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A spasm is a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle, [1] a group of muscles, or a hollow organ, such as the bladder. A spasmodic muscle contraction may be caused by many medical conditions, including dystonia. Most commonly, it is a muscle cramp which is accompanied by a sudden burst of pain. A muscle cramp is usually harmless and ceases ...
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Compression of a trigger point may elicit local tenderness, referred pain, or local twitch response. The local twitch response is not the same as a muscle spasm. This is because a muscle spasm refers to the entire muscle contracting whereas the local twitch response also refers to the entire muscle but only involves a small twitch, no contraction.
A strain is a type of acute injury that occurs to the muscle or tendon. Similar to sprains, it can vary in severity, from a stretching of the muscle or tendon to a complete tear of the tendon from the muscle. Some of the most common places that strains occur are in the foot, back of the leg (hamstring), or back. [2]
Myoclonus is a brief, involuntary, irregular (lacking rhythm) twitching of a muscle, a joint, or a group of muscles, different from clonus, which is rhythmic or regular. Myoclonus (myo-"muscle", clonus "spasm") describes a medical sign and, generally, is not a diagnosis of a disease.
Muscle cramps, stiffness, spasm, and contracture can also be associated with myopathy. Myopathy experienced over a long period (chronic) may result in the muscle becoming an abnormal size, such as muscle atrophy (abnormally small) or a pseudoathletic appearance (abnormally large).
Dead legs and charley horses are two different types of injuries: A charley horse involves the muscles contracting without warning, and can last from a few seconds to a couple days. A dead leg often occurs in contact sports , such as football, when an athlete suffers a knee or other blunt trauma to the lateral quadriceps causing a haematoma or ...
Muscle stiffness may also be present; if muscle weakness is not also present, and cramps are more severe, the stiffness may be categorized instead as cramp fasciculation syndrome. [3] Cramp fasciculation is a variant of BFS which presents with muscle pain and exercise intolerance. [2] [4]