What Causes Muscle Spasms?

What Causes Muscle Spasms?

           

            There are several main causes of muscle spasm that we check for at Natural Health. And of course were talking about any type of muscle spasm, Charlie horse, shin splint, or just plain old muscle cramp. There are many causes of these overactive muscles and some of them are there for a specific purpose.

            Let’s start with muscle spasms due to nerve pinching from a subluxated spinal segment. On the surface it may seem like this is an aberrant phenomenon but is actually there to help stabilize the spinal area so that the nerve is not further damaged. These are normally in the spinal areas but could be affecting any of the muscles in the extremities as well. For instance a rotator cuff irritation may be coming from a spinal nerve irritation in the mid-part of the back which controls the muscles of the scapula which make up the rotator cuff. It’s important to remove this nerve interference so not only the muscle works correctly but the organs that are innovated from these nerve areas can work correctly as well.

            The other real category of muscle spasms are called cramps and this would include shin splints and Charlie horses. There are 4 main reasons for these muscle problems. The 1^st one is a lack of circulation or the area just being cold. An example is someone getting a cramp at night when you’re leg got cold as it was not covered up by a blanket. We normally use a vitamin E supplement to help the circulation here. The next cause is a lack of calcium, whether from a lack of mineral in the diet or from the body’s inability to digest and absorb the needed calcium. The next cause would be a lack of magnesium from again the lack of the mineral in the diet or the body’s inability to digest and absorb the needed magnesium. Another very common cause of shin splints, especially in the hot weather months, is a lack of salt and/or electrolytes available to the body. This happens to runners and football players and other sports players who drink only water and don’t get enough electrolytes to keep the muscles working correctly. This may also affect the heart muscle and lead to overheating and dehydration. We’ve heard for too long to stay away from salt because of high blood pressure issues but there is a moderate amount that everyone needs, especially of the right kind of salt, mainly sea salt or mineral salt.