I have experienced similar cramping over the last 15 months, probably on about 8 occasions. In most cases. I felt a tightening or pulling for a day or two before the cramp actually kicks in. When I have such a warning, I try to stretch in the hope that I can avoid the cramping episode, and sometimes that works. I have two additional symptoms which others may also have experienced. In my case, the spasm extends through my knee down, along my inner calf and stops at the ankle. If the cramping lasts for 10 minutes or so, my thigh muscles can be sore for 3 or more days as if I went through a very strenuous leg workout. However, the residual soreness or tightness is restricted to the inner thigh and doesn' extend into the knee or inner calf. I have found that I can sometimes shorten the duration and severity of the cramping if I dig my knuckles or fingers into the area where there spasm is occuring.
I am 63 and have had this problem 8 or nine times in the past year, always in the night, and after a slightly more vigorous workout than usual.. It is debilitating when it happens. I can barely think or talk.
It usually takes 15 minutes or more, and sometimes the spasm keeps reoocurring for an hour or more. This can be the longest hour in my life, and sometimes I have thought about having my husband call an ambulance when I felt my knee waas being twisted and torn.
I have learned that spreading my legs out in a wide vee, massage, ice, and Tylenol with codine, all together, help after a while.
If anyone knws specific stretches or massage techniques, please speak up!
I looked on FB for Leg Pain Lunacy and do not find it. Desperately searching for support &/or answers for this nutsness in my life. I was hoping... Hope you get this and can point me to whatever it is you found. Thanks SO much
I get cramps too. I can get the excruciating inner though cramp. I also get the one that moves around the knee. And I can get the one in the hammy or the calf or the feet and toes.
I know what causes some of them for sure, it's lying too long on my lower back. I had a couple of specific instances with knee cramps that made me realise it. I think what must happen is that pressure on the lower spine eventually numbs the nerves so that the nerves lose control of the muscles and the muscles go into spasm.
Getting up and walking around fixes the toe, foot, calf and knee spasms fairly well. For the hammy I have to do a stretch of the hammy in a particular way.
But I've never been able to figure out how to quickly relieve the inner thigh cramp although walking around will eventually get rid of it. Could take a long time though and in the meantime I want to saw my leg off. The trouble is, it wants to come back soon after and it makes no difference from then on if I lie on my back, side or front.
Though I'm not glad for all the people posting here who suffer from these debilitating inner thigh spasms, I'm glad to find that I'm not alone with this problem. Every time I mention it to a dr, they blow me off. "Drink tonic water", "Do some stretching", "Exercise more". Because I am a very overweight woman, it's easy to peg it all on the fat. But I know tall, thin people who suffer with this affliction as well, so though the weight may play a part, it's not the whole problem.
I've considered trying to find a doctor to will help. Neurologist? Neuromuscular specialist? Suggestions??
I'm hearing my same story from many on this site-- severe spasms of the inner thigh, originating inner, and mine tend to work their way around the front to the groin, then to the back hamstring. It feels like a giant claw has me in a severe pinching vice, and sometimes all I can do is cry out. When I feel it twinging before bed, I might take a flexeril (which is a really OLD Rx), or maybe snarf one of my husband's valium. Been sleeping with a heating pad between my thighs for a couple months now. A friend told me her husband takes potassium gluconate every night. I did/do all of the above, and spasms still happen. (My dr scolded me for taking the potassium. She said it can give you heart attack, so stop taking immediately, which I did). I do go to the gym a few times a week, get in the pool and exercise. I like to think that helps. I am taking absorbable calcium at bedtime, those big honker gel pills. After a while, I feel like I'm grasping at straws, and will try anything that might work.
I think the worst part, other than the pain, is the fear that it's going to happen at any given time. I go to bed every night and wonder if I'll be woken up with it. Sometimes it happens first thing in the morning, too. So I'm always 'looking over my shoulder', wondering when. It always seems to be in either the back, or the forefront, of my mind.
Thanks for the opportunity to tell my part. Any suggestions would be welcome!
This has been a great resource. First it helps to know there are others. Second, it sucks that there is not a simple answer. I'm a medical provider myself and have tried everything. I have a partial artificial hip on my left. The pain only occurs on my left mid in thigh. It seems to be worse after activity such as bike riding, mowing, swimming. I also have sciatic nerve damage from my hip let me just say this is one of the most intense pains I've felt. There is no position that brings relief. From reading some of the posts, there seems to be a trend (although not strong) with orthopedic and nerve damage. I am at a lost on what to try. I will start with vitamin supplementation and yoga and let you know how it goes. That seems to be the most common factor in relief, or prevention. This is horrible. If any other suggestions, let me know. I actually use this site when talking to pts about certain conditions, but have never replied, or posted. I had to on this because its so horrible. I too have so much reservation about activities because of this. It really is effecting my lifestyle. I pray I never get one at work. Thanks for your posts
I just had one of those inner thigh muscle spasms--my first. I am 66 year old female in reasonable good physical condition with some deterioration (osteoarthritis). today I spend several hours in an attic vacuuming up residue from removal of old insulation. There was a lot of rat feces, old hornets nests and cob webs. Crazy as it sounds. I was having a good time cleaning up in preparation for new insulation. I was sitting on boards across the ceiling boards and pulling myself through. It was a warm but not too hot day. I had on a N95 mask...In Grants Pass Oregon wildfire causing a lot of smoke. It has been a little over three hours. I watched movies for a couple of hours and then tried to get up. Wham! I was in tears. I tried to stomp my foot on the ground but it just got worst. I finally laid on the floor (with telephone in hand) on my side and prayed and cried it hurt so bad. I am drinking lots of water since. Maybe dehydration?
im having the same thing ,,,,last night thought i was going die,,,,it lasted all night,,,,,prayed,,,,until i cried,,,,,trying to make it stop,,,if anyone knows what causes this ,,,or treatment,,, please ,,,,let me know,,,,,thank you.
