Muscle spasm, natural causes and treatments

Contracture is the most common muscle injury although in many cases has very effective home treatments, you must be well diagnosed.

What are contractures?

The contractions are muscle injuries caused by an overload of the affected muscle. Hence the name of this lesion is presented with pain limiting movement and swelling of the area because the contracture involuntary muscle remains contracted and constantly.

Muscle spasm

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Areas are often most affected by contractures

  • In the back:Lumbar (lower back pain or back pain) and neck (cervical pain)
  • On the legs:Knees, calves and buttocks.
  • In the arms: Biceps, triceps, forearms and fingers (new technologies)

Symptoms of contractures

Contractures have characteristic symptoms as pain in the affected area and / or involuntary muscle contraction, so that sometimes can be seen with the naked eye a lump or notice thereof to the touch.

Many times accompanied by a feeling of tightness or stiffness feel limited movement and the contracture may appear at the moment that performs harmful or after hour’s activity.

How contracture occurs?

Contracture is a muscle strain that occurs for misuse or overuse of the musculoskeletal system. Here are the main causes of contracture:

  • Sudden effort:Start doing sports or strenuous exercise without heat, running behind the bus after being while sitting, etc.
  • Constant and repetitive activity: Enter the phone or computer, iron, sand for a long time, etc.Even gently the muscles involved in the movement just overloaded and causing a contraction.
  • Poor posture or repeated long maintained:From static, such as those adopted for computer work, driving or watching TV, etc. the active and bad habits to take things from the floor, carry the stroller the child, bricks up truck, etc.

Preventing contractures

Displaying the previous section, we can imagine some suggestions on how to prevent contractures:

  • Warm up before exercising, and not just when doing sports, but even before raising shopping bags.Do it several times with increasingly more weight.
  • When repetitive activities performed by work demands or circumstances, rest periodically andchange of activity doing something else for 5 minutes every 20 to 30 minutes or so.
  • Care positions with some job security professional or physical therapist.Many of these contractures are born poor posture.
  • A catastrophic cocktail are sedentary lifestyle, stress and poor posture.Playing sports toned muscles and keep them more resilient and less contracture. Also activities such as yoga, pilates, tai-chi, etc. They stretch and tone muscles without intense activity. Avoid stress if possible, is critical because it generates muscle tension and poor posture calls defensiveness, as shrug, close the chest, etc.

Natural therapies for contractures

Massage: Professional massage, in its many variations, is one of the best natural remedies and preventative for contractures for both athletes and sedentary people.

Epson salts baths: A bath of hot water with 250g. Epson salts and 5 drops of the following oils: marjoram, rosemary and lavender.

Hydrotherapy: A nice natural remedy is hydrotherapy, especially if one has the possibility of going to a spa.

Phytotherapy for contractures

Meadowsweet, devil’s claw and willow: Both infusion as in capsule or extract have equal benefit allowing you to use the option that is most comfortable. These herbs help fight inflammation and pain. Check doses (and convenience) in the herbalist.

Milk Thistle: It is a great purifier of the liver, which reflects the muscles according to Chinese medicine. 100 g infusion is prepared. Seed in 1 liter of water, boiled, stand 15 minutes, take 3 times daily. Prevent hypertension.

Our advice

If you have back problems and tension are commonplace in you we recommend that you put in the hands of professionals in physical therapy. They can guide you to learn to use your body more efficiently and perhaps solve the problem 70%. They can also bring you other solutions to contractures.

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