I will never forget my first encounter with a charley horse. It was in the middle of the night and I was literally woken up by a calf muscle that went from 0-60. The muscle felt like it had tensed into a rock, and I could see it twitching under my skin. It was a charley horse, which is very unpleasant, effects any muscle but mostly the leg, and is an involuntary muscle spasm or cramp in nature.

A charley horse can start suddenly and last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. The pain can linger after the cramp goes away, and your muscle may feel sore for hours or even days. Muscle spasms can happen while you play sports or are exercising, or even when you’re just sitting still or lying down in bed.

Symptoms of Charley Horses

The defining symptom of a charley horse is muscle pain. The pain is often described as feeling like a hard, cramping knot, or spasm, within the muscle. And if you press gently on the muscle, you might feel a tender knot. In some cases, a visible twitching or hardening of the muscle may accompany the pain — hence the name. Charley horses are most likely to occur in the calf and thigh muscles, but you can get them in just about any skeletal muscle. Charley horses can last anywhere from a few seconds to a several minutes — or even longer. In rare cases, discomfort from a charley horse lingers for a day or two after the muscle spasm has resolved.

Causes of Charley Horses

Charley horses happen when muscles in your leg or foot tighten up without warning and it can be really painful. There are a few reasons this might happen. One is if you’ve been using the muscle too much — like by doing lots of walking or running, especially on a hard surface, or by pointing your toes for an extended period of time. (You might get one if you’re wearing high heels, for example.) Muscles that are tired or dehydrated get tight, so make sure you’re drinking enough fluids during the day, even more if you’re sweating a lot.

An imbalance of electrolytes, such as potassium and calcium, in your body can cause a muscle spasm. These minerals help your muscles contract and relax and work together for your muscles to function properly. If you have low levels of either of these minerals, you may have cramps or spasms.

Certain nerves in your body control the contractions of your muscles. If these nerves become irritated, they can cause your muscles to contract too much leading to a spasm. A herniated disk in your spine, for example, may press against a nerve root causing pain and spasms in the back muscles. Stress also tightens muscles. Tension and muscle contraction can trigger both acute and chronic neck pain.

Who is Most at Risk?

Athletes are especially susceptible to charley horses in preseason as their bodies aren’t used to such heavy activity and it can also put endurance athletes, like marathon runners and triathletes, at higher risk because of the prolonged stress on their muscles.

How to Relieve a Charley Horse

Charley horses can be treated on your own at home and will usually resolve within 10 minutes. Here’s what you can do to help the pain.

- Do not do anything or continue with the exercises you are doing, instead stop and stretch the muscle affected.

- Gently massage the muscle to help it relax.

- First apply a heating pad on the muscle and after the pain goes away, use a cold pack on the soreness.

Imagine stubbing your toe and feeling like it's been set on fire... for months. Now imagine that burning sensation spreading to your entire leg, and instead of easing over time, it gets worse. That’s Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). It is a condition as problematic as its name suggests and yet, bizarrely, not talked about enough.

Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome is a long-term, often debilitating condition that typically affects a limb like an arm, hand, leg, or foot after an injury, surgery, stroke, or even something as mundane as a sprain. It’s like your nervous system gets stuck in panic mode.

There are two types:

Type 1 (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy): Happens without a confirmed nerve injury.

Type 2 (Causalgia): Involves a definite nerve injury.

Regardless of type, the result is the same: persistent, severe pain way out of proportion to the initial injury, often with odd side effects.

Why CRPS Is No Ordinary Ache

If pain had a reality show, CRPS would be the melodramatic diva. The pain can feel like burning, stabbing, throbbing, or shooting. It’s often accompanied by:

• Swelling
• Changes in skin colour or temperature (hot and red one minute, cold and blue the next)
• Excessive sweating
• Hair and nail changes
• Muscle weakness and spasms

It can also cause allodynia, which is a fancy term for when even a gentle breeze or the touch of fabric feels like torture.

Worst of all? The pain doesn’t stay neatly in one place. It may start in a toe and sneakily creep up the leg or even jump to the other side of the body.

