Treat Muscle Cramps

A muscle cramp can be really painful. Everyone knows that right? But not many are aware of the causes of muscle cramps. Since this is not something that occurs on a regular basis we never really pay attention to it till we actually get a muscle cramp then we sit trying to find out the causes of muscle cramps.

So what is a muscle cramp anyway? What are the causes of muscle cramps? How does one deal with muscle cramps? These are questions that a lot of people don't have answers for. A muscle cramp is a muscle which gets contracted forcibly and it does not relax again. Every muscle in our body contracts and expands as we move about doing our daily jobs. So a contraction which does not expand becomes a spasm which if it's forceful will go in to a cramp.

There are a lot of causes of muscle cramps. Cramps are distinguished by some characteristic features and the causes of muscle cramps are related to these features. There is a type of cramp is called a true cramp. True cramps involve group muscles like your fingers. The causes of muscle cramps that belong to this type range from nerve hyper excitability of the muscle, injury related cramp, muscle fatigue etc where the group of muscles may be used for long time in a particular position and they get over worked.

There is a cramp known as rest cramp. These occur at night, at any age and the actual causes of muscle cramps are not known. But it is thought that if a muscle gets shortened at night by some inadvertent movement of the sleeping body which may result in this type of cramp. Another of the causes of muscle cramps is dehydration where lack of enough water can lead to the contraction of muscles.

Low levels of magnesium, potassium and calcium in the blood are the causes of muscle cramps which are also called tetany cramps. These involve nerve cells which when activated are also part of the causes of muscle cramps or spasms. Another type of cramps are those that happen when the, muscle cannot relax at all. These are not common cramps, are called contractures and the causes of muscle cramps are attributed to the reduction in a chemical energy called adenosine triphosphate. Here the nerves are inactive.

You must have heard of writer's cramp or a certain twitching of the eyelid which is a cramp of sorts and these go by the name Dystonic cramps. Causes of muscle cramps of this type is given as being caused by repetitive actions like playing a piano or some other musical instrument, typing, etc.

As we can see there are a lot of causes of muscle cramps and if cramps are a regular occurrence then you need to visit the doctor. Once the doctor has a list of your activities he will be able to identify which of those are the real causes of muscle cramps which are affecting you and you can take the corrective action required.

Muscle cramps are curable... don't let them cramp your style!