Treatment for Muscle Tension
When muscles contract, stiffen, or tighten, it results in muscle tension. Muscle contraction occurs when you need to perform an activity. The brain sends a signal to the muscle in that part of the body and the muscle contracts. As soon as you’re done with that activity, the muscle relaxes. When the muscles don’t relax it causes muscle tension.
What causes muscle tension?
Stress
When the body is stressed, the nervous system mounts more pressure on the blood vessels, which leads to a reduced flow of blood to the muscles. This ultimately limits the amount of oxygen and allows for the buildup of biochemical waste.
The pressure of stress causes the muscles to tense up, but they soon relax after the stress goes away. In cases of chronic stress, where stress lasts for a longer time, the muscles will stay contracted and cause prolonged pain.
Overuse
Muscle tension could develop as a result of the repetitive performance of the same activity. Muscles should be moved in different directions to continue to function optimally.
People who often have muscle tension as a result of overuse engage in sporting activities like football, boxing, and hockey. To avoid muscle tension caused by overuse, one should exercise so that the muscles don’t perform repetitive movements.
Inadequate warm-ups
Muscles are like kids; you have to wake them up at morning and prepare them for school or else they’ll spend the day at home. Muscles need to be prepared for major activities and stretching them can help reduce the chances of muscle injury. That is why athletes engage in warm-ups before each sporting activity.
Diseases and conditions
Muscle tension may also be triggered by the presence of a disease in the body. It could be a symptom of Fibromyalgia, malaria, chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmune diseases, or a side effect of Statin drugs.
How muscle tension is treated
Treatment methods vary depending on the cause of the pain. Some conditions would require simple home remedies, while more serious cases would require medication.
How muscle tension is diagnosed
Your doctor would ask for your medical history. The essence of providing your medical history is to aid diagnosis and treatment. Without this, it may be difficult to correctly diagnose muscle rigidity or any condition at all.
Your doctor would also perform a physical exam that may be followed by blood tests and scans to determine if there are underlying conditions responsible for the muscle rigidity.