Why It Happens

Ask ten doctors what causes CRPS, and you might get eleven guesses. The exact cause isn’t fully understood, but it seems to involve:

• A malfunction in the peripheral and central nervous systems
• Abnormal inflammatory responses
• Dysfunction of blood vessels and pain pathways
• It’s the body’s overreaction to trauma, like a car alarm blaring long after the bump is gone.

Life with CRPS

Chronic pain doesn’t just hurt the body; it impacts daily life. CRPS affects every layer of existence:

• Mental health: Anxiety, depression, and even PTSD-like symptoms are common.
• Mobility: Limited range of motion and muscle weakness may lead to reliance on walking aids or wheelchairs.
• Sleep: Pain that flares up at night makes good sleep feel like a luxury.
• Work and relationships: Jobs may be lost, plans cancelled, social life drained.

What adds to the distress? Many people with CRPS report feeling disbelieved, even by medical professionals. It’s an invisible illness with painfully visible consequences.

How Do You Treat It?

There’s no one-size-fits-all cure, but the goal is to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life. Treatment is usually multi-pronged:

• Medications: Pain relievers, nerve-blockers, antidepressants, anticonvulsants
• Physical therapy: To restore mobility and function
• Occupational therapy: To adapt daily tasks
• Psychological support: Pain management techniques like CBT and mindfulness
• Interventional approaches: Nerve blocks, spinal cord stimulation, or ketamine infusions in severe cases

Early diagnosis is key. The longer CRPS goes untreated, the more entrenched and resistant it becomes.

CRPS Is Real, Rare, and Relentless

Though CRPS is considered rare, with estimates suggesting around 5 to 26 cases per 100,000 people annually, it’s devastating for those who live with it. It often shows up uninvited, stays far too long, and brings along a suitcase full of complications.

But awareness is growing. Support groups, research into new treatments, and advocacy efforts are helping give a voice to people who’ve lived in silence. With the right treatment plan, support system, and a dash of stubborn hope, many people find ways to live well despite the pain.

We have all had that mini meltdown finding a clump of hair in the shower drain or a brush full of hair after combing hair. While blaming stress or the changing seasons feels comforting, experts warn that your body might be sounding a nutritional alarm. Yes, your hair loss might be less about the weather and more about what is missing from your plate.

Listen to What Your Body’s Saying

“Seeing a lot of hair strands on your pillow cover feels distressing,” says Dr Khushboo Jha, MBBS, MD, Chief Dermatologist Consultant at Metro Hospital and Founder of One Skin Clinic, Faridabad, “but you need to listen to your body. It’s the way it communicates that your body is struggling with some deeper concern, probably nutrient deficiency.”

Hair, it turns out, is a high-maintenance tissue. It’s fast-growing and metabolically active, demanding a steady supply of nutrients. But it’s not considered essential for survival. So in times of nutritional crisis, your body reroutes vitamins and minerals to more important organs like your heart or brain, leaving your hair stranded without support.

“If your diet is insufficient, especially lagging in iron, vitamin D, Vitamin B complex such as vitamin B12 and biotin, zinc, protein, etc., hair will be the first one to suffer,” says Dr Jha.

Why Vegans, Crash Dieters, and IBS Patients Should Pay Extra Attention

Dr Ameesha Mahajan, Cosmetic Dermatologist and Founder of Eden Skin Clinic, agrees. “Vegetarians or vegans are more prone to deficiencies, especially when it comes to vitamin B12, iron and protein deficiency,” she says. And it’s not just about what you eat, but also how well your body absorbs it. “Impaired gut absorption disorders such as coeliac disease or IBD… can lead to extreme hair thinning,” Dr Mahajan adds.

Crash diets and eating disorders like bulimia nervosa don’t do your strands any favours either. These behaviours disrupt the body’s nutritional balance and can prematurely push hair into the shedding phase.

The Medical Jargon You Didn’t Know You Needed: Telogen Effluvium

One particular fallout of nutrient shortfalls is telogen effluvium, a name for hair falling out sooner than it should. Dr Mahajan points to iron deficiency anaemia as a common trigger. “It is strongly associated with telogen effluvium, a condition where hair prematurely enters the shedding phase,” she explains.

