Why do random part of our body spasm?
In: 7715
And why does it happen more if we are tired?
Your brain works by moving salt ions through the cell walls of its neurons. Your muscles work in a similar way.
Sometimes, your body gets a little extra salty near one of your nerves (bundles of neurons that carry neural signals between your brain and the rest of your body). That extra salt makes the nerve think that the brain is trying to send a signal (because from the nerve’s perspective that’s basically impossible to differentiate), so it sends a signal down to the nerve’s end.
If that nerve happens to be connected to a muscle, then that muscle will twitch. But because the section that started the impulse was only a little extra salty and likely did not hit all neurons in the bundle at the same time, it only makes the muscle twitch a little instead of a big, full muscle flex.
([here’s the /r/askscience version](https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/2yeqfr/when_muscles_twitch_uncontrollably_very_slightly/))
Thank you for your timeliness on this question. Over New Years weekend I consumed an insane amount of Liquid IV to avoid/fix hangovers, and the following few days I experienced consistent muscle twitches in random places including what felt like my kidney. I even experienced heart murmers, and got out of bed slightly dizzy. My sleep was awful, to boot.
The top answer here seems to reveal that salt carrying cells trigger muscle spasms at nerve endings, and I’ve learned I may have overdosed on salt/electrolytes. I didn’t know this was possible.
If you naturally have high blood pressure, this can be particularly bothersome if not dangerous. Lesson learned, balance your electrolyte/salt intake – several Liquid IVs per day or over the span of a few days can lead to undesirable effects and make you feel worse depending on your health condition.
I notice that something is twitching but when I try to touch or look at it, it completely dissapears like the twitching was never there.
Wow thank you for this. I’ve occasionally had these twitches but my google-fu wasn’t strong enough to figure out what’s going on.
So is a charlie horse a really bad twitch relating to this salt concentration or is that something different?
Doanyone get a mini needle point pain and then a sudden twitch somewhere else? es
Magnesium deficiency is a really common problem! Take your magnesium or eat more green veggies.
Hey, congratulations, you have [Benign Fasciculation Syndrome!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benign_fasciculation_syndrome) It’s totally harmless. Welcome to the club, fellow twitcher.
In my case my random twitches are related to my epilepsy. Currently in the process of working with an epileptologist to find the right combination of drugs to stop them without the side effects making it too hard to function.
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