Causes and Risk Factors of Muscle Cramps

People often suffer muscle cramps in feet, hands, arms, abdomen and sometimes along the entire rib cage. Such cramps are characterized by severe pain that lasts for a few seconds or even up to 15 minutes. However, in some cases there are recurring bouts of cramping that continue for a period of time.

Actually, muscle cramps are involuntary and forceful contractions of the muscles that results in hard bulging muscles and pain. The pain continues while the muscle remains locked in spasm. Muscle twitching, known as fasciculation, is caused by contractions of local involuntary muscles. In most cases, only individual muscle groups linked with specific motor neurons are affected due to muscle cramps.

Most often, the muscles that span two joints are prone to cramps. Cramps can also affect the skeletal muscles. Some of the most common groups of muscles affected by cramps is the front thigh muscle (quadriceps), back of lower leg/calf muscle (gastrocnemius) and inner thigh muscle (hamstring).

Causes of Muscle Cramps

According to some researchers, cramps are caused due to muscle fatigue or undesired stretching that results in breakdown of the muscle. This in turn leads to the malfunction of the mechanism that controls muscle contraction. Some of the other causes of cramping include excessive dehydration or intense heat. A common cause of muscle cramping is a nutrient imbalance that leads to the depletion of certain electrolytes, such as sodium, magnesium, calcium and potassium. This causes the muscles to become irritated. A nutrient imbalance can be caused by poor nutrition.

Here are some of the common causes of muscle cramps:

- Dehydration
- Heavy exercise
- Pregnancy
- Heat Cramps
- Muscle fatigue and/or injury
- Electrolyte imbalance
- Excessive perspiration

Rare causes of muscle cramps:

- Inflammatory disorders such as Polymyositis
- Drugs such as Lithium
- Alcohol
- Tetanus
- Bacterial infection
- Muscle metabolism disorders
- Dermatomyositis - cause multiple muscle cramps

The expansion and contraction of muscle fibers causes movement. The muscle fibers are lengthened due to stretching especially during tough exercises. If someone starts rigorous exercise without performing stretching exercises, his muscles are fatigued, which in turn leads to changes in spinal neural reflex activity and the electrical signals are mixed up.

Chances of the occurrence of muscle cramps are more likely in hot weather. The body can become dehydrated due to sweating, which reduces the supply of essential salts and minerals such as calcium, potassium and magnesium.

Sometimes due to over-exertion, the oxygen supply in muscles is reduced and this produces waste products and spasm. As the cramp occurs, the spinal cord stimulates the muscles to continue contraction leading to intense pain.

It is important to know that in most cases, muscle cramps are not life-threatening. However, these cramps sometimes indicate the symptoms of other ailments such as atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries). Therefore, it is important that the symptoms be diagnosed in time to prevent potential long-term health issues. Regular cramping or severe cramping that lasts longer than a few minutes should always be investigated by your doctor.