Muscle spasm

Overview Back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical help or miss work. Back pain is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Fortunately, measures can help prevent or relieve most back pain episodes, especially for people younger than age 60. If prevention fails, simple home treatment and using the body correctly often will heal the back within a few weeks. Surgery is rarely needed to treat back pain. Symptoms Back pain can range from a muscle aching to a shooting, burning or stabbing sensation. Also, the pain can radiate down a leg. Bending, twisting, lifting, standing or walking can make it worse. When to see a doctor Most back pain gradually improves with home treatment and self-care, usually within a few weeks. Contact your health care provider for back pain that: • Lasts longer than a few weeks. • Is severe and doesn't improve with rest. • Spreads down one or both legs, especially if the pain goes below the knee. • Causes weakness, numbness, or tingling in one or both legs. • Is paired with unexplained weight loss. In rare cases, back pain can signal a serious medical problem. Seek immediate care for back pain that: • Causes new bowel or bladder problems. • Is accompanied by a fever. • Follows a fall, blow to the back or other injury. Low back pain caused by spinal degeneration and injury. Click here for an infographic to learn more Back pain often develops without a cause that shows up in a test or imaging study. Conditions commonly linked to bac...

Treatment Self-care measures usually can treat muscle cramps. A health care provider can show you stretching exercises that can reduce the chances of getting muscle cramps. Drinking plenty of fluids can also help prevent muscle cramps. If you keep getting cramps that wake you from sleep, a care provider might prescribe medicine to relax muscles or help you sleep. Calf stretch While holding on to a chair, keep one leg back with your knee straight and your heel flat on the floor. Slowly bend your elbows and front knee and move your hips forward until you feel a stretch in your calf. Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds. Switch leg positions and repeat with your other leg. If you have a cramp, these actions might help: • Stretch and massage. Stretch the cramped muscle and gently rub it. For a calf cramp, keep the leg straight while pulling the top of your foot on the side that's cramped toward your face. Also try standing with your weight on your cramped leg and pressing down firmly. This helps ease a cramp in the back of the thigh too. For a front thigh cramp, try pulling the foot on that leg up toward your buttock. Hold on to a chair to steady yourself. • Apply heat or cold. Use a warm towel or heating pad on tense or tight muscles. Taking a warm bath or directing the stream of a hot shower onto the cramped muscle also can help. Rubbing the sore muscle with ice also might relieve pain. Alternative medicine Taking vitamin B complex and other vitamins might help manage leg...

Anyone who has had tight muscles or a muscle spasm knows how uncomfortable and limiting these experiences can be. But when you have spasticity, which causes tight muscles and uncontrollable contractions, your pain is more than a temporary annoyance. Spasticity happens when all of your muscles contract at once, and is generally caused by injuries or neurological conditions, according to the Interested in learning more about what causes spasticity, as well as how it affects people with What causes spasticity and why does it affect people with neurological conditions? First, a primer on your nervous system: Your brain and spinal cord have nerve pathways that your brain uses to send and receive signals via neurons, or nerve cells, in order to communicate with the rest of your body, according to the Usually, damage in the cerebral cortex or in the brainstem (the part of the brain that connects the brain and the spinal cord) causes spasticity, but researchers still don’t fully understand why spasticity occurs. Some experts theorize that spasticity happens because your body is attempting to recover function previously controlled by damaged areas by making new nerve connections—but these new connections don’t work well, Spasticity isn’t the same as a muscle twitch, medically known as myoclonus. A twitch happens when your muscles unexpectedly contract or relax, causing them to jerk. Most muscle twitches are nothing to worry about and happen when your body suddenly releases motor ne...

A muscle cramp (charley horse) is a sudden, brief, involuntary, painful contraction of a muscle or group of muscles. Cramps commonly occur in healthy people (usually middle-aged and older people), sometimes during rest, but particularly during or after exercise or at night (including during sleep). Sleep-related leg cramps Parasomnias are undesirable behaviors that occur during entry into sleep, during sleep, or during arousal from sleep. Diagnosis is clinical. Treatment may include drugs and psychotherapy. (See... read more usually occur in the calf and cause plantar flexion of the foot and toes. Dystonias Dystonias are sustained involuntary muscle contractions of antagonistic muscle groups in the same body part, leading to sustained abnormal posturing or jerky, twisting, intermittent spasms that... read more can cause muscle spasm, but symptoms are usually more sustained and recurrent and involve muscles other than those affected by typical leg cramps (eg, neck, hand, face, muscles throughout the body). • Cramps must be differentiated from Symptoms and Signs and Dystonias Dystonias are sustained involuntary muscle contractions of antagonistic muscle groups in the same body part, leading to sustained abnormal posturing or jerky, twisting, intermittent spasms that... read more ; clinical evaluation is usually adequate. History History of present illness should elicit a description of cramps, including their duration, frequency, location, apparent triggers, and any associat...

