question about muscles

[Rachelinpain]

what exactly is the difference between a muscle cram, a muscle spasm and a fasciculation...all the definitions seem to overlap.  just wondering what you guys have to say about that.  

recently i have been having short painful muscle contractions repetedly in the same muscle ( quad and calf in my right leg) but only a small part of the muscle and it is very deep, extremely painful...makes me scream in pain.  they are only a few seconds long and then go away for a couple seconds then back and so on over and over...sometimes lasting a few hours.  i also get lots of fasciculations but i dont know if these are all related or what.  i have alot of stiffness in that leg as well.  

just want to know what to call it when i talk to my doctor.  thanks.

[Rachelinpain]

thanks you for your posts...i did read the health pages and the info is good indeed :)  i guess i am more trying to figure out what the different things actually feel like....which i guess is all subjective anyway and everyone probably feels it differently :)

[supermum_ms]

Hi,

I'm not sure if i'm going to confuse things even more, but i tend to think of a cramp as something that happens at the ends of my limbs, so hands and feet. It also always includes twisting and or freezing along with pain that continues until i can get it to unfreeze or untwist. I do feel and experience the exact same thing in my knees but i'm not sure which camp it goes into, it sure hurts and i could say my knee caps are twisted off line, but i'm not sure about the actual machanics.

With spasms, i think muscles and only muscles, they can pulse or be rythmic like jello wobbling on a plate. The muscle movement is visible though i wouldn't say it hurts, more of an uncomfortable tightness sometimes. The only spasms that hurt me are the intercostal muscles (between the ribs) but i think its because a spasm can turn spastic and really really hurt because they are stuck in the contracted faze. When it comes to muscles i'm thinking they can all become spastic and unmoveable, which makes it very painful indeed.

The problem with the calf areas is that arteries can also produce the cramping feeling, i seem to remember something about hanging your affected leg over the edge of the bed, releaving the pain, how and why i've no idea but its worth having a go. I've tried it and it didnt help one bit, what has is stretching, stretching, and more stretching.

Hope my understanding made some sense but i'm more than happy if someone wants to point out where i've gone wrong lol. I found a site on how muscles work if you want a read http://health.howstuffworks.com/muscle.htm

Cheers.......JJ

[essdipity]

The health page Mary cites is excellent. For an earlier brief description, see also

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/Spasm-vs-cramp/show/351778

ess

[twopack]

There is an excellent Health Page on muscle tone and spaticity.  It helps to learn about the causes of each.  They can feel pretty much the same.  My spaticity often leaves me feeling stiff or like the joint is about to freeze up.

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Multiple-Sclerosis/Muscle-Tone-And-Spasticity/show/159?cid=36

Mary