What Are Muscle Spasms and What Makes Spasms Go Away

Muscle spasms are contractions in your muscle.  Imagine you are flexing your upper arm by bending your elbow.  Your bicep muscle will pop up.  It is contracted or in contraction.

At the very same time, the muscle in the back of your arm is also going into a different type of contraction.  It has to.  That’s how muscles work.

When a muscle stays contracted for a long time it can develop a fairly constant but reversible spasm.

Sometimes a spasm occurs quickly like when a muscle is contracted while it is cold (not warmed from movement yet.)  That is the familiar Charlie Horse or cramp in your calf muscle or the arch of your foot.

How can you get rid of your muscle spasms?

If it happens suddenly, pinch it or press into it.  If you can pull the two ends of the muscle away from the middle, that will help.  Just hold the pressure until the spasm relaxes.

If it happens in muscles that are over-stretched, like those in your upper back, the solution is to relax and stretch the muscles in the front of your body.

You will also need to strengthen the muscles on the back side of your body.

If you are having muscle spasms in your back, go to http://BackPainNaturalRelief.com where there is a lot of great information about the causes of back pain and how to get rid of it naturally.

Why not just take drugs?

Well, here’s why:

  • They are only masking your true problem.
  • They aren’t helping you heal.
  • They have side effects that are undesirable.

Remember, you have a smart body.  Sometimes it just needs a little bit of help to get rid of uncomfortable, miserable issues like muscle spasms naturally.

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6 Replies to “What Are Muscle Spasms and What Makes Spasms Go Away”

  1. These are some good tips for combating cramps. They can definitely take the wind out of your sails when they strike. I was reading on the PRORehab Blog that you can apply pressure to the antagonist muscle of the cramping muscle to help relieve the pain. So if your quad is cramping up, you could apply pressure to your hamstrings.

    1. Thank you, Marie! Appreciate the tip!

      It is true that the muscle on the side opposite the cramp may cause the cramp. But it’s hard for me to imagine someone being able to think to press into the OPPOSITE muscle when they have a cramp NOW. 🙂

      Cold muscles are more likely to cramp. When they have been warmed up by moving them, they are less likely to cramp.

      Direct pressure on a muscle cramp or pushing the two ends of the cramping muscle together helps relieve a cramp.

      Kathryn

  2. i have muscle spasm in my backbone and not able to do any work and face problems in daily dealing. i can recover my muscle. what i do for this, thanks

    1. Hi Sanny,

      There are a lot of muscles around your backbone. Most times the pain around the spine (backbone) is caused by muscles. Either the muscles are tight and hurt or they may be pushing on nerves. If you can give me more clues about exactly where your pain is I may be able to help more.

      In the meantime, there are lots of articles about back pain at http://SimpleBackPainRelief.com which is another of my natural pain relief websites.

      I hope you get relief soon with your back pain.

      Kathryn
      The Pain Relief Coach

  3. I got a boob job over 3 weeks ago & I woke up on day 23 after changing positions in my sleep, to my pectoral muscle contracting over my implant. I called my surgeon & he said to move around & take some ibuprofen & it should work itself out in half an hour. Well it didn’t & it seemed to start contracting more so I went to the ER & they gave me muscle relaxers & morphine (which didn’t help the pain hardly!) anyway after a battery of tests they released me with a prescription for Vicodin and Methocarbam (muscle relaxer) and said to just wait, it should relax in a few days. Well I’m on day 4 & it still hasn’t let go so I was wondering if there’s something holistic I can do to help it along. Like massage a certain way or acupuncture

    1. Isis, The rest of the answer is on the Thank You page where your other question landed, but ice is a great way to help muscles relax, too. Unless the surgeon tells you not to use cold therapy, a cold pack or package of frozen peas on and off for 20 minutes will help the pec muscle to relax.

      Kathryn
      The Pain Relief Coach

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