Many people suffer from involuntary muscle spasm while they are asleep. This is also known as hypnagogic jerk. This term is also related to the transitional period between wakefulness of an individual and sleep.
Other terms for hypnagogic jerk are sleep starts and hypnic jerks. There are different types of muscle spasm that occurs in various individuals in different form. This condition can occur in an individual spontaneously or can include internal stimuli.
Some people also include light or sound in the process. There are many people who get into these types of situations accompanied by dreams and hallucinations. There is a sensation of loud noises arising from the inside of individual’s head.
According to the researchers, sleep search is a very common phenomenon. According to the report published by the eminent researchers, 60 to 70 percent of people experienced the same. Some people may not even know but they easily get panic jerks at night.
When they get up in the morning, they forget everything which happened to them at night. But, it is unbearable for individuals who get twitches. Few people wakes up due to this twitches whereas some does not.
Muscle twitches also go by the name of fasciculation, is a case when there is a small amount of contraction and relaxation which takes place under our skin.
Muscle twitches occurs mainly due to an instant depolarization of the lower muscles of our neuron, leading to contraction in the skeletal system with a single unit. There can be quite a lot of reasons for muscle twitch but there are ways to cure muscle twitches as well.
Reasons for twitch while falling asleep
Scientists have found out many reasons for twitches in many individuals while they are asleep. Some of the reasons are:
- Fatigue
- Stress
- Sleep deprivation
- Anxiety
- Caffeine
There are different theories that come out from the mind of many scientists and researchers dealing with the same subject.
According to one hypothesis, hypnagogic jerks are a natural way of body transition that lies between the alertness to sleep. This also occurs when the nerves misfires during the process.
People can also come across another idea that takes the shape of more evolutionary approach. This explains that, spasm is basically the ancient and primate reflex to the relaxation of muscles when an individual falls asleep.
Brain makes a misinterpretation the sign of relaxation. According to the brain, sleeping primate is just like falling out of a tree due to which the muscles quickly reacts.
How to avoid twitching?
People treat twitching of muscles in different ways. Some of the ways of avoiding this types of situations include:
Drinking water
One of the best ways to avoid muscle twitch will be to drink plenty of water. This will help in replacing the electrolytes when you are sick or are in the process of exercising.
People may come across much skeleton spasm due to depletion of electrolytes or dehydration. Thus, drinking plenty of water will be a wonderful way of overcoming such situation.
Stretching muscles
Since you are aware of the area where the twitches is taking place, stretching that particular muscle with your body movement will easily help you in stopping painful spasm.
Heating pads
You can now use the heating pads for getting relaxation. This will help the muscle stop spasm. If the pain is repeatedly increasing on a regular basis, showing doctor will be an important step.
Eat a balanced diet
With a healthy diet and a good lifestyle anything can be cured, such is the case in terms of muscle twitches. All you need to do is follow a very simple balanced diet regime.
- The first and foremost rule of following a balanced diet is to include a generous amount of fresh fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits and vegetables are a great source of healthy vitamins and fibers which enhance the working of the entire metabolic system.
- Another important way is the consumption of whole grains. Whole grains are enriched in quite a lot of healthy proteins and nutrients that we need in our day to day lives for the smooth functioning of the body. Also, whole grain provides us with a good amount of carbohydrates that helps as a energy booster for our body.
- Another way is to imbibe a considerate amount of protein to the regular diet from sources like chicken and tofu. These are called lean fat enriched food.
Get adequate sleep
In our day to day lives it is a necessity to have a proper sleep of at least 6 to 8 hours every night to lead a healthy lifestyle. Sleeping not only gives a rest to the eyes but it takes away the body’s stressed out part and restores the natural energy. Sleeping helps in restoring the body’s nervous system balance and it heals too.
Manage stress
Stress can lead to a lot of unhealthy habits to our lives. It can affect our hormones leading to an abnormality in the proper functioning of our body.
Thus it is mandatory to remove stress from our lives and in order to do so there are quite a variety of relaxation techniques which includes like medication, yoga, or Tai Chi.
Trying out these relaxation exercises can be very beneficial to our overall health, so it should be done at least thrice a week.
Quit smoking
Smoking is never a good option for our health. That is why it is essentially a good thing to leave the disgusting habit of smoking. Smoking not only injures our health by affecting our major organs but it also affects our nervous system. Smoking reduces the metabolic endurance too.
Switch medications
If you find uneasy discomforts then it is always a good option to consult your doctor. Your doctor will be able to prescribe you with various sort of medication that will be effective enough to cure the muscle twitching.
Diagnosing the cause of muscle twitching
Your doctor will ask a variety of questions about the muscle twitching during your appointment, as in:
- The starting of the time when the muscle twitching began
- The place of occurrence of the muscle twitches
- The frequency of the occurrence of muscle twitches
- The time of lasting of muscle twitches
- Apart from the muscle twitches the occurrence of any other symptoms
Apart from asking the general questions, your doctor will also prescribe physical tests to get the proper medical scenario about the muscle twitching. The physical examinations can be like:
- an MRI scan
- a CT scan
- Electromyography to check the condition of the general medical status of the muscles and the nerve cells.
Treatment for muscle twitching
Usually muscle twitches do not require health treatments but if it lasts for a couple of days then you should consider about medical treatment. The treatment will include several kinds of drugs like:
- corticosteroids, such as betamethasone which also goes by the name of Celestone and then there is another drug called prednisone which also goes by the name of Rayos.
- muscle relaxants drug, like carisoprodol or Soma and cyclobenzaprine or Amrix.
- neuromuscular blockers drugs, like in case of drugs called incobotulinumtoxinA which is also known as Xeomin and another drug is rimabotulinumtoxinB which also goes by the name of Myobloc.
