
- Yeah. - There's gonna be a problem.
- Play by you. (Brad laughs)
- All right, well, good luck with those cramps.
They're very painful and we need to,
as our motto says, help you feel, healthy, faith...
- Fit and pay free.
- Is that what is it?
- Healthy, fit and pay free.
- Got it, after 10 years, you'd think I remember that.
Take care! - Good luck.
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