# Diaphragm muscle cramp?



## Flea (Sep 28, 2009)

It started a couple months ago.  An old back tweak flared up, and then the lower back muscles tightened up in reaction to it.  The tension then climbed up my right side and settled in my abs, with a big cramp around my liver area.

I almost wondered if there was something wrong with my liver - if the cramping was pressing on it somehow.  The rest of the cramping subsided, but that little tweak is still there.

Yesterday I got it on my left side.  I don't know if it came from lifting boxes (probably!) or if it's just the stress of getting ready to move, but this time the tension crept up my left side and lodged in the corresponding spot on my left.  It's bad enough that I could barely roll over in my sleep last night.

Is it possible to get a cramp in one's diaphragm?  With any other cramp I'd give it a gentle massage, but I don't have access to that muscle without a screwdriver and some WD-40. :wink1:  And sadly, I don't really have the space to take it easy right now either.

Any suggestions?


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## Dirty Dog (Sep 28, 2009)

Flea said:


> It started a couple months ago. An old back tweak flared up, and then the lower back muscles tightened up in reaction to it. The tension then climbed up my right side and settled in my abs, with a big cramp around my liver area.
> 
> I almost wondered if there was something wrong with my liver - if the cramping was pressing on it somehow. The rest of the cramping subsided, but that little tweak is still there.
> 
> ...


 
If it was truely your diaphragm cramping, you'd find it pretty much impossible to breathe... Sure, you'd get some small amount of air movement from the intercostals, but that's not really aqequate (which is why quadraplegics with injuries like Christopher Reeves have to be on a ventilator, they have intercostal respiration but no diaphragmatic movement).

I'd say it's far more likely to be your back and lateral obliques. So step away from the screwdriver.  Heat, massage, anti-inflamatories and trying not to abuse the muscles any more ought to help it.


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## Big Don (Sep 28, 2009)

Go a couple of days without using it, you'll feel no pain...


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