It’s typically a symptom of something else. A herniated disc, for example, can cause sciatic nerve compression or inflammation. It’s also one of the most common reasons for this type of radiating nerve pain. Other conditions that may cause sciatica include: • Degenerative disc disease • Muscle tightness, such as piriformis syndrome • • • • Trauma • Tumors • Diagnosis To diagnose what may be causing painful back spasms, healthcare providers will take your medical history. They'll also ask you to describe the pain and any other symptoms you're having. Healthcare providers often treat back pain using a combination of therapies. Combining different treatments such as physical therapy and steroid injections may provide better results. Coping While painful back spasms can disrupt your everyday activities, it’s possible to live with back pain. Some strategies that may help you cope and recover from back pain include: • Minimizing the amount of time you spend sitting • Maintaining good posture while sitting and standing • Having good form when lifting heavy objects or exercising • Sleeping on a comfortable, supportive mattress • Avoiding sleeping on your stomach • Strengthening your back and abdominal muscles • Exercising, avoiding high-impact activities or movements that strain the back • Warming up before starting a workout with dynamic stretches A chiropractor may be able to help you with your back spasms and pain. However, it’s essential to see a healthcare provider first. Som...

Overview Dystonia is a movement disorder that causes the muscles to contract involuntarily. This can cause repetitive or twisting movements. The condition can affect one part of your body (focal dystonia), two or more adjacent parts (segmental dystonia), or all parts of your body (general dystonia). The muscle spasms can range from mild to severe. They may be painful, and they can interfere with your performance of daily tasks. Symptoms Dystonia affects different people in different ways. Muscle spasms might: • Begin in a single area, such as your leg, neck or arm. Focal dystonia that begins after age 21 usually starts in the neck, arm or face. It tends to remain focal or become segmental. • Occur during a specific action, such as writing by hand. • Worsen with stress, fatigue or anxiety. • Become more noticeable over time. Areas of the body that can be affected include: • Neck (cervical dystonia). Contractions cause your head to twist and turn to one side, or pull forward or backward, sometimes causing pain. • Eyelids. Rapid blinking or spasms cause your eyes to close (blepharospasms) and make it difficult for you to see. Spasms usually aren't painful but might increase when you're in bright light, reading, watching TV, under stress or interacting with people. Your eyes might feel dry, gritty or sensitive to light. • Jaw or tongue (oromandibular dystonia). You might experience slurred speech, drooling, and difficulty chewing or swallowing. Oromandibular dystonia can be pa...

Spasticity is a symptom and characteristic of certain neurological conditions. It causes certain muscles to contract all at once. It ranges in severity and can affect movement and speech. There are several treatment options for spasticity, including physical therapy, medication and botulinum toxin injections. Overview What is spasticity? Spasticity is a disruption in Spasticity can vary greatly in how it affects someone — it may be as mild as the feeling of tightness of your muscles or may be so severe that it causes painful, uncontrollable stiffness and spasms of your extremities. Spasticity can involve the following: • Increased muscle tone (hypertonia). • • • Involuntary crossing of your legs. • Pain or discomfort. • Abnormal • Contracture (permanent contraction of the muscle and tendon due to severe lasting stiffness and spasms). • Muscle, joint and/or bone deformities. • Difficulty performing daily activities, and difficulty for others to help with activities such as dressing and bathing. • Sleep disruption due to, for example, painful spasms or muscle tightness. Muscle movements are normally controlled by a complex system that allows some of your muscles to contract (tighten) while others relax. Damage to nerves in your central What’s the difference between muscle spasticity and rigidity? Muscle rigidity and muscle spasticity are both hypertonic states (a state of abnormally high muscle tone), but they’re different. Rigidity is most commonly associated with basal gan...

Neck spasms are involuntary contractions, or tightening, of your neck muscles. Spasms usually accompany other symptoms like neck pain and stiffness. Neck sprains and strains are the most common causes, but injuries and more serious conditions can also cause spasms. Stretches, pain medications and relaxation techniques can often help provide relief. Overview What are neck spasms? Neck spasms happen when the muscles in your neck suddenly tighten without your control. Symptoms can last from several minutes to several weeks. Sometimes the pain continues even after the spasms stop. Neck spasms related to an injury or Who gets neck spasms? Anyone can get neck spasms. Spending long hours in front of electronic screens, including computers, cellphones and tablets, has become a common way of life for many children and adults. This lifestyle increases the odds of neck strain, pain, stiffness and spasms. Even if you’re regularly active, you can develop spasms if you overexert your Your lifestyle and the mechanics of your neck, or Symptoms and Causes What does a neck spasm feel like? A muscle spasm in your neck feels like sudden, uncontrollable pain or a twitch. The sensation ranges from mildly unpleasant to severely painful. Symptoms of a neck spasm may include: • Sharp, sudden pain in your neck (that may worsen when you try to move your neck). • Neck pain or discomfort that feels like it’s coming from deep within your neck muscles. • A tingling or “pins and needles” feeling at the b...