Muscle spasms can give us a lot of grief and severe ones can be outright painful. Muscle spasms are involuntary muscle contractions that cause your muscle to shorten. When you are experiencing a muscle spasm, you will feel a tightness or cramping sensation. Muscle spasms can occur all over you body.
Cramps and spasms can affect any muscle, even those affiliated with the body’s various organs; however, they are most common in the calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps. Cramps in the feet, hands, arms, and lower back occur frequently, as well.
Muscle spasms are caused from from 1) mineral imbalance such as dehydration; 2) inflammation that occurs when a muscle is overstretched or torn; or 3) a protective mechanism of the spine to stabilize a severely damaged structure, like after a whiplash. Good detective work by the doctor finds the cause and leads to correcting the problem.
Muscle spasm is not a condition or a disease. It is a symptom. Muscle spasm is a reaction by the body to an underlying problem. What is the problem? The most common situation creating spasm of muscle is abnormal movement and alignment of joints near the spasm. The study of basic anatomy tells us the nerves that communicate with a joint also communicate with the muscles that move that joint. When the joint begins to function abnormally, the nerve system responds by relaying messages to the muscles. The result is an increase in muscle tone to provide extra support and protection. This serves the same purpose as a splint on an injured arm or leg. The support stabilizes the area to allow the body to begin healing and prevent further injury. Spasm is a protective mechanism.
Treatment for the spasm without treating the real cause seems pointless and possibly dangerous. Blocking the body’s alarm system (pain) and relaxing the protective mechanism may give a false sense of well-being and allow for further injury. Logical treatment of this situation would appear to be correcting joint function and spasm simultaneously. As Augusta GA Chiropractors, Georgia Clinic of Chiropractic successfully treats the most common cause of muscle spams by correcting joint function.
If you would like to find out how chiropractic may be beneficial for you, you can schedule a complimentary consultation. Our complimentary consultations are an integral part of our patient experience here, and you can also watch videos of our patients describing their own chiropractic experience.
The Georgia Clinic of Chiropractic Blog is written by Dr. Mark Huntsman.
Augusta GA Chiropractors Georgia Clinic of Chiropractic provides customized chiropractic care to the Augusta, Martinez, and Evans GA communities. Visit our main website at www.georgia-clinic.com.
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