Skeletal Muscle Spasms effect a large and diverse population of the world. This growing popularity only leads to more people wanting to know more about skeletal muscle spasms.
Find out the causes, the symptoms, diagnoses, prevention, home remedies, and other treatments for this disorder below.
Many people around the world now suffer from skeletal muscle spasms. The rising number of people are experiencing muscle spasms, are now looking for answers to their questions about the occurrence.
When something unknown and unnatural happens it is always good to investigate the causes, the symptoms that one may feel, how to get diagnosed, how to prevent it from happening, home remedies that may work, and different options in treatment. All of these things will be listed below.
Causes of Skeletal Muscle Spasms
While there are many different causes of skeletal muscle spasms, there are a few causes that are more popular than others. For example, one common cause for skeletal muscle spasms is over exercising. Many people are more conscious about their health this year which has brought a lot of people back to the gym.
This is a huge part of why muscle spasms and twitches within the muscle are happening so much more often. When a muscle is being over worked there are a large variety of effects that it can have on that muscle and body part. When a muscle is being put through too much of a strain it can tend to contract and the nerves in the muscle go haywire.
Contracting muscles that are being put through stress begin to experience hyper excitement which in return causes the muscles to contract. This contraction can be painful and embarrassing if it happens in public.
Stretching out the muscles too thin and too hard is another huge cause of skeletal muscle spasms. The muscle can only handle so much stretching at one time. When the stretching exceeds the amount of flexibility that the muscle has, there is a huge chance that skeletal muscle spasms will occur in the muscle.
This is because the muscle gets too excited because it is being made to do something it has never done before and as the muscle’s defense it will begin to contract. This contraction can be anywhere from moderate to severe.
Prolonged use of any muscle can result in skeletal muscle spasms. Any muscle that is being overused in any form can experience spasms. This over usage of a muscle does not have to come from a workout or any other tedious tasks. Simply using the same muscle nonstop to do certain things can cause the muscle to get tired and start to contract. This is another popular cause of muscle spasms within the people whom experience it.
Restless Leg Syndrome is a disorder that causes the legs to contract throughout the night and times of sleep or relaxation. This syndrome affects the lives of many and has not yet been easily cured. The causes of restless leg syndrome are not widely known but there are a few neurologic disorders that may be the cause to this disorder.
The muscle spasms felt in Restless Leg Syndrome are more severe because they can come without the muscle being put into any stress. This type of spasm can be a nuisance because most people who suffer from it cannot sleep at night and do not know why their legs are cramping in such a way.
Dehydration is another more serious cause of skeletal muscle spasms. When the body is not being properly taken care of and not getting all of the needed nutrients and electrolytes that it needs it can tend to act out of the normal. Muscle spasms are one of the body’s defenses when the body is being neglected and put through stress that it is not used to.
Stress such as depriving the body from water and other nutrients that it may need can cause the muscles to get overly excited and contract from being irritated and malnourished. Muscles are in dire need of a large water supply as well as other vitamins, minerals, and proteins.
Different kinds of diseases and abnormalities in the body can be a major cause of skeletal muscle spasms. Certain kinds of Diabetes, Anemia, thyroid disease, kidney disease, and diseases like peripheral artery disease can cause symptoms to occur such as muscle spasms. These diseases can be very serious and bad for the health.
This is why when experiencing reoccurring muscle spasms it is important to go to the doctors to see if it can be a symptom of anything more serious. Many of these diseases have cures or different treatments to suppress the symptoms caused by them.
Symptoms of Skeletal Muscle Spasms
Just like the causes of skeletal muscle spasms, the symptoms of this disorder may vary as well. Symptoms may vary based on the cause of the muscle spasms. For example, symptoms of muscle spasms while overworking and exercising might consist of deeper spasms or a deep cramp. This spasm will usually only happen when working out and may last long but may only happen one time.
This symptom when exercising may not be reoccurring you may have just tried the wrong exercise for too long. The symptoms of muscle spasms vary per cause.
A huge symptom of muscle-skeletal spasms is the pain. When the muscle contracts and gets over excited it causes a great pain in that muscle. This muscle can cause people to fall and scream from the intense pain that is felt. The pain caused by muscle spasms is best described as a deep and sharp cramp.
This pain can be moderate to severe depending on the cause of it and can last seconds, minutes, and even hours in really bad cases. One of the first symptoms you will experience with muscle spasms is the pain.
Another symptom of muscle spasms is involuntary muscle movement. When the muscle is contracting and experiencing spams it usually moves and twitches in ways that are not controllable. This involuntary movement can be dangerous if the body is in action walking, running, or even driving.
The involuntary muscle movements can make you stop what you are doing completely because you may not be able to move if the spasms are happening in the legs or feet. Involuntary muscle movements are another huge sign that you may be having muscle spasms.
Other common symptoms that are typically experienced with this disorder are the weakness in the muscle and soreness. After the muscle contracts and goes through that kind of stress the muscle usually becomes weak and sore the next day. It takes a lot of energy and movement from the muscle to contract and this contraction can lead to an exhausted and overworked muscle.
This muscle will often time become very weak the following days after a muscle spasm. The muscle will usually be sore from contracting in such a way that it was not comfortable for your nor the muscle. The muscle tissues may also bring discomfort following a bad skeletal muscle spasm.
A bad case of muscle spasms can cause people to lose sleep and lose out on doing certain physical activities that tend to make the body have muscle spasms. A symptom of muscle spasms can include losing sleep or lack of sleep because people who experience skeletal muscle spasms in their legs at night have a very hard time falling asleep with the pain and movement going on in their legs.
