Explaining What is Cramp?

[kylespike]

Can someone please explain to me what cramp feels like and tell me something of its presentation and behaviour. It sounds a silly question but I dont think I ever had it before. The pain I get in my calves strikes me as more mechanical in nature, since it occurs when I walk and then is gone soon after I sit. Its tightness and a real irritating pain that runs from the outside of my foot, up behind my knee and sometimes even goes as high as the back of my hip.

 

[simonw00]

SOrry for not responding sooner. My understanding from when I have had cramps (occasionally before I developed BFS and more commonly since I developed it) and from patients who come to see me for advice on cramps (usually older people with cramps of unknown cause) is that they are very painful indeed and pretty unmistakable. They tend to occur at night but not always. They last a few minutes at a time and occasionally longer. Feet and legs are the primary site affected. Some BFS sufferers seem to get this kind of cramp as part of their BFS (have you looked at the posts that Chris_UK has sent in, for example?) but others seem to have a milder but more constant pain in their muscles.Don't know if this helps.RegardsSimon