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MUSCLE CRAMPS As you have probably figured out by now, I love football. I enjoy watching my son’s high school team, the Wisconsin Badgers, Notre Dame, and the Green Bay Packers. That means I see a lot of football and it seems that in every game a player is plagued by a charley horse or muscle spasm. This is a fairly common occurrence in athletes, but it also affects non-athletes. So, let’s look more closely at this fairly common and benign problem. What is a muscle cramp? This is a sudden severe spasm of one or more muscles. The most common muscles affected are in the lower extremity. The tightening of the muscle is accompanied by severe and intense pain. The muscle is actually locked up and it may take time to loosen itself. What are the signs, symptoms, and causes? Muscle cramping does not go unnoticed by the person experiencing it because it is very painful and sudden. The muscle experiencing the cramping will also tighten into a hard lump. The cramp will usually resolve itself within a few minutes, but this is not always the case. Sometimes stretching or massaging of the muscle will be curative. The exact nature of a muscle spasm is not completely understood, but it is thought to occur when an individual is depleted of water and body salts called electrolytes. Therefore, muscle cramps occur most often during hot weather when an athlete becomes dehydrated. Cramping can also occur in people with vascular disease and poor blood supply. Nerve damage and narrowing of the spinal canal is also responsible for some cases of cramping. Although cramping usually occurs while exercising, it can also strike in the middle of the night. Over the years, I have seen some curious injuries in the Emergency Department caused by patients desperately trying to relieve themselves of a late night muscle cramp, only to suffer additional injuries. How do I prevent cramping? Stretching before physical activity is a good preventative measure. Keeping well hydrated during high physical activity is also essential. This may involve drinking water and a sport-type drink that has some added electrolytes. I recently joined a new local health club and am working with a personal trainer. We always begin by focusing on stretching and flexibility. Even though I have been working out for the majority of my life, the trainer is working muscles that I never knew existed. While I may be sore in new places, I feel much better because of increased stretching and flexibility and am not bothered by cramps. What is the treatment? Usually self-treatment, such as stretching during a cramp, will relieve the problem. For most people, muscle cramps are not a sign of a serious medical illness. But if muscle cramps are very frequent and not relieved by conventional measures, you should seek a medical evaluation by a health care provider to rule out any unusual illness. In rare cases, an underlying serious medical condition can cause excessive muscle cramping. |
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