Nocturnal Muscle Twitching

Have you ever been lying in bed, almost ready to drift off to sleep and suddenly, from nowhere, your arm, leg or some other body part just "jumps" all by itself? This happened to me the other night and I decided to do some research to see what the name of this condition is and what causes it. Some interesting facts emerged.

From what I have read, there are several names for this muscle "spasm". You've may have heard these called "jumpy" muscles, sleeps starts, and hypnic jerks. In more scientific circles, they call it hypnagogic myoclonus and muscle fasciculation. According to Wikipedia, the definition of muscle fasciculation is: "A fasciculation (or "muscle twitch") is a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction (twitching) visible under the skin arising from the spontaneous discharge of a bundle of skeletal muscle fibers. Fasciculations have a variety of causes, the majority of which are begnin, but can also be due to disease of the motor neurons."

With a bit more searching, some other interesting facts were uncovered. These jerks are thought by many to be a necessary step in your body to go from alertness to a sleep state. Some studies in Germany revealed that 60 to 70 percent of all people have had these at one time or another during the start of sleep. But muscle twitching isn't the only kind of sleep start people may have. There are also auditory starts, in which the person hears cracking noises and visual starts, where a person may see a bright light. I have had the auditory starts, but always thinking it was my neck popping!. Who would have thought it was a sleep start?

Some reports have also suggested that these starts can also be a sign of anxiety or stress. When you lower your stress and anxiety levels, the sleep starts will diminish. Other studies say that sleep starts could be caused from a lack of calcium, magnesium or potassium. Could they be suggesting that eating a banana before bed might help you fall asleep faster?

Of course there are the medical reasons that could cause severe muscle twitches. Two of which might include diseases and mental illness, which are very rare. Another might be muscle damage from an injury, such as straining.

So, if you have ever had these peculiar nocturnal sensations right before dreamland, now you know what they are called and what might cause them. Even though they can wake you right out of a sound sleep, they very well could be a necessary part of your body's need to shut down to get the rest it deserves.