Lucky, lucky, lucky.
The classic, normal spasm that I call a
"Charlie horse" (for reasons unknown) is an
involuntary, intense, and painful contraction
of a muscle or part of a muscle, usually a
hamstring or calf muscle. I believe it is the
result of not "cooling down" after a workout;
the lactic acid left in the tissue later
causes the contraction, often at night. The
fix is to stretch the muscle, often by walking.
The spasms resulting from my spinal insult are
usually less intense and involve more than one
muscle. Mine usually flex the joint(s); some
people have extensor spasms; when they do both
the joint becomes stiff. Mine, for example,
used to yank my heels up to my butt during the
night. No longer, but I sleep most comfortably
with the legs deliberately flexed. When I wake
I find it difficult to extend the legs. I also
have a dozen other such quirks. These are more
unfomfortable than painful, but recently I
have had intensely painful spasms in the left
buttocks concurrent with similar spasms in the
left outer calf. Mandy's were stiff and painful.
My doctor attributes the cause to inhibitory
signals not getting through.
Alton, whose left leg occasionally slams upward
into the keyboard shelf [otherwise there wud
nvr bee tipig errrs]