This terrible problem can cause people to lose sleep. People also prone to certain injuries and muscle spasms may also have to refrain from doing certain activities which can cause a lack of physical health and exercise. Weight gain for these reasons can be a symptom of muscle spasms in some people who suffer from it severely.
How to be diagnosed with Skeletal Muscle Spasms
The process of being diagnosed with skeletal muscle spasms is usually very easy. The first step is going to the doctor’s office. The doctor will assist you in completing an evaluation of your medical problems, what you may be experiencing, and any other medical problems that you may have had in the past.
The doctor will ask you a series of questions such as when did the muscle spasms first start to happen, how long do the muscle spasms last, how often do the muscle spasms occur, and do the muscle spasms happen at a certain time or do they happen at random?
Another question that you may be asked is what muscle the cramps and spasms normally happen in. Knowing the answers to all of these questions in detail will better ensure that you are properly diagnosed.
There will be other important information that will be extremely helpful to tell the doctor such as whether there have been any illnesses that you have suffered from, or whether you are taking or have taken any medications that he or she should know about. If so, you should include the prescription name, whether it was an over-the-counter medication, or if you were taking any vitamin, mineral, herb, or protein supplements.
More important information that your doctor will gather to provide you with a proper diagnosis is any past medical history that may or may not give a clue as to the reason in you are experiencing the muscle spasms.
Extremely important disorders or diseases to let your doctor know about are diabetes, hypothyroidism, kidney disease, anemia, and spinal cord injury. If the doctor is very thorough he may also want to know what your work and exercise history have been as of then.
After completely accessing you the doctor may order some blood tests to be done that can or cannot help to detect what the underlining problem is for the reason you may be having skeletal muscle cramps.
These tests may include an entire blood count to be done which helps to detect certain blood deficiencies such as anemia, electrolyte deficiencies, lack of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, high or low glucose levels, and creatinine levels that help to make sure that the kidney is properly functioning. Another important test that may be done is a thyroid function test.
If the doctor suspects that you have suffered from muscle spasms for too long then he or she may have reason to believe that the muscle has experienced too much tear and that permanent damage may have been done. If the doctor has reason to believe this based on your signs and symptoms he or she may schedule a creatine phosphokinase blood test. This type of blood test can be used to specifically detect such problems.
If the doctor has reason to believe that there is an indication that the muscle spasms may be the cause of a nerve or muscle disorder then he or she may order an electromyography test to be done to properly diagnose the problem. If the doctor is concerned about the potential for peripheral artery disease then he or she will schedule blood flow tests that monitor how to blood is flowing to the legs. These tests can sometimes include an ankle-brachial index which can work as a leg ultrasound and other helpful tests done by ultrasound may be ordered as well.
Ways to prevent skeletal muscle spasms
Preventing skeletal muscle spasms can be fairly easy if the muscle spasms are being caused by working out or other strenuous or repetitive movements. If the muscle spasms are caused by any of these reasons then the best way to prevent muscle spasms is to go easier on your body.
When working out try to distribute the work out to other areas of the body instead of only focusing on certain areas each day. This will give your muscles time to rest while you work on other muscles at the same time. Another way to prevent muscle spasms is to try not to do the same motions for long periods of time while using the same muscle over and over again.
Try to switch muscles when doing certain work or workouts to ensure that the work is evenly distributed between muscles. Also try not to do repetitive movements or gestures throughout the day.
Another way to prevent muscle spasms is to go to the doctor to get checkups regularly. If the muscle spasms are being caused by a disease or another medical disorder then it is important to have the disorder detected as soon as possible. If a disease or disorder is detected early on in the stage then it will be easier for the doctor to treat and diagnose. Prevention of symptoms starts when you prevent the disease or disorder.
One of the best ways to prevent muscle spasms from happening is to eat healthy meals and have a well-balanced diet. Often time people do not eat well because they live busy lives. This can take a toll on the body and cause malnourishment and dehydration. To ensure that muscle spasms do not occur it is always important to get the proper water and vitamin intake.
Home Remedies to help ease Muscle Spasms
Home remedies for easing muscle spasms are usually easy to do. One of the easiest home remedies is to take a warm bath. Warm water helps to work as therapy for the body and the overworked muscle.
The warm water from the bath can soothe the muscle and reduce soreness. Warm baths are highly recommended for this disorder because it is a quick fix and can help take the pain away as well.
Icing the muscle is another great home remedy. Ice can cause inflammation to go down and most muscles that experience spasms are irritated and inflamed.
Applying ice and small amounts of pressure to the muscle can help aid the muscle in return back to normal. The ice can also work to numb the pain that comes with muscle spasms.
Take the proper supplements and make sure to drink a lot of water each day. There are different kinds of supplements that contain the vitamins, minerals, and proteins that are needed to ensure that you have healthy muscles.
These supplements can come in tablets, extracts, teas, and even injections that you can get from your local doctor. It is always great to drink plenty of water as well because your muscles need water in order to function properly.
Treatments for skeletal muscle spasms
You can receive treatment for skeletal muscle spasms from your doctor. Certain causes of skeletal muscle spasms may require you to take medication that can be prescribed by a doctor. These medications can help to stop the muscle spasms from happening or just can aid in taking the pain away.
Depending on the cause of the skeletal muscle spasm you may also have the option of having surgery. Both forms of treatment would have to be recommended by a doctor first.