Clinically reviewed by What is muscle spasm
A muscle spasm is a muscle gripping tight on its own and refusing to let go. It comes suddenly, it hurts, and you can often feel a hard band or knot in the muscle while it lasts.
In Urdu it is pathon ka khinchao. A short, sharp one is a cramp. One that stays for hours or days, usually in the back or neck, is a spasm.
A spasm is rarely the whole story. It is the muscle reacting to something: dehydration, heat, overload, a held posture, or an irritated joint or nerve underneath it.
Symptoms you might have
- Sudden, gripping tightness that you cannot release by willing it
- A hard, tender lump or band you can feel in the muscle
- Calf cramps that strike at night or while stretching in bed
- Back or neck spasm that locks you in one position, so turning or straightening hurts
- The muscle feels sore and bruised for a day or two afterwards
- Cramps that come on in hot weather, late in a shift, or after heavy sweating
- With back spasm, a visible tilt to one side while it lasts
Why it happens
- Dehydration and heat, the commonest trigger in a Pakistani summer, especially outdoor or kitchen work
- Salt and electrolyte loss through heavy sweating
- A sudden amount of work or exercise the muscle is not used to
- Holding one position for hours: a motorbike, a sewing machine, a desk, a long drive
- The muscle guarding an injured area underneath, which is most back spasm
- An irritated nerve root in the neck or lower back
- Low calcium or vitamin D, both common here, and thyroid problems
- Pregnancy, kidney disease, and some medicines such as diuretics
When you should see a physiotherapist
Come in if the spasm keeps returning, if it has lasted more than a few days, or if it has locked up your back or neck. Treating the spasm alone gives short relief. Finding what the muscle reacts to is what stops it returning.
Cramps are sometimes a signal rather than the problem. See a doctor if cramps come with numbness, weakness, muscle wasting or twitching, or if they are spreading across the body. Blood tests for calcium, vitamin D, thyroid and kidney function settle many cases.
Go to a hospital the same day if one calf is swollen, warm and tender in a way that does not ease, because that can be a clot and not a cramp. Also go the same day if you pass dark brown urine after heavy work in heat.
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How it is treated
Treatment has two parts: let the muscle go, then deal with whatever made it grip. Skipping the second is why people get the same spasm every few weeks.
- Manual therapy, soft tissue release and trigger point work to break the cycle of tightness and pain
- Dry needling, which works well for a tight band that will not release with hands alone
- Hijama (cupping therapy) for broad muscle tightness across the back, shoulders and neck
- Electrotherapy and TENS to reduce the pain that keeps the muscle guarding
- Ultrasound over a localised, stubborn area of tightness
- Exercise therapy, stretching and strengthening the muscle that cramps, because a muscle that tires cramps more easily
- Work setup advice, since a muscle held in one position for eight hours a day will keep protesting
Surgery has no part in muscle spasm. If the assessment shows the spasm is guarding a disc or nerve problem, treatment shifts to that, and our lower back pain and slip disc pages cover it. Muscle relaxant tablets are a doctor's decision.
Exercises, and what to avoid
What helps
- During a calf cramp, straighten the knee and pull your toes up towards your shin until the grip lets go
- Gentle, regular stretching of the muscle that cramps, especially calves before bed
- Strengthening for the back, hips and calves, so the muscle tires less easily
- Walking and changing position every 30 to 40 minutes through the working day
What to avoid
- Lying still for days with a back spasm. Beyond a day, rest makes it stiffer and slower
- Hard massage on a muscle that has just torn or is swollen and bruised
- Jumping straight back to heavy work the day a cramp settles
- Pushing through repeated cramps in hot weather. That is the body asking for water and salt
What you can do at home
Heat is right for spasm. A hot pack for fifteen to twenty minutes relaxes a gripping muscle better than anything you can buy.
Ice is for a fresh injury, where a muscle has torn with swelling or bruising. Heat on that in the first day or two makes the swelling worse. Getting these two the wrong way round is the commonest mistake.
Drink before you are thirsty in hot months. If you sweat heavily at work, plain water alone is not enough. Oral rehydration salts, or water with a little salt, replaces what you lost.
Dates, bananas and yoghurt are easy sources of potassium and calcium.
The evidence for magnesium tablets in ordinary cramps is weak, so fix the water, salt and workload first.
How long it takes
A single cramp passes in seconds to a few minutes, and the muscle may feel sore for a day or two after.
A back or neck spasm from overload usually eases a great deal within three to seven days and settles over two to three weeks, faster with treatment and gentle movement than with rest.
Spasm that is guarding a joint or disc problem lasts as long as that problem does, often four to six weeks. The spasm is the last thing to go, not the first.
Recurring cramps linked to heat, workload or weakness usually stop within four to eight weeks once hydration, strength and work habits are corrected. If they continue, it is worth having blood tests rather than guessing.
Urdu / Roman Urdu
Choose your reading script / اپنی پسند کا رسم الخط منتخب کریں
اردوUrdu script
پٹھوں کا کھنچاؤ یعنی پٹھا اسپازم میں پاتھ اچانک سخت ہو جاتا ہے اور چھوڑتا نہیں۔ کمر، گردن اور پنڈلی میں سب سے زیادہ ہوتا ہے۔
گرمی اور پانی کی کمی اس کی سب سے عام وجہ ہے۔ گرمیوں میں محنت کرنے والوں کو صرف پانی کافی نہیں، نمک والا پانی یا او آر ایس لینا چاہیے۔ کھجور، کیلا اور دہی فائدہ دیتے ہیں۔
اسپازم پر گرم پانی کی بوتل لگائیں۔ لیکن اگر پاتھ ابھی پھٹا ہو اور سوجن ہو، تو پہلے دو دن برف لگائیں، گرمی نہیں۔
اگر کھنچاؤ کے ساتھ سن ہونا یا کمزوری ہو، یا ایک پنڈلی سوجن جائے اور گرم رہے، تو ڈاکٹر کو دکھائیں۔
Roman Urdu
Pathon ka khinchao yani muscle spasm mein path achanak sakht ho jata hai aur chhorta nahi. Kamar, gardan aur pindli mein sab se zyada hota hai.
Garmi aur pani ki kami is ki sab se aam wajah hai. Garmiyon mein mehnat karne walon ko sirf pani kaafi nahi, namak wala pani ya ORS lena chahiye. Khajoor, kela aur dahi faida dete hain.
Spasm par garam pani ki bottle lagayen. Lekin agar path abhi phata ho aur sujan ho, to pehle do din barf lagayen, garmi nahi.
Agar khinchao ke sath sun hona ya kamzori ho, ya ek pindli sooj jaye aur garam rahe, to doctor ko dikhayen.
Treatment at the clinic, and online
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Use the consultation to discuss which care and exercises fit your situation.
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Questions people ask
Why do I get calf cramps at night?
What should I do the moment a cramp starts?
Are cramps a sign of calcium deficiency?
Heat or ice for a muscle spasm?
When is a cramp something serious?
Related conditions
- Leg cramps treatment
- Night cramps treatment
- Muscle strain treatment
- Calf pain treatment
- Thigh pain treatment