COMMON MUSCLE PROBLEMS Almost everyone has
experienced a painful muscle cramp or II charley horse." When a muscle is
exercised too violently, especially one that has had relatively little use, it
may react by going into painful cramp. It contracts-and does not relax. A
charley horse will clear up if the involved muscle is rested. Warm baths will
help. Two tablets of aspirin by mouth every four hours will also be useful in
relieving the pain. Muscle twitching’s can stem from varied causes, usually
minor, such as temporary fatigue, overwork of a group of muscles, nervousness,
or insomnia.
If
the twitches, become frequent or painful
and/or if they involve the face, and produce grimaces? you should discuss them with your physician without
delay. Consult your physician, too, if you experience frequent or painful
muscle cramps, especially cramps at night, which sometimes wake people from
sleep as they produce intense pain in the calf of the leg or elsewhere. The
most common muscle injury is strain, caused by the overworking of muscles. This
is the type of muscle soreness that may follow a long bicycle ride or an afternoon
of working in the garden, become sore and the tendons ache. Usually, no real
damage is done and a warm bath and good rest will provide relief.
OTHER MUSCLE PROBLEMS Muscles may be affected
by various diseases. Some are intrinsic ailments of the muscles themselves,
such as muscular dystrophy. Muscles waste away if the nerves connecting them
with the brain are damaged, as happens in polio and other afflictions of the
nerves and spinal cord. If a stroke damages a part of the brain controlling an
arm or leg, then the muscles of the limb may atrophy from disuse. Similarly, in
severe diseases of the joints or bones, there may be inability to move a limb,
which then causes secondary wasting of the muscles. These problems are
discussed in connection with various diseases in later sections of this book.
