Although muscle spasms are harmless in principle, they hinder movement at that moment, which can be very harmful, if not dangerous, for an athlete. Cramps are most often caused by long periods of exercise or physical work, especially during intense sweating.
How do you know it’s a muscle spasm?
Every spasm fulfills two conditions:
- The pain occurs suddenly and is very sharp you can feel contracted muscle tissue at the site of the spasms
- Muscle spasm patterns are varied:
- excessive use of one muscle (a large number of sets or heavy weights)
- dehydration (lack of water and electrolytes)
- muscle stretching
- maintaining the same position for a longer period (retention)
In a large number of cases, the precise cause of spasms remains unknown.
Based on this, we can conclude that cramps most often occur in athletes who train in warm conditions (gym or during the summer), do not stretch enough and do not rehydrate. The second most common moment for getting cramps is during sleep.
Although you can usually resolve a muscle spasm yourself, you should still see a doctor in the following cases:
- spasm leads to severe discomfort (pain, inability to walk, etc.)
- cramps are common
- spasm does not go away with the usual measures of treatment alone
- cramps cannot be associated with intense physical work (training)
A muscle spasm is usually harmless, but it can also be a symptom of some pathological conditions:
Inadequate blood supply. Narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the leg (eg, atherosclerosis) can cause a cramp-like condition. Namely, leg pain occurs after just a few steps. This problem can be solved by regular physical activity (walking, for example), which will “blow” the blood vessels and improve circulation.
Nerve compression. Pressure on the nerve exiting the spine (lumbar canal stenosis) can also cause cramp-like pain. The pain is usually worse as soon as you start walking, while walking in a slightly bent position (forward) reduces the symptom. In order to rule out this condition, it is sometimes enough to do only an x-ray of the lumbar spine.
Lack of minerals. We often talk about mineral deficiency as the cause of cramps. It is mainly about potassium, calcium and magnesium, which you should definitely pay attention to if you have a leg cramp. Regular supplementation with some mineral supplement will prevent cramps from occurring for this reason. Low potassium can be the result of the use of diuretics or diarrhea, low calcium can be the result of wrong nutrition, while magnesium is mostly lost during exercise.
Muscle spasms can occur as part of diseases of the nerves, kidneys, thyroid gland, hormonal disorders, low blood sugar and iron.
If the cramps are frequent and painful, you can ask your doctor to recommend some muscle relaxants, but do not take them on your own because they have serious side effects. The best prevention is stretching after training and good rehydration. Also give the muscle enough rest time between two series, but also between two training sessions.
