17 Aug, 2009
BACK BODY MUSCLE CRAMPS?
Last week, my brother had the weirdest muscle cramps. He was driving for the office when suddenly he sneezed and after the sneeze his back is aching and he cannot move his body that freely. So he decided to go home and hire a driver to get him into the hospital. At the hospital, the doctor said that it was a muscle cramp in the back and was caused majorly because of bad posture and my brother was guilty that when he uses his laptop that he is always leaning towards his laptop day during the office and even at nights at home.
My father had the same incident and this time with a colleague of him who just sneezed and then his back starts to ache. Guessing that it is just an ordinary back pain problem his colleague decided to get a body massage but sadly, it just made the pain worst. When he decided to get a doctor, the doctor said that it was muscle cramp in the back and having it massage will definitely worsen it.
The doctor gave then medicine to relax the muscle but the doctor advice them if they can bear the pain it is better if not to take the medicine. Proper posture, stretching and exercise is needed to avoid these kind of cramps , the doctor added.
I got an article from my email about muscle cramps and I would like to share to everyone so we could have better understanding of it. To whoever author of this article, thanks. Here it goes:
Do you experience muscle cramps??? Anyone who has experienced a muscle cramp can attest to the fact that it can be quite painful. Muscle cramps occur when muscles involuntarily contract and cannot relax. Often a muscle that is cramping feels harder than normal to the touch or may even show visible signs of twitching. Most cramps resolve spontaneously within a few seconds to minutes.
Cramps are extremely common. Almost everyone (one estimate is about 95%) experiences a cramp at some time in their life. Cramps are common in adults and become increasingly frequent with aging. However, children also experience cramps.
The role of deficiency of these vitamins in causing cramps is unknown. Poor circulation to the legs, which results in inadequate oxygen to the muscle tissue, can cause severe pain in the muscle. This commonly occurs in the calf muscles. While the pain feels virtually identical to that of a severely cramped muscle, the pain does not seem to be a result of the actual muscle cramping. This pain may be due to accumulation of lactic acid and other chemicals in the muscle tissues.
Most cramps can be stopped if the muscle can be stretched. For many cramps of the feet and legs, this stretching can often be accomplished by standing up and walking around. For a calf muscle cramp, the person can stand about 2 to 2½ feet from a wall (possibly farther for a tall person) and lean into the wall to place the forearms against the wall with the knees and back straight and the heels in contact with the floor. (Learn this maneuver at a time when you don’t have the cramp!) Another technique involves pulling the toes up towards the head while still lying in bed with the leg as straight as possible. For cramps such as those that occur in writer’s cramp, pressing the hand on a flat surface will stretch the cramping finger flexor muscles.
Gently massaging the muscle will often help it to relax, as will applying warmth from a heating pad or hot soak. Interestingly, since the normal response of the muscle to cold is to shorten, ice packs may also relax a cramp. If the cramp is associated with fluid loss — as is often the case with vigorous physical activity — fluid and electrolyte (especially sodium and potassium) replacement is essential. Medicines are not generally needed to treat an ordinary cramp that is already present, since most cramps subside spontaneously before enough medicine would be absorbed to even have an effect.
Summary:
- A muscle cramp is an involuntarily and forcibly contracted muscle that does not relax.
- Almost everyone experiences a muscle cramp at some time in their life.
- Numerous medicines can cause muscle cramps.
- Most muscle cramps can be stopped if the muscle can be stretched.
- Muscle cramps can often be prevented.
