A muscle spasm is a quick and painful contraction of the muscle that usually occurs when you have overused or injured the muscle by exercise, dehydration, or stress. Essentially, these quick spasms are reminders that our muscles are fatigued and need rest to function at their best. For example, muscle fatigue can occur by not properly preparing for the intensity of an exercise, thereby leaving muscles that have high metabolic demand with little nutrients to sustain the physical activity.
If you’ve ever had a muscle spasm, it can often feel like a cramping sensation or an acute pain that is there one second and gone the next. Some individuals can have random bouts of muscle spasms or cramps, while others have a chronic issue that needs to be addressed. There are several reasons that someone could potentially incur a muscle spasm or cramping bout.
Stress and anxiety can be catalysts for muscle spasms due to the build-up of subconscious muscle tension and the body’s reaction to this excessive stress. Individuals who are overweight or pregnant are at a higher risk for having muscle spasms due to the increase of weight and stress placed on their muscles. Additionally, athletes and older individuals are also more susceptible to experience muscle spasms.
Acute muscle spasms are ones that occur after overuse or injury of the muscle. These uncomfortable cramps are usually cured with gentle stretching, hydration, and of course, rest! Chronic muscle spasms are the ones to pay close attention to because they may be a symptom of a more serious condition such as: nutritional, vascular, toxic-metabolic, or hormonal issues. Consulting with a physical therapist is a great resource and way to identify the cause of your muscle cramps and coping mechanisms to ensure you do not further injure that muscle.
Muscle spasms can happen to anyone at any time and affect any muscle. You can even experience a muscle spasm while you are asleep. Muscle spasms are most common in the foot arches, hands, arms, thighs, calves, and abdomen.
If you’re trying to determine whether or not you might have a muscle spasm by how it feels, some individuals report feeling muscle spasms that feel like a slight twitch or severe pain. In some cases, a muscle that is going through a spasm can even change its visual appearance by looking distorted or feel slightly harder than usual.
Some individuals can deal with acute muscle spasms that might occur every now and then, while others face chronic muscle spasms that can last anywhere from a few seconds to longer multiple times a day or per week. For all individuals who are suffering from chronic muscle spasms or cramps, it can be beneficial to figure out exactly why they’re occurring and some potential ways to prevent them from occurring in the future.
Let’s see why muscle cramps and spasms happen and common prevention techniques to avoid these uncomfortable situations.
A muscle cramp is a type of muscle spasm that generally occurs when one is dehydrated, has an electrolyte imbalance involving low sodium, magnesium, or potassium, or by working out in a significantly colder or hotter environment than one is used to. A cramped muscle usually only occurs for a short period of time and is soothed by stretching, massage, and applying heat to the affected area. A muscle cramp is telling you that your muscle is fatigued and you need rest and rehydration as soon as possible.
Individuals of all ages can get muscle spasms or cramps but they most typically occur after some exercise. While they typically occur after strenuous physical activity, some individuals can get them at random times including when they’re sleeping, sitting down, performing a routine activity, and more. Most muscle spasms and cramps can occur in areas you often hear about like leg muscles, arm muscles, or back muscles. Often times, the same areas where the cramps occur are the same regions of muscle that we use in compound movements or overuse. Now that you understand why you could be experiencing muscle cramps or muscle spasms, the next thing you might be asking is what are the prevention steps, or is it even possible to prevent muscle spasms from occurring in the first place.
Since muscle spasms are often due to the overuse of a muscle, it is a good idea to increase your water intake and gently stretch before and after working out. If your muscles are overworked or if you’ve been holding the muscles in the same position for an extended period of time, the muscle will be depleted of energy and fluid, thereby becoming hyperactive and result in a muscle spasm. If your body is telling you that your muscles are getting tired, you may experience a muscle spasm if you ignore these signals and push through the discomfort.
One of the last things you should try to do is just bear the pain or discomfort and push through it. Don’t try and force your body to do something it’s not ready for. Take a step back and listen to what your body is trying to tell you.
