Physically pulling your toes back (up and towards the heel) usually works for me

Now I'm in more pain, angry, and crying (in pain).

It's a liopleurodon! A magical liopleurodon!

BLUE UNICORN

Hey, Charlie. Hey Charlie, wake up!

PINK UNICORN

Yeah Charlie. You silly sleepy-head, wake up.

(Charlie wakes up and looks at the two)

CHARLIE THE UNICORN {Groans}

Oh God, you guys, this had better be pretty freaking important. Is the meadow on fire?

BLUE UNICORN

No Charlie. We found a map, to Candy Mountain. Candy Mountain, Charlie.

PINK UNICORN

Yeah, Charlie, we're going to Candy Mountain. Come with us, Charlie.

BLUE UNICORN

Yeah Charlie, it'll be an adventure. We're going on an adventure, Charlie.

CHARLIE THE UNICORN

Yeah, Candy Mountain, right. I'm just gonna, you know, (puts his head down and closes his eyes) go back to sleep now.

(Blue unicorn flips onto Charlie's back and starts bouncing on him)

BLUE UNICORN {Jumping onto Charlie's back}

Noooo, Charlie. You have to come with us to Candy Mountain.

PINK UNICORN

Yeah, Charlie, Candy Mountain. It's a land of sweets and joy...and joyness.

CHARLIE THE UNICORN

Please stop bouncing on me.

BLUE UNICORN {Still jumping up and down on Charlie}

Candy Mountain Charlie.

PINK UNICORN

Yeah! Candy Mountain!

CHARLIE THE UNICORN

Alright, fine! I'll come with you to Candy Mountain.

I once tried it and got a second more agonising cramp

Boof magnesium

Standing up works every time for me. If I want to remain in bed i try to push the bottom of my foot into the bed as if I were standing on it. It often does the job .

This trick has become a reflex for me, to the point where I barely even wake up when I get a Charlie horse in the middle of the night, since I start flexing my foot automatically when I feel it coming on.

Similar trick I learned, just get out of bed and stand up on it. It'll go away in ~10 seconds and then you can hop back into bed. Works pretty much every time.

This is how you fix a cramp scuba diving - grab the tips of your fins and pull up. Same effect. Works for me too.

Foam rolling + active release works better than pure stretching IMO. Also be sure to get your micronutrients in.

Edit: I should clarify this is intended for maintenance, not in the moment relief of the cramp.

Alternatively, start eating properly and solve the problem at its root.

Oh God, thank you so much for this

This is the way.

My strategy of pulling on my big toe has been working pretty well

Hydration certainly helps but can also be magnesium deficiency, since it's a muscle relaxant.

Is that what that means? I never knew and just grunted at the pain.

I need a big magnesium

I can never remember if it’s magnesium or potassium.

When I used to swim we'd be told to just swim it off. Calf, foot, right above the knee were all things you could kinda dead leg and use the flip turn to unkink, but now and then you'd get a hamstring cramp and that's when you just sink and stretch. There is no negotiating with a hamstring cramp.

Moreso potassium. Cramps are even often cited as a direct symptom of hypokalemia.

I too think it's magnesium, but what I can actually confirm is that I haven't had this since I started taking multivitamins. Y'all are vitamin deficient.

OMG. Genius life hack. Never even thought of having someone else touch my toes.

I contend tongue is worse