Is there a good definition of spasm versus cramp?
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awieleba
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caroline
can spacity feel like you calf is tight? I get that on my calf sometimes like it is tight for a long time or like there is something wrapped on it and then it feels jiggley? OH the joys of being undiagnosed! It is like trying to nail slime to a wall....
Ps I hope you are doing well in your in your new place!
april
can spacity feel like you calf is tight? I get that on my calf sometimes like it is tight for a long time or like there is something wrapped on it and then it feels jiggley? OH the joys of being undiagnosed! It is like trying to nail slime to a wall....
Ps I hope you are doing well in your in your new place!
april
lydia
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April & Olly
April,
I thought that was interesting how you described your calf as if something might be wrapped around it. For the past month or so I have been experiencing what I describe as a belt or rubber band like feeling across my lower ribs. It does not hurt, but can be very very uncomfortable. It may stick around for only a half hour or all day.
Anyways, that wasn't my point, this is: I feel as if something like an ace bandage is sometimes lightly wrapped around the top part of my calf right under my knee and also around my elbow-extending maybe three inches above and below elbow. When I have that feeling, it feels odd (stiff?) to move the elbow/knee. Is that what stiff joints feel like, I wonder? Olly, could that be what mild spasticity might feel like (sorry for my endless questions on it)? Sometimes I think it feels like it might be swollen but looks no different.
And one more comment, I just had to smile when you (April) described your calf as jiggley. Sometimes my calf is hard as rock. For no reason. You can poke it and it doesn't wiggle at all, and other times you can and it it flaps back and forth (like the dreaded upper arm thing). Jiggley.
Lydia
April,
I thought that was interesting how you described your calf as if something might be wrapped around it. For the past month or so I have been experiencing what I describe as a belt or rubber band like feeling across my lower ribs. It does not hurt, but can be very very uncomfortable. It may stick around for only a half hour or all day.
Anyways, that wasn't my point, this is: I feel as if something like an ace bandage is sometimes lightly wrapped around the top part of my calf right under my knee and also around my elbow-extending maybe three inches above and below elbow. When I have that feeling, it feels odd (stiff?) to move the elbow/knee. Is that what stiff joints feel like, I wonder? Olly, could that be what mild spasticity might feel like (sorry for my endless questions on it)? Sometimes I think it feels like it might be swollen but looks no different.
And one more comment, I just had to smile when you (April) described your calf as jiggley. Sometimes my calf is hard as rock. For no reason. You can poke it and it doesn't wiggle at all, and other times you can and it it flaps back and forth (like the dreaded upper arm thing). Jiggley.
Lydia
olly
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hello again
when your muscles are rock hard and limbs stiff this is due to muscle spasms.
spasticity effects also balance and causes more rigidity.
spasticity would produce clonus and other neurological signs,that is why it is possible to have spasms but no clonus.
spasticity and weakness go hand in hand,that is after a period of spasticity were muscles are rigid then the muscles can go soft/jiggley and weak then the spasms start again and so on...........this is spastic paralysis.
i get a tight band feeling round my ankles sometimes,had it since i first became ill.
those with ms get this feeling but after 7yrs of serial mri,s ms was ruled out.
but ms patients also get lesions of the grey matter/umn area as well as the white matter,and suffer from muscle spasms as well.
i learn alot from my pt that my neuro does not explain.
the move was stressfull and still bits to do but we are more sttled in.
i have a disabled home now with a shower room,low cuboards and light switches ect for wheelchair users also 24hr carelink for in case of a emergencey.
i can still get round with walking aids but will need a wheelchair in the future for inside,soon for outside as my legs especially the lower left is getting too weak to move.
april,you are soooooooooo funny
when your muscles are rock hard and limbs stiff this is due to muscle spasms.
spasticity effects also balance and causes more rigidity.
spasticity would produce clonus and other neurological signs,that is why it is possible to have spasms but no clonus.
spasticity and weakness go hand in hand,that is after a period of spasticity were muscles are rigid then the muscles can go soft/jiggley and weak then the spasms start again and so on...........this is spastic paralysis.
i get a tight band feeling round my ankles sometimes,had it since i first became ill.
those with ms get this feeling but after 7yrs of serial mri,s ms was ruled out.
but ms patients also get lesions of the grey matter/umn area as well as the white matter,and suffer from muscle spasms as well.
i learn alot from my pt that my neuro does not explain.
the move was stressfull and still bits to do but we are more sttled in.
i have a disabled home now with a shower room,low cuboards and light switches ect for wheelchair users also 24hr carelink for in case of a emergencey.
i can still get round with walking aids but will need a wheelchair in the future for inside,soon for outside as my legs especially the lower left is getting too weak to move.
april,you are soooooooooo funny
olly
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spasticity feeling of a limb?
as i have said the feelings you get with muscle spasms are pain,tightness,stiffness.
with spasticity it feels different and have been trying to think of explaining how it feels.
so here goes..............say you have spasticity in one of your legs,it is like someone on either end of your leg is pushing hard and crushing it length ways.
i am guessing it is because the spasticity is causing your tendons to shrink that it feels like this.
this is why stretching helps as you are stretching the tendons back out.
i do this but can only hold the stretch for upto 30seconds which gives a bit of relief,as soon as i stop the feeling is there again.
does that make any sense?
as i have said the feelings you get with muscle spasms are pain,tightness,stiffness.
with spasticity it feels different and have been trying to think of explaining how it feels.
so here goes..............say you have spasticity in one of your legs,it is like someone on either end of your leg is pushing hard and crushing it length ways.
i am guessing it is because the spasticity is causing your tendons to shrink that it feels like this.
this is why stretching helps as you are stretching the tendons back out.
i do this but can only hold the stretch for upto 30seconds which gives a bit of relief,as soon as i stop the feeling is there again.
does that make any sense?
quiksilver
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ALS Twitches Cannot be Stopped?
Is it true that ALS twitches cannot simply be stopped by a quick flexing of the arm or change of position right? I feel like everyone has twitches, but ALS type twitches are occuring because a muscle area is dying and the surrounding muscles fibers are trying to help out...right? I get twitches all the time, but they go away if I flex my arm of massage it a bit. Am I on target?
Is it true that ALS twitches cannot simply be stopped by a quick flexing of the arm or change of position right? I feel like everyone has twitches, but ALS type twitches are occuring because a muscle area is dying and the surrounding muscles fibers are trying to help out...right? I get twitches all the time, but they go away if I flex my arm of massage it a bit. Am I on target?
BethU
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QS ... I have never found a way to stop the twitches, nor have I heard of anybody who did. If you are able to massage or flex your twitches away, you ain't got ALS.
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