Everyone suffers from muscle spasms from time to time. It doesn\u2019t matter if you are fit or flabby, muscle spasms are hard to avoid because it (muscle spasm) is a natural reaction of muscle tissue to trauma\/injury or overuse. But knowing how to treat a muscle spasm can make a big difference in how severe and how long the spasm persists.<\/p>\n
To effectively treat a muscle spasm, you need to know what caused the spasm\u2014for example: working out too much, falling, repetitive\u00a0lifting, sitting for long periods of time\u2014and stop\/reduce that activity.\u00a0Otherwise, you are likely to keep aggravating the muscle.<\/p>\n
Next, try to get the muscle to relax. There are several methods for reducing muscle spasms\u2014among the most<\/strong> effective are: gentle passive prolonged stretching, ice, rest, massage, and gentle exercise. I use a combination of all of them, but usually start with ice (because cold temperature forces the muscle to relax), followed by stretching , which if done properly, also forces the muscle to relax.<\/p>\n Massage\u00a0is\u00a0a good choice for persistent or severe\u00a0spasms, since it is often more effective than either ice or stretching in getting a muscle to release\/relax. Massage, along with ice,\u00a0is also very effective for reducing the muscle soreness associated with spasms.<\/p>\n Gentle exercise,\u00a0\u00a0will help the muscle \u201creset\u201d (contract in a synchronous manner). Certain exercises,\u00a0especially the\u00a0high repetition and low load type, help encourage a muscle to resume it\u2019s normal firing pattern (instead of the asynchronous, rapid pattern of spasms).<\/p>\n Once the spasm has resolved, further stretching (to increase flexibility) and strengthening are recommended to reduce the risk of the spasm returning.<\/p>\n COAST Physical Therapy Services offers an extensive range of massage therapy<\/a> from experienced and certified massage therapists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"