Spasm

For the 1993 metal album, see Spasm (album).

"Spasmodic" redirects here. For the British literary movement, see Spasmodic poets.

Muscle spasm

ICD-10	R25.2
ICD-9	728.85
MeSH	D013035

In medicine a spasm is a sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles,^[1] or a hollow organ, or a similarly sudden contraction of an orifice. It is sometimes accompanied by a sudden burst of pain, but is usually harmless and ceases after a few minutes. Spasmodic muscle contraction may also be due to a large number of medical conditions, including the dystonias.

Hypertonic muscle spasms are caused by excessive muscle tone or residual tension in a resting muscle – the amount of contraction that remains when a muscle is not actively working. Hypertonia is beyond conscious control, it does not always produce direct awareness of its presence, and it surfaces in many ways not normally associated with muscle. What may appear as skeletal, circulatory, nerve, or inflammatory distress usually begins with hypertonic muscle spasm, a condition caused by the interruption of nerve feedback loops between muscle and brain.

True hypertonic spasm is caused by malfunctioning feedback nerves, is much more serious, and is permanent unless treated. Simply put, the hypertonic muscle is muscle tone run amok – the muscles are unable to relax.

By extension, a spasm is a temporary burst of energy, activity, emotion, stress, or anxiety.

A subtype of spasms is colic, an episodic pain due to spasms of smooth muscle in a particular organ (e.g. the bile duct). A characteristic of colic is the sensation of having to move about, and the pain may induce nausea or vomiting if severe. Series of spasms or permanent spasms are called a spasmism.

In very severe cases, the spasm can induce muscular contractions that are more forceful than the sufferer could generate under normal circumstances, which can cause tearing of tendons and ligaments.^{[citation needed]}

Hysterical strength is argued to be a type of spasm induced by the brain under extreme circumstances.

Amongst causes of spasms are insufficient hydration, muscle overload, and absence of electrolytes.

See also

• Antispasmodic
• Blepharospasm
• Cadaveric spasm
• Cramp
• Cricopharyngeal spasm           
• Ejaculation
• Myoclonus
• Neck spasm
• Orgasm
• Seizure
• Spasmodic dysphonia

Notes

1. ^ "spasm" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary

External links

• NIH Medical Encyclopedia
• How Stuff Works

This medical sign article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Symptoms and signs: musculoskeletal system Medical sign stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР Synonyms: Twitch, sudden contraction (as of the muscles) / Fit, paroxysm, throe Motion blur Riemann surface Look at other dictionaries: spasm — SPASM, spasme, s.n. Contracţie involuntară bruscă (şi violentă) a unui muşchi sau a unui grup de muşchi; convulsie. ♦ Grimasă. [pl. şi: spasmuri] – Din fr. spasme. Trimis de Bogdan, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  SPASM s. (med.) 1. v. convulsie. 2.… …   Dicționar Român Spasm — Spasm, n. [F. spasme, L. spasmus, Gr. ?, from ?, ?, to draw, to cause convulsion. Cf. {Span}, v. t.] 1. (Med.) An involuntary and unnatural contraction of one or more muscles or muscular fibers. [1913 Webster] Note: Spasm are usually either… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English spasm — [spaz′əm] n. [ME spasme < MFr < L spasmus < Gr spasmos < span, to draw, pull, wrench: see SPAN1] 1. a sudden, convulsive, involuntary muscular contraction: a tonic spasm is persistent and sustained, and a clonic spasm is one of a… …   English World dictionary spasm — [ spæzəm ] noun 1. ) count or uncount a sudden movement in which one of your muscles becomes tight and painful: Athletes know that cold weather can induce muscle spasms. His muscles went into spasm and he couldn t straighten up. 2. ) count a… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English spasm — index outbreak, outburst Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary spasm — paroxysm, convulsion, *fit, attack, access, accession …   New Dictionary of Synonyms spasm — [n] twitch, fit access, attack, burst, contraction, convulsion, eruption, frenzy, jerk, outburst, pain, paroxysm, seizure, throe, yank; concepts 185,728 …   New thesaurus spasm — ► NOUN 1) a sudden involuntary muscular contraction or convulsive movement. 2) a sudden brief spell of an activity or sensation. ORIGIN Greek spasmos, from span pull …   English terms dictionary spasm — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ sudden ▪ involuntary, uncontrollable ▪ involuntary spasms of the nervous system ▪ intense, violent ▪ …   Collocations dictionary spasm — an·gi·o·spasm; bleph·a·ro·spasm; bron·cho·spasm; car·dio·spasm; chi·ro·spasm; grapho·spasm; la·ryn·go·spasm; py·lo·ro·spasm; spasm; vaso·spasm; …   English syllables 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”