[Crew]

I am having tremendous pain and my muscles are like "locked up" The doctor calls them spasms.
I thought spasms are your muscles twitching or massively jerking, everything is like tight no Flexed. There may be a proper term for these Extreme tight muscles because this is something my doc needs to know yet they call them muscle spasms. I have nerve pain and that isn't what the muscles feel like.

Can anyone help me out as to how to relax them and how I could explain to doctor of the actual terminology they would use.

all suggestions would be
Greatly Appreciated!,
ThaCrew

[Inny2009]

Do you have any other symptoms? Swelling? Rash? Dizziness?...When your joints lock up it could be a number of things...everything from a certain vitamin difficency...or a certain arthritis...If you have no other symptoms I would request at least a blood test for a CBC (complete blood count) and blood tests for lymes disease and arthritis...What i am doing is documenting before my doctors appointment every possible thing that could possibly be a symptom...i see black spots once in awhile but never said anything..not even to my husband..i thought it was no big deal..whats a spot...but im facing my own health issues...and doctors who dont believe me..so im bringing in the big guns...im taking pictures and making documentation..check your temperature when your joints lock up like that..check your blood pressure...pinpoint reoccurent times of day when they do. Im sorry i dont have actual terminology but if you have more symptoms i could better try to help and encourage you. Plus it will help your doctor understand how to help you...I realized if i dont tell the doctor thinking its not a symptom..it actually might be the key symptom in something...so its very important..because i would just go in and say...im in pain...they thought i was nuts...good luck! Please keep us up to date!!! If you need any more advice you can always priviate message me and i will do what i can
Inny (also a Certified Nursing Assistant going to school for LPN)

[(JD)]

Yeah, those are spasms. Most of my muscles feel like rocks they are so spasmed most of the time. In fact, my driving foot muscles spasmed yesterday during a pedicure, and I couldn't even drive to PT today!

There are a myriad of ways to ease muscle spasms. You'll just have to figure out what helps you when, you know?

I use
Tennis balls kneaded into the knotted muscle... it hurts, but that's necessary to release the muscle. Work it a bit, ease off and keep coming back to work it.

Either ice or heat directly to the spasmed area. No more than 15 minutes of it at a time, and then at least none for 15 minutes. You can keep that routine for as long as you need to...but don't use anything longer than 15 minutes or the muscles become sensitized to it and it won't work as well in the future.

Quinine. Quinine water, or some club sodas have a bit of quinine in it. I drink a few sips when my muscles contracture, and it's helps almost immediately for me. You can find it next to the club soda in your grocery store probably.

TENS unit. A prescription item that is an electrical pain killer. It scrambles the "pain" message from the nerves so the brain never registers the pain.

Stretching. This is the most important ONGOING element for me. This is why I go to PT 3x a week even after 22 years since the injury. I can't fully stretch out my muscles, even though I do home series of stretches. If your ham strings aren't stretched, for example, it will increase or cause back pain / spasms. The rest of your muscles are the same way. Get a chart of basic stretches from your doctor to do, or search online. For my current foot spasming I have to (painfully) stretch my calf muscle more (standing, etc...)

Eat a healthy diet and get good sleep. Either of these lacking and you're in for muscle spasming.

[billieJ]

Sky seems to have some excellent answers. I know what you mean by muscles being so tight they are like knotted, and you can feel the lumps in the muscles when the spasm is. Some spasms are like twitches, but then there are the kind that are like big bumps of tension, like a clenched fist. A TENS Unit or lying on tennis balls placed on the effected area helps with this. Then there are the kind that are like what we call "charlie horses" where you have to get up and walk and moan and groan until they ease up. Again, review Sky's wonderful post. She has some excellent ideas to offer. With a TENS Unit, you have to get the rubber pads placed right, use conductive gel and tape them down good and tight with tape squares made for this purpose. Without good, lasting contact, you may think the TENS is not working. You can order similar devices from catalogues, but I don't know anything about these and would have my doubts. Best bet is to get your primary doctor to refer you to a Rehab Clinic for a TENS Unit evaluation, and have him write a prescription for the device, so that insurance might pay for the TENS or at least for renting one. Tennis balls are cheaper. The muscle relaxes down over the ball. It kinda hurts but feels good at the same time. Feeling like sighing is my sign that I have the tennis ball or the TENS Unit pad placed correctly. billieJ