You should always consider warming up and stretching both pre and post-workout to make sure that you’re preparing your body for not only the strenuous physical activity it’s about to partake in but to signal that the workout is over and it can begin the recovery phase. When you do a light warmup and then stretch both pre and post-workout, you’re increasing the flexibility that your body has and it not only helps your body prepare for the upcoming workout but the future workouts that your body will engage in each time as well.
There are things that you can do to prevent muscle spasms. Before you can begin preventing them from occurring, it’s important to know why they’re happening. Your body will often send you warning signals when something is wrong or needs your attention. Muscle spasms and cramps are one of those warning signals. If you find that you’re engaging in a certain type of activity or the spasms happen quite frequently, then it’s your body telling you that something needs to change and you need to work towards preventing them in the future.
If you find that your muscle spasms are causing severe discomfort, happen often, or don’t improve with time, you should consider seeking a healthcare professional who can help you treat your muscle spasms or muscle cramps.
The first thing to do when experiencing a muscle spasm is to stop whatever activity you are doing, lightly stretch, and rest the area. The first line of defense will always be to rest and allow that muscle to repair itself. One of the things you should try to avoid is to try to work through the cramp or spasm while it’s happening. By forcing your body to perform some type of physical activity or strenuous exercise while it’s trying to send a message that it’s not working properly is to set yourself up for a potential injury.
The next thing that you should do is to increase your water and attempt to balance the electrolytes in your body. It’s important to make sure that you’re getting an adequate amount of water throughout the day and you’re replacing the fluid you’ve lost while working out. Avoid binge drinking and instead, make it part of your routine to take a couple of cups of water every few hours throughout the day. Drinking fluid throughout the day will not only help your body stay hydrated and reduce the muscle spasms and cramps you could be experiencing, but it can also help your body with several other important functions like carrying nutrients throughout your body, aiding digestion, normalizing blood pressure, cushioning joints, and protecting organs.
Along with increasing your water intake, resting, and gently stretching, using ice or heat therapy is another great way to loosen the muscles and allow them to return back to their relaxed state. Depending on the exercise you just completed, your body and muscle groups could be all tensed up. Using ice or heat therapy effectively could help you relieve that tension and send a signal to your muscles that it’s time to relax and begin the recovery process. It’s normal for the muscle and surrounding area to feel sore following a muscle spasm.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications are also a way to help provide relief by reducing pain and inflammation in the body. Be sure to check with your physician and pharmacist if these medications are appropriate for you.
It might sound odd, but trigger point dry needling actually creates a muscle spasm to help relax the muscle tissue after being cramped.
One unique thing about cramps or muscle spasms is that they can actually be used to help you relieve some of the pain that you’re experiencing and signal to the rest of your body that it’s time to begin the recovery process. How does that work?
Dry needling is a treatment that is used in conjunction with other physical therapy treatments to produce muscle pain relief. A trained physical therapist will use a thin and solid filament needle inserted into the skin to stimulate a myofascial trigger point or contracted muscle. When this irritable area in the skeletal muscle fiber is stimulated, the fibers will spasm or “twitch”, causing the fibers to rapidly depolarize and reduce the compression on the joint, vascular tissue, or nerve. After this quick spasm takes place, the muscle can then relax.
Your physical therapist will work with you to determine if dry needling is a potential treatment option for you and whether or not it will help you alleviate some of the muscle tension, spasms, or cramps you’re dealing with.
Similar to what creates a muscle spasm, an overexerted muscle can develop into myofascial trigger points that are painful to the touch. An overworked muscle is one that has experienced extensive contraction where the muscle fibers are not getting the blood supply, oxygen and nutrients that allow the muscle to return to its relaxed state. When a dry needling treatment is conducted, the muscle stimulation can tell the body to send more blood supply to the muscle area, thereby releasing the contraction and allowing the muscle to recover from the tension.
If you are living with constant painful muscle spasms, contact one of our friendly therapists at one of our clinics near you. Our therapists are experts in musculoskeletal pain recovery and can help you understand the root cause of your muscle injuries and relieve pain. Book an Appointment Today to alleviate some of the muscle spasms or muscle cramp pain you could be experiencing.