In other words, if you’ve been feeling unusually tired and your hair is thinning, it might be more than a coincidence; it could be low iron or another nutrient throwing your hair growth cycle off track.

Don’t Pop Just Any Pill

Before you go on a supplement shopping spree, both experts urge caution. “Before self-prescribing supplements, experts urge a full nutritional workup to identify what’s missing,” says Dr Jha. Overloading on certain vitamins can do more harm than good.

Dr Mahajan agrees. “It’s best to get blood parameters checked for any nutrient deficiencies before beginning any supplement to be sure.”

So yes, multivitamins are tempting but flying blind could backfire. Know what you’re low on before topping up.

Eat for Your Hair: What to Load on Your Plate

Both dermatologists suggest nourishing your scalp from within. Dr Jha recommends “a diet loaded with whole grains, legumes, millets, dairy products, nuts, seeds, etc.,” noting these support not only hair health but also overall wellbeing.

Dr Mahajan says that these foods “help to restore the lost nutrients, making the hair denser and thicker.” Think of them as edible armour for your follicles.

Still Losing Hair? Time to Dig Deeper

If your hair continues to vanish despite eating all the right things, don’t ignore it. “If still you face symptoms, consult a dermatologist for ruling out hormonal or other health conditions,” advises Dr Jha.

Dr Mahajan adds, “If you still suffer from hair fall, despite making changes in your diet, it’s time to consult a dermatologist, as it might be due to some hormonal disruption or any other autoimmune-related cause.” Because sometimes, hair loss isn’t just about what’s missing but what’s going wrong beneath the surface.

When was the last time you said yes when you wanted to scream no? Or brushed off your tears with an “I am fine” when you were anything but? If that sounds familiar, chances are your inner child is still living by the outdated scripts of “Be a good girl” or “Boys don’t cry.” These innocent-sounding childhood phrases may seem harmless, even well-intentioned. But dig a little deeper and you will find they are often the root of emotional repression, people-pleasing, and communication struggles that trail into adulthood.

Here is a look at the emotional luggage that comes with these tags and why it is time to give your inner child a much-needed rewrite.

Politeness Over Authenticity

As adults, these same girls may find themselves constantly apologising, afraid to take up space, and saying “yes” when their gut screams “no”. This chronic need to be nice can cause serious emotional strain, often leading to burnout, resentment, or difficulty setting boundaries in relationships and at work.

Emotion is Weakness

This emotional suppression can make it harder for men to maintain close relationships, express love, or seek help when struggling with anxiety or depression. Worse, many don’t even have the language to articulate what they are feeling in the first place.

What Happens When Children Swallow Their Feelings

This can lead to:

• Emotional Dysregulation: If children are not taught how to safely express anger, sadness, or fear, they grow into adults who either overreact or emotionally shut down.
• Low Self-Esteem: Constantly editing oneself to please others sends the message, “I am only lovable when I behave a certain way.”
• Chronic People-Pleasing: The fear of rejection or disappointing others can lead to saying yes to everyone but yourself.
• Passive-Aggressive Communication: Since direct expression feels unsafe, emotions find backdoor exits through sarcasm, guilt-tripping, or silent treatment.
• Difficulty in Intimacy: When vulnerability feels dangerous, closeness becomes difficult. This often plays out in romantic or familial relationships.

How Gender Scripts Shape Personality

Breaking the Pattern by Reparenting the Inner Child

• Start by recognising the outdated beliefs you are living by. Ask yourself: Who told me this was true?
• Feel the Feelings: Let yourself cry, rage, or say no. You are not being dramatic; you are being human.
• Practise Assertiveness: Saying what you feel does not make you bad or weak. It makes you honest and honesty builds real connection.
• Replace Labels With Language: Instead of “good” or “strong”, teach children and yourself words like “authentic”, “brave”, “kind”, or “vulnerable”.
• Model Emotional Intelligence: Whether you are a parent, sibling, partner, or friend, showing emotional expression is a gift to everyone around you.

A New Story for the Inner Child