Table of Contents
- Muscle spasm facts
- What are the different types of muscle?
- What is skeletal muscle?
- What is smooth muscle?
- What is a muscle spasm?
- What causes muscle spasms?
- What causes muscle spasms? (Part 2)
- What causes muscle spasms? (Part 3)
- What are the symptoms and signs of muscle spasms?
- How are muscle spasms diagnosed?
- How are muscle spasms treated?
What is skeletal muscle?
Skeletal muscles are anchored to bone, either directly or by a tendon. When the muscle contracts, the associated body part moves. This allows arms to lift, legs to run, and the face to smile. Most of these muscles are under willful or conscious control of the brain. This type of muscle is striated or striped with dark-colored muscle fibers containing large amounts of myoglobin, the protein that helps carry oxygen and light-colored fibers that have lesser amounts of the protein. The contraction of a skeletal muscle requires numerous steps within its fibers and cells. The nutrients required to produce energy, oxygen, electrolytes, and glucose are supplied by the bloodstream.