Why do charley horses (the type of painful muscle cramp) seem to mostly happen while you’re asleep?
In: Biology
When it happens to me, it’s always when I’m just waking up.
I stretch as usual, but then I mistakenly make a movement that stretches a muscle too much (e.g. bend my foot downward to stretch my tibialis anterior next to my shin, then curl my toes when my muscle is still stretched, thus stretching it more). As a reflex, the muscle reacts to overstretching by forcefully contracting to avoid being ripped apart. This causes the cramp.
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