Muscle Strain & Spasm: Just what is going on in there?!

By: Jen Fleming

We’ve all had that annoying tweak  – or super painful  “stop-me-in-my-tracks wrench – of a muscle spasm.”Presently I am nursing a spasm in my right hamstring.  I did it at the gym doing dead lifts; the first set went well, but the lunges and squats I did before the second set of dead lifts was not a great idea.  And I was dehydrated.  And the muscle has been spasming on me rather frequently as of late.

You could say it was in a state of readiness.

So what causes muscle spasms?  How exactly do they happen?  What makes it hurt so much and, please, what can you do about it?!  Read on my friend, be demystified as we learn about muscle spasms.

There are about as many causes of muscle spasms as there are types of spasms.  Generally though, the type of spasm we are thinking about is the painful “I can’t move” type of spasm.  To shed some light on this, a little neuro-anatomy…

Neurologically, the muscles have two main proprioceptors, the muscle spindle and the Golgi-tendon-organ (GTO).  The muscle spindle is located deep in the muscle belly and monitors changes in muscle length.  When the muscle spindle is fired, a spinal reflex arc called the stretch reflex occurs.  This happens when the length of the muscle changes suddenly, like when the doctor taps your knee with a reflex hammer or when you reach for something suddenly at an awkward angle.

The GTO is located in the tendon of the muscle and monitors muscle tension.  When triggered by a sustained increase in tension, the GTO will initiate the tendon reflex and cause relaxing and
lengthening of a muscle. This is what we experience when we hold a stretch for a minimum of 30 seconds. Holding a stretch for longer will re-trigger the reflex, thus increasing the muscle’s length. This reflex feels good.

The stretch reflex does not feel good.  If it’s just a reflex hammer test it’s not so bad but, if one is lifting something too heavy,watch out!  It can produce a very powerful contraction with a
sudden jolt of pain causing you to stop what you’re doing.  In some instances, the contraction can be so powerful it can cause bones to momentarily come out of alignment for the sake of preventing fracturing!  This is usually what is meant when someone says, “I threw my back out.”

So what does one do when laid up with a really bad muscle spasm?  Keep the muscle off tension.  A muscle spasm is a guarding mechanism, mucking around with that only re-triggers the stretch reflex.  Step two is a cold pack.  And that doesn’t have to mean ice.  A towel run under the coldest tap water you have, or a bean bag stored in the freezer is great.  You just need it cold enough to be a lower temperature than the area of concern.  The greater the disparity in surface temperatures, the stronger the reaction.  Cold will decrease the presence of fluids and slow down nerve activity.  Win win!  Leave the cold pack on for a max of 20 minutes, or rotate it 5 minutes on 5 minutes off to allow fresh fluids to come in and old fluids to go out.

And if it’s really bad, you can always call in the Professionals.

 Jen Fleming RMT
 jenflemingrmt@gmail.com
 www.jenflemingrmt.com