When you get muscle cramps, what actually happens?!


Question: When you get muscle cramps, what actually happens!?
Answers:


Definition

Muscle spasms and cramps are spontaneous, often painful muscle contractions!.

Description

Most people are familiar with the sudden pain of a muscle cramp!. The rapid, uncontrolled contraction, or spasm, happens unexpectedly, with either no stimulation or some trivially small one!. The muscle contraction and pain last for several minutes, and then slowly ease!. Cramps may affect any muscle, but are most common in the calves, feet, and hands!. While painful, they are harmless, and in most cases, not related to any underlying disorder!. Nonetheless, cramps and spasms can be manifestations of many neurological or muscular diseases!.

The terms cramp and spasm can be somewhat vague, and they are sometimes used to include types of abnormal muscle activity other than sudden painful contraction!. These include stiffness at rest, slow muscle relaxation, and spontaneous contractions of a muscle at rest (fasciculation)!. Fasciculation is a type of painless muscle spasm, marked by rapid, uncoordinated contraction of many small muscle fibers!. A critical part of diagnosis is to distinguish these different meanings and to allow the patient to describe the problem as precisely as possible!.

Causes

Normal voluntary muscle contraction begins when electrical signals are sent from the brain through the spinal cord along nerve cells called motor neurons!. These include both the upper motor neurons within the brain and the lower motor neurons within the spinal cord and leading out to the muscle!. At the muscle, chemicals released by the motor neuron stimulate the internal release of calcium ions from stores within the muscle cell!. These calcium ions then interact with muscle proteins within the cell, causing the proteins (actin and myosin) to slide past one another!. This motion pulls their fixed ends closer, thereby shortening the cell and, ultimately, the muscle itself!. Recapture of calcium and unlinking of actin and myosin allows the muscle fiber to relax!.

Abnormal contraction may be caused by abnormal activity at any stage in this process!. Certain mechanisms within the brain and the rest of the central nervous system help regulate contraction!. Interruption of these mechanisms can cause spasm!. Motor neurons that are overly sensitive may fire below their normal thresholds!. The muscle membrane itself may be over-sensitive, causing contraction without stimulation!. Calcium ions may not be recaptured quickly enough, causing prolonged contraction!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

Like it hurts and you feel shity lolWww@Answer-Health@Com





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