The "Inner Thigh Cramp"....I wish I could find a Doctor that has actually suffered through one so they could appreciate the severity that I express. Too bad there isn't a magic transfer of pain BUTTON that you could press and let them actually feel it for themselves.
I will say this...maybe a help to you all....whenever I get one of these cramps, it is ALWAYS after I do one of my lawn mowing routines. I sweat a gallon and also drink a lot of Gatorade type drinks before and after but invariably, it always happens after I have done the lawn thing. There must be a connection here. Mostly happens when I am laying on the couch and I suddenly swing my legs around to stand up. That's when it usually happens although I have had them while sleeping in the middle of the night. I may move a certain way in my sleep that starts it.
I've been getting those same severe inner thigh muscle cramps, at night only, and I found a remedy that works - get in a full bathtub of hot water with 3 cups of Epsom salts, swallow 3 or 4 capsules of Magnesium-Calcium combo with a large glass of water. Rub the cramps while sitting in the bath. I figured it out myself, because I remembered my doctor telling me to take Calcium & Magnesium to stop Charlie-horse cramps in my calf when I was pregnant. Epsom Salts have Magnesium & they soak through your skin to the muscles in the bath. I do have one question, though: What is causing my inner-thigh cramps? Does Anyone know what the cause is?
Last night I awoke with an inner thigh muscle spasm. I have been an RN and you are right it is off the charts for pain intensity. My leg was bent and I couldn't straighten it. I finally wrapped my long body pillow around the thigh tightly so I could move in bed , but I still couldn't straighten my leg. It finally left, but I can still feel it "riding in my thigh". I also have asthma. When I use inhalers of the steroid type I get muscle spasms in my legs, feet and arms. One of the published side effects of most of the inhalers of this ilk is muscle pain.
I first experienced this pain several years ago during water exercise. I was doing plain frog jumps and decided to reach down at the suggestion of a friend. That was a mistake. Later at home, afew days later the spasm felt like it was riding in the thigh so I decided to use an electric massager which caused the spasm to appear in full force. Since then I have been afraid to use the massager.
One doctor told me the newest finding is magnesium is what helps with muscle spasms. An orthapedic doctor said I have arthritis in the hip which causes the thigh spasms. I am not convinced of this. All I know is this is the worst pain of my life and I have had my share with lumbar herniated discs, spinal stenosis and sciatica.
YES! I didn't know how to explain what happened to me last night, but you did a really good job. You talk about calling on Jesus! I would add that it feels like your thighs are full of needles and fire. I threw my microwave pad in for 3 minutes and put it between my thighs and took a muscle relaxer. I didn't know if I should call 911 or what....it took about 5 minutes before it settled down. I have been going to a chiropractor for my neck and lower back. I drink 3 bottles of diet tonic water with quinine every week; have it next to my bed at night. I think I should stop the chiropractor and go to a neurologist. Funny thing is that two nights ago a did stretches before going to bed. Now I don't want to move in fear it will happen again. Unbelievable, untolerable pain. Now I can say that I pick the number 10 face on the pain chart!
I posted a few months ago about this, and up until yesterday was seriously considering a neurologist.
I've been having ongoing issues with my feet - arthritis in one, plantar fasciitis and bone spurs in the other, falling arches in both. When I went to my podiatrist yesterday for a follow up, he remade my 14-year old orthotics, and said we'd be able to treat everything mechanically rather than surgically. I then asked him about the inner thigh spasms. HE KNEW RIGHT AWAY WHAT IT WAS! Something called Piriformis Syndrome. It has connections to lower back, sciatica, and your butt muscles. I haven't had any lower back issues, but my hips have been giving me grief lately, and as it turns out, when I walk, I wear down the outside heel of my shoes, because I tend to put pressure on the outsides of my feet when I walk, which stretches the wrong muscles. With the re-mastered orthotics, and a splint he gave me for nighttime, the spasms should dramatically decrease or stop altogether.
I have been blown off by every doctor that I spoke with - drink quinine, stretch, take magnesium, do this, do that, but NO ONE ever told me that this could be the diagnosis. I left there in [happy] tears , just because it took such a load off! I mean, with these spasms, I always felt like I was waiting for another one to happen, never knowing when, or where, sleeping with a heating pad between my thighs at night, living with fear of it happening again. It was like living with a kind of torment.
He told me that heat IS good, and muscle relaxers, like flexiril or valium can help, if you feel like you have one coming one.
This may not be the answer for everyone, but it certainly helped me.
I am with you, can tell I'm going to have one tonight, had one this morning that woke me up...I was on line searching how to counteract it. If you have pain in your foot, you press your foot like stepping on a gas pedal against the wall or foot board of your bed and it will immediately stop. I've learned if the cramp is on the side of my shin, to the right, I can stand on the right side of my foot and get immediate relief to stop it...but I have not found a thing to stop these horrendous inner thigh cramps. If you ever find a way to counteract, please post!