What is muscle contracture?
A contracture is a spontaneous, prolonged and involuntary contraction of one or more skeletal muscles, without damage to muscle fibers. If the contracture is transient, it is called a cramp , but in any case, for the duration of the attack, the muscle is hard to the palpation and painful.
The treatments include: rest and application of cold, massages and physiotherapy. If the contracture occurred during a major sporting effort, stopping sport for 4 to 7 days is essential.
As soon as the first muscle cramp appears, make sure that you drink enough water, even if it is not hot (1 to 1.5 liters of water in addition to the drinks at meals) .
Muscle cramp is a sudden, involuntary, painful contraction of muscles. It can occur during an effort, just after it, but also at rest. It is a very intense muscle spasm that persists. It is located on one or more muscles which stiffen at the time of the cramp.
It occurs suddenly, lasts a few seconds or minutes and then disappears without any consequences. Most often the cramp has no specific cause. However, it can be favored by a lack of warm-up during a sports event or a bad stretching afterwards, a lack of hydration, a lack of trace elements or minerals, certain pathologies, stress, etc. It is possible to relieve your muscles by stretching them; it is even better to combine this stretch with a massage with essential oils.
Nighttime leg cramps usually occur in the calf and cause plantar flexion of the foot and toes.
Other conditions can mimic cramps :
The most common leg cramps are :
They include the following :
The assessment of muscle cramps focuses on identifying what can be treated. In many cases, a disorder contributing to cramping has already been diagnosed or is causing other symptoms that are more bothersome than cramping .