A muscle contracture refers to the spontaneous action that is carried out in a muscle by an effort greater than that which it is capable of performing, so that it responds immediately, causing a series of symptoms, among which the following stand out:
- Swelling or inflammation of the area of muscle contracture.
- Intense pain.
- Inability to move.
- Changes in muscle function.
Muscle contracture appears when you have performed an extreme exercise activity and you do not limit yourself, but rather you continue to exercise with more force until the first symptom of it appears, lifting weight, maintaining the same position for a long time, among others.
In addition to everything, they appear before, during or after the actions that we are carrying out without prior notice or even while at rest, reaching the point of feeling the involuntary movement of the muscle and resulting in muscle contracture.
What do you need
- Mild exercises.
- Massages that bring the muscle to its place.
- Take care of inflammation.
- Intense pain in the affected part.
- Excess fatigue.
- Poor blood circulation.
- Blows or injuries.
- Metabolic foods.
- Relaxation.
Instructions
The contracture is pain caused by performing an activity above the effort that we must maintain, having as a final consequence the inflammation of the same and subsequent pain that manifests itself for various reasons, among which are mentioned below:
- Sedentary lifestyle a person who does not perform any physical activity, and makes a greater effort than the muscle can withstand, may feel muscle contracture.
- Seniors. This is because the muscles have lost their tone and as a consequence this problem can occur.
- Stress. It occurs in those who keep the body in tension, taking into account the feeling of said parts in cramps.
- Bad posture. A job that requires many hours in the same position, they are also prone to contractures.
- Extreme sports. Practicing extreme sport forces athletes to work hard with their muscles, pushing them to the limit of what they can.
More about muscle contracture
- Before starting to list many causes of muscle contracture, the first thing you should do is exercise slowly if you have never done so, in addition to providing your body with a balanced diet that does not hinder blood flow throughout the body.
- The muscles should not be pushed to the limit in extreme situations, so prevention is the ideal when it comes to taking care of each part of our body, especially if it is exposed to situations of stress, anxiety or situations of extreme tension.
- The warm-up. Before doing any sports activity, getting up in the morning, walking or doing daily work, the possibility of establishing a warm-up with which the muscles will respond without problems should be taken into consideration.
- Make a physical effort without first warming up the body, when cold, it can be fatal for the entire organism from each organ, muscle or bone, leading to injuries or problems with contracture, feeling pain at the very moment of the action.
- Toning the muscles can help you get what you need so that it works without problems if you feel a great impact that disturbs the physical development of any activity, for this reason helping you to have flexibility will make the muscle dilate and contract without problems. With this you will have the possibility of having strong, adaptable and sufficiently elastic muscles that provide you with the necessary energy to avoid contracture, since the muscle accustomed to physical effort are the one that will be stabilized.
- Appearance of contracture. The contracture can appear at any time, so you have to be aware when you feel it and not panic, especially if you are performing actions in the water such as swimming or exercising with accessories such as cycling.
Do not try to find solutions in a self-medicated way, the first thing to take into account is:
- Go to the specialist.
- Do not massage to bring the muscle to its place.
- Do not take pain killers.
- Keep stable and without moving the part with muscle contracture.
- contracture treatments
- The first thing is to go to the specialist and let him or her tell you what kind of contracture you have and the treatment to follow.
- Anti-inflammatories to relax and at the same time reduce the affected muscle, in addition to analgesics prescribed by the treating doctor.
- Warm water cloths. They relax the muscles affected by the contracture.
- Massages by an expert. The massages help to relax the muscle, bringing it little by little to its place, relieving the symptoms of the contracture.
Types of muscle contracture
Muscle contracture can be found in several different types depending on the moment in which the effort is made; so you have:
- During an effort: when you make a physical effort, the body itself generates substances that must be discarded immediately, but due to the intensity it cannot be done quickly enough and that is when the muscle contracture arises due to the retention of these substances.
- After work: the tiredness of the muscles when they are taken to extreme work, many times makes them not return to their initial position, leaving them with the possibility of swelling and causing pain immediately, appearing the contracture.
- Residual: they usually appear after some type of injury, in which the patient is unable to stretch to their normal and initial position and therefore a contracture can be made on top of what they have, be it a sprain, fracture, among others.
- Of posture: they are those that are performed after a long time in the same position, having as a consequence that the muscle goes into tension and the pain comes from the affected part, which can be a pain in the neck, cervical problems, among others.
- Spasms: they are derived from a weak musculature and a greater effort is required to finish a job, work or sports activity and it is then that the contraction occurs, taking into account that the person needs to warm up the muscle before any work.
- Dehydration: muscle contraction due to dehydration is the result of a bad night’s sleep, generally after having ingested alcoholic beverages; it usually occurs in the neck and with headache, vertigo or intense dizziness.
Variable symptoms
The symptoms of a muscle contracture can be different from one person to another, in addition to manifesting unevenly, especially in any part of the body where the pain occurs.
- back pain
- Muscle contracture can appear as a consequence of back pain, leading the person to reduce movements in addition to having to rest completely while the problem is present, with various treatments for it.
- It usually appears when the muscles that protect the spine are required to do an excessive job or action that goes far beyond what it can do, responding naturally to it through pain and inflammation, it is like a tear
- Disruption in a job held can lead to serious spinal problems with chronic back pain, which needs proper management and treatment of the injury. For this reason, in the event of any problem of this nature, it is advisable to consult a doctor.
People prone to muscle contracture
- Muscle contracture can occur at any age, taking into consideration young people who are dedicated to exercising their body as well as older adults who feel how their muscles deteriorate over the years.
- The fact of being active in physical activity or practicing a sport does not make you exempt from having this type of condition, but if you are careless with the way you carry out sports activities, take into account that excess also results in instability of parts of your body.
Shoulder, neck and cervical problems
- The contracture that arises in these parts of the neck, shoulders and cervical body have to do with the work activities to which you dedicate yourself, therefore if you are a person who spends many hours in front of the computer you will have to deal with this problem.
- You feel a lot of pain in these parts of the body and you should think about performing massages to relieve tension without resorting to any analgesic treatment, since they are often not necessary to improve the contracture problem.
Children and muscle contracture
- Children are prone to cervical muscle contracture, due to sitting for a long time with video games or other types of current technology devices that have them in the same position for many hours a day.
- To mitigate this, consideration should be given to making a schedule for games, homework, school activities, among many others that can prevent this problem at an early age, especially when they do not attend to eating well, exercising and maintaining a sedentary lifestyle from to very young age.
Stay at rest
- When you have a muscle contracture, the body should be kept at rest to mitigate the pain and other complications do not arise that make the person feel comfortable and of course let the inflammation go down to establish improvement parameters.
- The important thing is prevention starting with changing postures from time to time, resting for 20 minutes, not exercising violently or excessively without warming up, quitting a sedentary lifestyle, changing your diet, among many other things.
Tips
- Maintain relaxation exercises to balance mind and body.
- Stretch your muscles so they don’t contract.