One of the most disturbing bodily sensations that you can experience is shakiness, whether the trembling is just in your hands or all throughout your body. There are quite a few medical conditions that can cause shakiness, so it’s important to get to the bottom of what’s causing your particular form of the shakes. Here are some examples of what shakiness in the body could mean and tips for easing the shakes safely and naturally.
Health Conditions That Cause Shakiness
Certain serious medical conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, are marked by symptoms of shakiness. However, low levels of calcium in the body, low vitamin B-12 levels, changes in blood pressure, and common fevers can cause the body to shake as well. Other conditions that may make the body shake and feel weak include diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Alcohol withdrawal may result in tremors that last a few days or even many months for heavy drinkers.
External Factors That Cause Shakiness
But it is also very possible to feel shaky even if you don’t have any of the medical conditions listed above. If you drink too much caffeine or use tobacco products, you may feel shaky or jittery on a particular day. These external factors have a way of stimulating the nervous system and causing the shakes if too much is consumed. You may also feel shaky if you haven’t eaten in a while and your blood sugar drops. Hypoglycemia is a condition of low blood sugar that causes shakiness when the blood’s glucose level is lower than normal.
Intense exercise, anxiety, and stress can make the hands and other parts of the body shaky too. People who suffer from shakiness due to anxiety will often feel shaky all over their bodies and especially after emotional triggers that cause excess tension. Essential tremors mostly occur in people over the age of 40 and result from muscle contractions that cause shakiness. These types of shakes are common in the hands, head, and the voice, and they can really get in the way of daily activities and hobbies.
Natural Ways to Ease Shakiness
Before rushing to a bottle of pills to ease symptoms of shakiness, it’s a smart idea to look for natural ways to restore normal nervous system functioning. To begin with, limit or cut out nervous system triggers like tobacco, caffeine, simple carbs, and sugars. To rule out the possibility of a dietary cause due to low blood sugar, try eating several small snacks between meals throughout the day. Certain types of food are linked to calming the shakes, especially berries, lemon and other citrus fruits, apples, red bell peppers, and tomatoes.
Simply taking a few deep breaths can help reduce excess adrenaline that causes the body to shake, which is why yoga and meditation are highly recommended for people who are prone to shakiness. Getting a massage, getting more sleep, and detoxifying the body with natural foods, like nopal cactus and seaweed, may also help ease the symptoms.
If natural treatments do not do the trick for shaky hands or essential tremors, propranolol or primidone may be prescribed, or perhaps anxiety medication or anti-seizure medication depending on the cause. Wrist weights and adaptive tools and utensils may be recommended to individuals who have long-term shakiness that isn’t eliminated with regular treatment.