Muscle cramp is a temporary but intense and painful involuntary contraction of skeletal muscle that can occur in many different situations. The causes of, and cures for, the cramps that occur during or soon after exercise remain uncertain, although there is evidence that some cases may be associated with disturbances of water and salt balance, while others appear to involve sustained abnormal spinal reflex activity secondary to fatigue of the affected muscles. Evidence in favour of a role for dyshydration comes largely from medical records obtained in large industrial settings, although it is supported by one large-scale intervention trial and by field trials involving small numbers of athletes. Cramp is notoriously unpredictable, making laboratory studies difficult, but experimental models involving electrical stimulation or intense voluntary contractions of small muscles held in a shortened position can induce cramp in many, although not all, individuals. These studies show that dehydration has no effect on the stimulation frequency required to initiate cramping and confirm a role for spinal pathways, but their relevance to the spontaneous cramps that occur during exercise is questionable. There is a long history of folk remedies for treatment or prevention of cramps; some may reduce the likelihood of some forms of cramping and reduce its intensity and duration, but none are consistently effective. It seems likely that there are different types of cramp that are initiated by different mechanisms; if this is the case, the search for a single strategy for prevention or treatment is unlikely to succeed.

中文翻译：

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运动过程中的肌肉爬行：原因，解决方案和尚存的问题。

肌肉痉挛是骨骼肌的一种短暂但强烈而痛苦的不自主收缩，可发生在许多不同的情况下。尽管有证据表明某些情况可能与水盐平衡失调有关，而另一些情况似乎继发于继发于运动的持续脊柱反射异常，但运动期间或运动后不久出现抽筋的原因和治疗方法仍不确定。受影响的肌肉疲劳。支持脱水的证据主要来自大型工业环境中获得的医疗记录，尽管一项大规模干预试验和涉及少量运动员的田间试验都支持这种证据。众所周知，抽筋是不可预测的，这使实验室研究变得困难，但是涉及电刺激或位置短的小肌肉剧烈自愿收缩的实验模型可能会在许多人（虽然不是全部）中引起抽筋。这些研究表明，脱水对启动抽筋和确认脊髓通路所需的刺激频率没有影响，但是它们与运动过程中自发抽筋的相关性值得怀疑。治疗或预防抽筋的民间疗法已有很长的历史；有些可以减少某种形式的抽筋的可能性，并减少抽筋的强度和持续时间，但是没有一种是持续有效的。似乎有不同类型的抽筋是由不同的机制引发的。在这种情况下，寻求单一预防或治疗策略的尝试不太可能成功。