Cramps

McDonogh's Alex Sidney lay on his stomach near the net, writhing in pain from cramps that attacked both of his legs and rendered them useless. He was playing a tiebreaker in the final set of a championship match and didn't want it to end like this. Michael Katz of Gilman stood quietly at the net and could barely look at Sidney. The two are close friends who play tennis together frequently, and Katz didn't want the match to end like this either. But Sidney couldn't get up and had to retire, giving Katz the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference No. 1 singles title, 7-5, 4-6, 6-6 (ret.

Question: : You recently wrote about rubbing a cut onion on a bee sting to ease the pain. Swiss farmers have practiced this for centuries. In 1949, when I was stung by a bee right near the kneecap and was hurting badly, my farmer grandmother gave me a freshly cut onion and told me to rub it on the sting site for five minutes. After that, I could not even feel the sting or any pain anymore. I have used this remedy many times since. Answer: : Thanks for this historical perspective. Onion contains compounds that can break down the proteins in bee venom.

I am a physician schooled in the scientific method. I trained at the most prestigious medical settings and have adhered strictly to conservative scientific inquiry. Now comes the huge divergence between fact and fantasy. I have suffered from leg cramps occurring three or four times a night. The pain was intermittent but severe. I could relieve it only by walking around the bedroom - a disruption to a night's sleep. Now, though, I am pain-free at last! Since putting a soap bar under the sheet, my cramps have disappeared.

I have enjoyed reading about home remedies on your Web site and would like to share mine. Dip a bleeding (cut, nicked, sliced or whatever) finger in ground coffee and the bleeding stops. If, after the first dip, it still shows some blood, dip it in again and bandage it. A Lebanese friend told me that it is used all the time in his home. Maybe it's the caffeine. Regardless, it has always worked for me. Thanks for surprising us with a brand-new home remedy for minor cuts. We have collected several others, including ground black pepper, cayenne pepper and ground sage.

The County Council and its staff are about to get a lot more cozy. Some of the county government work force is scheduled to move to cramped, makeshift quarters for a year while the George Howard office building undergoes renovation. But because they will be giving up their offices and high-walled cubicles for rows of open work spaces in a Columbia office building, some council members and staff members are concerned about privacy in their temporary workplace. "It is a competitive political environment," said council Chairwoman Courtney Watson.

Most of us know how it feels to get a muscle cramp: Just plain excruciating! Although doctors are not in complete agreement about what causes muscle cramps in athletes, there are some steps that all of us can take to try to prevent them, says Andrew Tucker, medical director of the Union Memorial Sports Medicine program. Most of us have experienced a cramp - an involuntary contraction in one or more of our muscles. What causes the muscle cramps that athletes often suffer? It's controversial.

I have horrible hand cramps, which can occur at almost any time. Nothing my doctor hasprescribed has helped. Is there a home remedy I can try? You may laugh at this suggestion. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that it might help. Nevertheless, we have heard from several readers that holding an unwrapped bar of soap in the hand may help with this kind of pain. One reader told us that her husband complained about cramps in his hands after playing cards. She says she "got a bar of soap and put it in his hand.

We tried a treatment from your column for nighttime leg cramps. My husband used to get them frequently and would have to walk them off while in pain. He read that taking mustard would alleviate them, so he tried it. Now when he gets leg cramps at night, he takes his mustard and they go away quickly. He keeps a few individual packets of mustard in the bedroom. He thought it was just an "old wives' tale," but now he's a believer. We are delighted to learn that yellow mustard has helped relieve your husband's leg cramps.

Is it Earl Grey or English breakfast tea that can cause sore muscles? There is one case report of a man who developed significant muscle pain and cramping in reaction to Earl Grey tea (The Lancet, April 27, 2002). We have also heard from a few readers who had similar problems. Earl Grey tea is flavored with oil from the citrus fruit bergamot. This oil contains bergapten, a natural compound that can block the flow of potassium in and out of cells. Muscle cells rely on potassium flow, so that might explain the connection.

A task as routine as scheduling lab time for science classes is not so simple as it used to be at Harford Community College. Space is cramped at Aberdeen Hall, a 43-year-old building where courses for the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are taught at the Bel Air school. Faculty members often must scramble to keep up with the busy schedule of students coming through the laboratories. "Sometimes one lab is scheduled one right after the other, so you can't prepare as well," said Jim D'Amario, a professor of physics, astronomy and physical science.