What causes a muscle to tense?

Health Fitness

Have you ever woken up from a deep sleep and feel pain when you want to get up? This often happens when there is a sudden involuntary contraction of the muscles. It is known as muscle spasm. It would be more difficult for him to move than usual. Tight muscles would not only limit your movement but also cause pain, cramps, discomfort, and frustration.

Although muscle tightening can sometimes be a sign of something more serious, it’s usually nothing to worry about. This article will show you what causes a muscle to tighten and other useful information about muscle spasms. Read more!

What causes muscle tension or spasms?

  1. working out

Exercise or hard physical work is the biggest contributor to muscle tension. Your muscles may become tense during or after exercise. Muscle stiffness can occur when you increase the length and intensity of your routine or start a new exercise program. In this situation, your muscles are required to work harder, causing microscopic damage to the muscle fibers. It then causes the muscle to tense. Exercises that commonly cause the muscle to tighten are push-ups, squats, using weights, and running downhill or jogging.

But why do muscles get stiff after exercises? During exercise, the muscle expands, but when you stop exercising, the muscles contract. The contraction of the muscles causes the muscle fibers to shorten and increases the tension in the muscle. After a full contraction, the tension would be reduced and the muscle fibers would increase in length. However, fatigue or inadequate nutrition and hydration can cause muscle fibers to remain shortened and muscle strain to occur.

  1. prolonged inactivity

When there is restricted movement, some muscles can become tight. For example, when you sit at a desk working for hours, days, and weeks, your muscles take a hit. It puts the muscles of the upper back and the back of the hips in a constant elongated position. Also, the muscles in the front of the hips and chest will be in a shorter position. In the long run, it could affect your muscles by causing muscle imbalances. Lengthened muscles can become weak and shortened muscles become tight.

  1. subluxation

A subluxation (pronounced ‘Sub-lux-a-tion’) is when 2 or more bones in the spine lose proper joint movement where they meet. They can also be slightly misaligned according to some researchers. Regardless, the result over time seems to be that the nerves in the area become irritated and the muscles tighten, all of which can lead to pain and stiffness.

  1. Other Common Reasons Why Muscle Spasms May Occur
  • Infections: Diseases such as polio, HIV, tetanus, lupus, meningitis, and influenza are some of the infections that commonly cause muscle stiffness.
  • Stings or bites: Sometimes bites and stings from insects such as spiders, bees, ticks, wasps, mosquitoes, and horseflies can cause muscle spasms.
  • Medications: Some medications, such as anesthetics and prescription cholesterol-lowering medications, can cause a muscle to tighten.
  • Also, lack of adequate sleep, poor diet, being overweight, humid or cold environment, and lack of physical activity in your daily life can cause muscle tension.

What are good treatments for muscle spasms?

Most doctors will recommend specific care for overly tight muscles based on the cause. However, as a general rule, if the spasm is not the result of an injury or strain to the muscle, applying a warm or hot compress to the area for 20 minutes may improve the condition.

If the muscle spasm is the result of an injury or strain, ice is often a better option to help reduce inflammation in the first place. Doctors will often recommend heat for 20 minutes followed by a cold pack for 20 minutes in an effort to reduce the spasm and then the pain.

In addition, specific vitamins and other supplements, good nutritional habits, improving posture, staying hydrated, stretching, and exercising can improve and also prevent muscle tension.

If you are seeking care from a professional, chiropractic can be a good way to relax your muscles. Depending on the cause, it can help improve the underlying conditions that caused the muscle tension. For example, if tight muscles are in response to stuck or ‘subluxed’ spinal bones, then adjustment, which is light to moderate force on the joints stuck at a precise angle, can help. By restoring motion and helping that area of ​​the spine return to normal function, muscle spasm will be reduced.

While in most cases of muscle spasm the condition will resolve on its own with simple posture and lifestyle changes, there are also times when there is a more significant underlying condition. If you are concerned about long-term or unexplained muscle spasms, you should talk to your doctor.

MEANS:

https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/1478/why-do-muscles-tighten-up

https://www.healthline.com/symptom/muscle-stiffness

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