Patients often tell Dr. Kiran V. Patel they've been sipping on quinine water to help ease leg cramps. Well-meaning relatives and even some doctors recommend it, said Patel, who's the director of ...

To Readers: A recent discussion of nighttime leg cramps brought an avalanche of readers' remedies, as it always does. I can't submit all for publication, but I'll try to include more throughout the ...

Frequent leg and foot cramps might signal underlying health problems requiring medical attention. While occasional cramps are common, persistent episodes warrant investigation and proper treatment.

Dehydration is a major cause of leg cramps. Drinking plenty of water during the day helps maintain electrolyte balance, reducing the chances of experiencing cramps at night.

Sometimes a remedy defies logic. Usually there's no science to support it, either. That's certainly the case when it comes to putting a bar of soap under the bottom sheet to stop leg cramps or ...

Doctors note that sudden tightening of the calf or thigh muscles during sleep can disrupt rest, increase stress levels, and ...

Quinine treatment now highly regulated Quinine was once available as an OTC remedy used to treat leg cramps and malaria. Concerns over side effects led to its being banned by the FDA. Quinine is a ...

Since quinine is no longer recommended for leg cramps, what do you suggest as an alternative? The patient had no success with gabapentin (Neurontin).—PAMELA P. JONES, MSN, FNP-C, Hornell, N.Y. What ...

At a social function last week, a lady stood up and was hit with a leg cramp so severe she could not move. The hostess rushed to the kitchen, returned with some French’s mustard in a teaspoon and ...

You probably don’t spend much time thinking about your toes, unless you’re trimming your nails or getting a pedicure. That’s understandable, but our toes play a crucial role in movement, contributing ...

Have you ever been awakened in the middle of the night because your calf is in a painful cramp? When it happens to me, I have to swing my leg to the floor to stretch the cramp out. After one cramp, ...

Hello again, dear readers! It's been a busy month for letters: • Regarding a column about post-operative cognitive dysfunction, in which elderly patients experience mental disruptions following ...