spasm

1. A sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle or group of muscles.
2. A sudden burst of energy, activity, or emotion.

[Middle English spasme, from Old French, from Latin spasmus, from Greek spasmos, from spān, to pull.]

A sudden involuntary muscle twitch ranging in severity from the mildly irritating to the very painful. A spasm may be due to a chemical imbalance in muscles; massaging the area often helps to end the spasm.

noun

A violent, excruciating seizure of pain: cramp¹, paroxysm, shoot, throe. See pain/pleasure.

A sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscle group. It may cause a twitch or close a canal or passage, depending on its location.

A sudden, involuntary muscle twitch ranging in severity from merely irritating to very painful. A spasm may be due to chemical imbalance. Massaging the area may help to end the spasm.

1. a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle or group of muscles.
2. a sudden but transitory constriction of a passage, canal or orifice. Spasms usually occur when the nerves supplying muscles are irritated, and are commonly accompanied by pain. Occasionally a spasm may occur in a blood vessel, and is then called vasospasm.
Spasms vary from mild twitches to severe seizures and may be the signs of any number of disorders.

• bronchial s. — bronchospasm; spasmodic contraction of the muscular coat of the smaller divisions of the bronchi.
• esophageal s. — occurs mostly in young horses, the cause is unknown and the clinical syndrome is one of esophageal obstruction.
• inherited congenital s.'s — in Jersey calves at birth; lethal within a few weeks; characterized by intermittent, vertical tremor of the head, neck and limbs, making progression and standing impossible; conditioned by a recessive gene.
• muscle mass s. — the basic functional defect in such diseases as Elso heel, inherited periodic spasticity.
• nodding s. — clonic spasm of the sternomastoid muscles, causing a nodding motion of the head.

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

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.

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. This can lead to torn tendons and ligaments.

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

Spasms can be caused by insufficient hydration, muscle overload or absence of some minerals (such as magnesium).

See also

• Blepharospasm
• Cadaveric spasm
• Myoclonus
• Neck spasm
• Cramp
• Spasmodic dysphonia
• Seizure
• Cricopharyngeal Spasm

References

1. ^ spasm at Dorland's Medical Dictionary

External links

Look up spasm in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• NIH Medical Encyclopedia
• How Stuff Works

v • d • e Symptoms and signs: nervous and musculoskeletal systems (R25-R29, 781.0, 781.2-9) Primarily nervous system Primarily CNS Movement disorders Dyskinesia: Athetosis · Tremor Gait abnormality Scissor gait · Cerebellar ataxia · Festinating gait · Propulsive gait · Stomping gait · Spastic gait · Magnetic gait Lack of coordination Dyskinesia: Ataxia (Cerebellar ataxia/Dysmetria, Sensory ataxia) Dysdiadochokinesia · Asterixis Other Abnormal posturing: Opisthotonus Perceptual disorder: Hemispatial neglect Facial weakness · Hyperreflexia Primarily PNS Gait abnormality Steppage gait · Antalgic gait Primarily muscular Movement disorders Spasm (Trismus) · Fasciculation · Fibrillation · Myokymia · Cramp  · Restless legs syndrome Gait abnormality Myopathic gait · Trendelenburg gait · Pigeon gait Other Tetany · Meningism Primarily skeletal Rachitic rosary · Clubbing central nervous system navs: anat/physio/dev, noncongen/congen/neoplasia, symptoms+signs/eponymous, proc peripheral nervous system navs: anat/histo/physio/dev, noncongen PNS somatic/autonomic/congen/neoplasia, symptoms+signs/eponymous, proc muscle, DF+DRCT navs: anat/hist/physio, acquired myopathy/congenital myopathy/neoplasia, symptoms+signs/eponymous, proc bone and cartilage navs: anat/physio/dev, noncongen/congen/neoplasia, symptoms+signs/eponymous signs, proc

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - spasme, krampe

Nederlands (Dutch)
kramp

Français (French)
n. - (Méd) spasme, spasme, accès (de)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Krampf, Anfall

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (φυσιολ.) σπασμός, σύσπαση, (μτφ.) έξαψη, παροξυσμός

Italiano (Italian)
spasmo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - convulsão (f), espasmo (m)

Русский (Russian)
спазм, приступ, порыв

Español (Spanish)
n. - espasmo, convulsión

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - spasm, kramp, ryckning

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
痉挛, 抽搐, 一阵发作

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 痙攣, 抽搐, 一陣發作

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 경련, 발작 , 한 차례

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 痙攣, 発作, 衝動

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نوبه, تقلص عضلي لا أرادي وغير سوي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮עווית, התכווצות, התקף, התפרצות‬

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