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CRAMP
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CRAMP , a painful spasmodic contraction of muscles, most frequently occurring in the limbs, but also See also:apt to affect certain See also:internal See also:organs. This disorder belongs to the class of diseases known as See also:local spasms, of which other varieties exist in such affections as spasmodic See also:asthma and See also:colic. The cause of these painful seizures resides in the See also:nervous See also:system, and operates either directly from the See also:great See also:nerve centres, or, as is generally the See also:case, indirectly by reflex See also:action, as, for example, when attacks are brought on by some derangement of the See also:digestive organs. In its most See also:common See also:form, that of cramp in the limbs, this disorder comes on suddenly, often during See also:sleep, the patient being aroused by an agonizing feeling of See also:pain in the See also:calf of the See also:leg or back of the thigh, accompanied in many instances with a sensation of sickness or faintness from the intensity of the suffering. During the See also:paroxysm the See also:muscular See also:fibres affected can often be See also:felt gathered up into a hard See also:knot. The attack in See also:general lasts but a few seconds, and then suddenly departs, the spasmodic contraction of the muscles ceasing entirely, or, on the other See also:hand, See also:relief may come more gradually during a See also:period of minutes or even See also:hours. A liability to cramp is often associated with a rheumatic or gouty tendency, but occasional attacks are common enough apart from this, and are often induced by some See also:peculiar posture which a See also:limb has assumed during sleep. Exposure of the limbs to See also:cold will also bring on cramp, and to this is probably to be ascribed its frequent occurrence in swimmers. Cramp of the extremities is also well known as one of the most distressing accompaniments of See also:cholera. It is likewise of frequent occurrence in the See also:process of parturition, just before delivery. This painful disorder can be greatly relieved and often entirely removed by firmly grasping or briskly rubbing the affected See also:part with the hand, or by anything which makes an impression on the nerves, such as warm applications. Even a sudden and vigorous See also:movement of the limb will often succeed in terminating the attack. What is termed cramp of the See also:stomach, or gastralgia, usually occurs as a symptom in connexion with some form of gastric disorder, such as aggravated See also:dyspepsia, or actual organic disease of the mucous membrane of the stomach. The disease known as Writer's Cramp, or Scrivener's Palsy, is a spasm which affects certain muscles when engaged in the performance of acts, the result of See also:education and See also:long usage, and which does not occur when the same muscles are employed in acts of a different See also:kind. This disorder owes its name to the relative frequency with which it is met in persons who write much, although it is by no means confined to them, but is liable to occur in individuals of almost any handicraft. It was termed by Dr See also:Duchenne Functional Spasm. The symptoms are in the first instance a gradually increasing difficulty experienced in conducting the movements required for executing the See also:work in hand. Taking, for example, the case of writers, there is a feeling that the See also:pen cannot be moved with the same freedom as before, and the See also:handwriting is more or less altered in consequence. At an See also:early See also:stage of the disease the difficulty may be to a large extent overcome by persevering efforts, but ultimately, when the See also:attempt is persisted in, the muscles of the fingers, and occasionally also those of the forearm, are seized with spasm or cramp, so that the See also:act of See also:writing is rendered impossible. Sometimes the fingers, instead of being cramped, move in a disorderly manner and the pen cannot be grasped, while in other rare instances a kind of See also:paralysis affects the muscles of the fingers, and they are powerless to make the movements necessary for holding the pen. It is to be noted that it is only in the act of writing that these phenomena See also:present themselves, and that for all other movements the fingers and arms possess their natural See also:power. The same symptoms are observed and the same remarks apply mutatis mutandis in the case of musicians, artists, compositors, seamstresses, tailors and many See also:mechanics in whom this See also:affection may occur. Indeed, although actually a rare disease, no muscle or See also:group of muscles in the See also:body which is specially called into action in any particular occupation is exempt from liability to this functional spasm. The exact See also:pathology of writer's cramp has not been worked out, but it is now generally accepted that the disease is not a local one of muscles or nerves, but that it is an affection of the central nervous system. The complaint never occurs under See also:thirty years of See also:age, and is more frequent in See also:males than See also:females. Occasionally there is an inherited tendency to the disease, but more usually there is a See also:history of alcoholism in the parents, or some neuropathic See also:heredity. In its treatment the first requisite is See also:absolute cessation from the employment which caused it. Usually, however, See also:complete See also:rest of the See also:arm is undesirable, and recovery takes See also:place more speedily if other actions of a different kind are regularly practised. If a return to the same work is a See also:necessity, then See also:Sir W. R. Gowers insists on some modification of method in performing the act, as writing from the See also:shoulder instead of the See also:wrist.
CRAMP-RINGS, rings anciently worn as a cure for cramp and " falling-sickness " or See also:epilepsy. The See also:legend is that the first one was presented to See also:Edward the See also:Confessor by a See also:pilgrim on his return from See also:Jerusalem, its miraculous properties being explained to the See also: A service was held; prayers and See also:psalms were said; and See also:water " in the name of the See also:Father, Son and See also:Holy See also:Ghost " was poured over the rings, which were always of See also:gold or See also:silver, and made from the See also:metal that the king offered to the See also:Cross on Good Friday. The ceremony survived to the reign of See also:Queen See also:Mary, but the belief in the curative powers of similar circlets of sacred metal has lingered on even to the present See also:day. For an See also:account of the ceremony see F. G. Waldron, The See also:Literary Museum (See also:London, 1792) ; see also Notes and Queries, vol. vii.,1853 vol. ix., 1878. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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