If you’ve ever had cramps in your leg muscles or stomach, you know how debilitating the pain can be. From a searing charley horse to stomach pain, cramps can be painful and disrupt your ability to carry out daily tasks. What you may not know is that dehydration cramps are often the culprit.
Here, we’ll show you how dehydration can cause cramps. You'll learn about common risk factors and how to tell if you’re dehydrated. Plus, you’ll find out why you can't just drink water to solve the problem. We’ll highlight the role of electrolytes and explain how to manage dehydration and dehydration cramps.
Does Dehydration Cause Cramps?
Dehydration is a medical issue where your body loses more fluids and electrolytes than it takes in. It can range from mild cases with signs like extreme thirst to severe cases that are life-threatening.
Dehydration is when your body lacks the water and electrolytes it needs to function. The condition can cause fatigue, decreased urination, extreme thirst, and dizziness. It can also cause dehydration cramps. In fact, two of the most common signs of dehydration include muscle cramping and stomach cramps.
Here’s why. When you’re dehydrated, you lose more fluids than you are taking in. As a result, your body reacts by storing water for the most vital organs. These include your heart and lungs. That means less vital organs — like your muscles and digestive system — don’t get the water and electrolytes they need.
Without these fluids, your muscles can start to cramp. You may particularly experience leg cramps in your calf muscles and thigh muscles. You may also have involuntary contractions like muscle spasms. Dehydration also decreases blood volume. That means your muscles and organs have less blood flow, resulting in cramps and spasms.
Dehydration doesn’t only cause muscle cramps — you may also get stomach cramps from dehydration. That’s because your digestive system uses fluids and electrolytes to store nutrients and create waste. When dehydration sets in, constipation can occur since you don’t have enough water to create stool. This can lead to stomach cramps, bloating, and abdominal pain.
Dehydration isn’t just about a lack of water intake. When you’re dehydrated, your body doesn’t have the right balance of electrolytes. Dehydration can cause mineral depletion, including decreases in calcium, potassium, and magnesium. These electrolytes play a key role in muscle function. When you suffer from an electrolyte imbalance, dehydration sets in and your leg muscles can cramp.
How to Recognize Dehydration
Dehydration occurs when you don’t get enough water and electrolytes. It’s sometimes caused by medical conditions that affect the kidneys and thyroid. It can also be exacerbated by certain medications. The most common causes of dehydration include not drinking enough fluids, excessive sweating, and heat-related illnesses like heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
When you sweat, you secrete water and salt to the surface of your skin. There, it evaporates to create a cooling effect. If you don’t replace these lost fluids and electrolytes fast, you may become dehydrated. That’s why it’s vital to manage hydration throughout the day, especially when you engage in physical activity in cold or hot weather that raises your body temperature.
You can also get dehydration when you’re sick or have gastroenteritis. Dehydration risk is elevated if you’re vomiting, have severe diarrhea, or a high fever.
While anyone can become dehydrated, some people have a higher risk of getting dehydration. Older people and young children experience dehydration at higher rates. Older adults with ailments like Crohn’s disease and other digestive disorders may have a higher risk of dehydration cramps. People who take diuretics like medications for high blood pressure are at increased risk of dehydration. That’s because diuretics can change the concentration of electrolytes like sodium and potassium. That also means an increased risk of dehydration cramps.
Here are some signs of dehydration to watch out for:
Dry mouth or dry skin
Rapid heart rate
Decreased urination or difficulty peeing
Constipation
Involuntary muscle contractions
Fatigue and muscle weakness
To fend off and manage dehydration cramps, you need to address your hydration levels. If you have signs of severe dehydration like sunken eyes, fainting, or confusion, seek medical attention from a qualified healthcare professional immediately.
How to Manage Dehydration Cramps
Dehydration cramps can be uncomfortable. Plus, they can reduce performance and increase the risk of injury, whether you’re working out or hard at work on a job site. By staying hydrated, you can manage dehydration and avoid muscle cramps and stomach cramps.
Dehydration is a leading cause of muscle cramps. Thus, the best way to avoid dehydration cramps is to avoid dehydration in the first place. If you think dehydration is causing your muscle or stomach cramps, you can remedy the situation by addressing the dehydration directly.
Fight Dehydration Cramps With DripDrop
Dehydration cramps can affect your daily routine. Chronic dehydration and cramps can lead to muscle tissue damage in the affected muscle and other side effects. Staying hydrated can help fend off dehydration cramps and other signs of dehydration. At the first signs of dehydration cramps, reach for a remedy like DripDrop.
When you're in a state of dehydration, drinking water alone is not enough. Your body needs the perfect balance of sodium and glucose to help absorption. With the precisely balanced ratio in DripDrop's patented formula, you can replenish vital electrolytes and fluids to relieve dehydration quickly.
DripDrop allows you to alleviate mild to moderate dehydration outside of a hospital setting, without the need for costly and painful IV therapy. Our patented formula is powerful enough to help patients suffering from dehydration caused by Ebola and cholera, but safe enough for everyday use. Plus, DripDrop tastes amazing and comes in several flavors you can enjoy.
For cases of mild to moderate dehydration, DripDrop is a fast, effective, and great-tasting alternative to IV therapy. The convenient packaging allows you to have DripDrop when you need it, where you need it. Add it to your water bottle, hydration pack, or a normal glass to tackle dehydration no matter where you are.
Get started with our most popular multi-flavor pouch for dehydration relief fast. Or, learn more about how you can save up to 25% on every purchase when you subscribe.
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