Muscle Tension: Causes, Treatment & Help

Muscle tension is a common occurrence in our civilized world. The neck, shoulders and back are usually affected. But muscles are located throughout the body and everywhere they can tense up.

What is muscle tension?

Muscle tension is cramping and sometimes already hardening of muscle parts that are under constant tension. Muscle tensions are cramps and partly already hardenings of muscle parts, which stand in constant tension. Anyone who is “under power” automatically tenses various muscle parts in the body. If this is not followed by relaxation, permanent tension develops. The result is painful muscle tension. This can even be so painful that physical activity is no longer possible. Patients lie flat and can no longer do their work. Often, this pain is misinterpreted by the layperson and misdiagnosed as a herniated disc, for example.

Causes

There are various reasons for muscle tension. The well-known trigger stress plays a major role here. Stress at work as well as stress in the private sphere due to internal conflicts. Also money worries and grief often entail a corresponding posture. If this phase lasts longer, posture damage develops over time. It is high time to do something about this! If the bad posture is not corrected, it manifests itself as chronic muscle tension. Even such mundane things as an older mattress that can no longer perform its orthopedic service can come into question as causes of muscle tension. An unsuitable chair at work can also trigger tension. Cold causes muscles to contract and, in extreme cases, can even result in a torn muscle fiber. Muscle strains develop slowly from years of improper use or all of a sudden when muscles are overworked by unaccustomed movements.

Diseases with this symptom

  • Muscle fiber tear
  • Muscle strain
  • Vertebral blockage
  • Scoliosis
  • Herniated disc
  • Lumbago

Diagnosis and course

Muscle strains can be very painful. To prevent them from becoming chronic, the muscle area should be treated accordingly. The sprain happens suddenly due to overstretching of the ligaments and tendons. It can happen in everyday life or during sports. The muscle strain is an overstretching of the muscles or tendons. It usually occurs due to sudden overuse. If left untreated, chronic muscle strain can be the cause of muscle atrophy.

Complications

Muscle twitching causes many people to experience internal stress. In particularly severe cases, anxiety and panic set in as the organism takes an uncontrollable action that leads to overwhelm. Although the muscle twitching is not perceived by outsiders in most cases, the affected person believes that his counterpart perceives the twitching and that he is being observed. This often results in sufferers feeling unwell and weak. In this case, an additional feeling of stress aggravates the suffering. This is often accompanied by inner restlessness, hecticness or nervousness. In this condition, sufferers may not perform as well as they should when carrying out everyday tasks. Forgetfulness sets in and blood pressure rises. People with a cardiovascular problem may suffer a heart attack in severe cases. Muscle twitching is a sign of a deficiency in the organism. If this is ignored for too long, further complaints occur or the muscle twitching increases. If the affected muscle is immobilized by surgery, damage to the nerves may occur during the procedure. These trigger pain or cause a feeling of numbness in the affected region. Other muscle fibers may suffer injury or an allergic reaction may occur as a result of your surgery. The muscle twitching attracts an immediate attention of the affected person. His thoughts begin to circle and he is distracted.

When should you go to the doctor?

A normal and harmless muscle tension does not require a visit to the doctor. Provided that it lasts only for a short time – a few days at most – and then disappears, the affected person can decide for himself what is good for him during this time. However, it is advisable to have recurring or regular muscle tension clarified by a doctor.An otherwise healthy person will be able to tolerate them, but ultimately they are harbingers of possible serious skeletal and muscular problems. These can develop into serious health problems in the long term. A timely visit to the doctor helps to eliminate triggers of regular muscle tension and to show the patient how to take better care of his health. Under no circumstances should the patient wait if the nerves are affected. This manifests itself through troubling symptoms such as dizziness, headaches and migraines, lightheadedness and similar signs. It may even be that an affected person does not feel any muscle tension at all, but only the accompanying symptoms. The cause is that a nerve has been pinched or pinched, which is difficult to release on its own. Specialists or even some general practitioners, on the other hand, can detect where the problem lies by palpation and can eliminate it with a few adjusting movements. Seeing a doctor isn’t just important for the patient’s well-being – it protects them from potentially dangerous situations they can get themselves into with symptoms like dizziness.

Treatment and therapy

Chiropractic treatments and physical therapy] are at the forefront of treatment for muscle tension. Misalignments need to be corrected. Manual therapy is only one option in this regard. However, it is very effective. The learning effect is of great advantage. Patients can then practice the exercises at home and improve them on their own. Those who have the discipline and do regular exercises will benefit and have stable health. Heat treatments loosen the tense tissue. Mud packs also help to loosen the tense muscles. Supporting special massages come into question. Treatment with infrared light, either by the doctor or by the patient himself, is another way of treating tension. Warm baths with relaxing additives loosen lighter cramps and have a supporting effect in any case. A visit to the sauna causes a holistic warming of the body and loosens the tense muscles, tendons and ligaments. For medicinal treatment, effective preparations are available in the form of tablets, injections, ointments and heat-generating plasters. If stress at work is the order of the day, relaxation exercises can help. This can sometimes prevent the cramps from occurring in the first place. A magnesium supplement also does a good job of helping the muscles stay loose or become loose. Homeopathy offers further treatment options. Various naturopathic treatments and acupuncture have also proven effective.

Outlook and prognosis

Muscle tension usually progresses positively and resolves within a few days. If the tense muscle tissue is loosened by massage or similar measures, a rapid and complete recovery can be expected. In the case of chronic muscle tension, where the affected muscles are severely hardened or knotted, treatment is sometimes lengthy and complicated. Acute therapy, usually in the form of strong painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, does relieve pain and reduce feelings of tension in the muscles. In the long term, however, the complaints persist and have to be treated again and again. If the tension is caused by a serious condition, such as a muscle disease, it can worsen and sometimes cause life-threatening conditions if not treated comprehensively or too late. Tension associated with headaches, nausea and vomiting, or migraines also increases the risk of accidents and falls. In principle, however, muscle tension is a harmless phenomenon that can usually be treated quickly and effectively with today’s therapeutic methods. The prognosis is generally positive; serious sequelae or permanent consequences are extremely rare.

Prevention

To prevent muscle tension, several things can be observed and exercised. Warming up should always precede physical activity, such as sports. Warmth also protects against muscle tension in normal everyday life. It makes sense to protect yourself from the cold in winter with a scarf, a hat and other warm clothing. Targeted muscle relaxation can be learned. This technique should be used when necessary to protect the muscles. On cold days, a warm relaxing bath often does the trick.Helpful herbs for this are lavender, lemon balm and lime blossom.

What you can do yourself

There are several home remedies that are used to relieve muscle tension. Acute tension can often be relieved by heat pads or cold compresses, depending always on the timing of the treatment. In the first 48 hours, cold applications have an analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect. Twenty-four hours after the onset of muscle pain, heat treatments help relax the muscle and speed the recovery process. Often, chronic tension can also be treated with the help of heat. Hot water bottles, red lights or heating pads relax the muscles and relieve tension, while the hot stone method, which involves massaging the skin with hot stones, provides relief through pressure. Cherry pit pillows and warm compresses have a similar effect. Furthermore, muscle tension can be treated with the help of relaxing baths. Bath additives such as sage, lavender or chamomile additionally stimulate blood circulation and thus relieve tension. In addition, alternative remedies can also be considered. Homeopathic remedies such as bryonia or cimicifuga help against acute complaints, while chronic suffering can be alleviated by acupuncture. In the case of chronic or particularly severe tension, as well as any vascular disorders, appropriate measures should always first be discussed with the family doctor.