What is the Difference Between Muscle Fatigue and Muscle Cramps

The key difference between muscle fatigue and muscle cramps is that muscle fatigue is the lowered ability to produce force with muscles, while muscle cramps are painful involuntary contractions and tightening of the muscles.

Muscles in the human body help movement and bodywork. Different types of muscle have different types of functions. Muscle disorders are diseases that affect the human muscle system. These disorders show various symptoms such as muscle weakness, breathing issues, dizziness, fatigue, muscle cramps, muscle wasting, high fever, a stiff neck, numbness or tingling, double vision, droopy eyelids, problems with swallowing, and problems with walking. Muscle fatigue and muscle cramps are two different symptoms that occur in muscle disorders.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Muscle Fatigue
3. What are Muscle Cramps
4. Similarities – Muscle Fatigue and Muscle Cramps
5. Muscle Fatigue vs. Muscle Cramps in Tabular Form
6. FAQ – Muscle Fatigue and Muscle Cramps
7. Summary – Muscle Fatigue vs. Muscle Cramps

What is Muscle Fatigue?

Muscle fatigue is the lowered ability of muscles to generate force. Muscle fatigue can be caused by strenuous activity, aging, cancer, stroke, rhabdomyolysis, obesity, inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, sepsis, burns, HIV, chronic kidney failure, and muscular dystrophies. The characteristics of muscle fatigue may include a gradual lessening of the power of the muscle’s contractions, muscle weakness, and slipping the form during strenuous exercises.

Muscle fatigue can be diagnosed through medical history and physical examination. Furthermore, muscle fatigue can be treated through a well-balanced diet, hydration, and aerobic workouts.

What are Muscle Cramps?

Muscle cramps are involuntary contractions of a muscle that occur suddenly without relaxation. They are usually harmless and can be caused by not getting enough blood flow to muscles, nerve compression, and not enough minerals. Moreover, the characteristics of muscle cramps include involuntary contractions that last for seconds to minutes, severe discomfort, leg swelling, muscle weakness, and not getting better with self-care.

Muscle cramps can be diagnosed through physical examination, blood tests, urine tests, and imaging tests such as MRI. Furthermore, treatment options for muscle cramps may include drinking plenty of fluid, stretching muscles, applying heat or cold, and alternative medicines such as taking vitamin B and other vitamins.

What are the Similarities Between Muscle Fatigue and Muscle Cramps?

• Muscle fatigue and muscle cramps are two different prominent symptoms of muscle disorders.
• Both are not life-threatening.
• Both can be diagnosed through physical examination and treated through specific therapies.

What is the Difference Between Muscle Fatigue and Muscle Cramps?

Muscle fatigue is the lowered ability to produce force with the muscles, while muscle cramps are painful involuntary contractions and tightening of the muscles. Thus, this is the key difference between muscle fatigue and muscle cramps. Furthermore, muscle fatigue can be caused by strenuous activity, aging, cancer, stroke, rhabdomyolysis, obesity, inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, sepsis, burns, HIV, chronic kidney failure, and muscular dystrophies. On the other hand, muscle cramps are caused by not enough blood flow to muscles, nerve compression, and not enough minerals.

The infographic below presents the differences between muscle fatigue and muscle cramps in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

FAQ: Muscle Fatigue and Muscle Cramps

What causes muscle fatigue?

Muscle fatigue can be caused by lack of exercise, ageing, muscle injury, pregnancy, or other health-related conditions.

What happens if you have muscle fatigue?

When you have muscle fatigue, your muscle movements will decrease, making you feel weaker.

How do you heal muscle fatigue?

Muscle fatigue can be healed mainly by having healthy diets and fluids to stay hydrated and doing aerobic workouts.

Summary – Muscle Fatigue vs. Muscle Cramps

Many different problems can directly affect the muscles in the body, causing muscle disorders. Muscle disorders can show numerous symptoms. Among them, muscle fatigue and muscle cramps are two different symptoms of muscle disorders. Muscle fatigue is the lowered ability to produce force with the muscles. As a result, it can limit the performance of athletics and other strenuous or prolonged activities. Muscle cramps are painful involuntary contractions and tightening of the muscles. They can happen due to the loss of body fluids through sweat or due to holding a position for a long period of time. It may be due to insufficient blood flow as well. So, this summarizes the difference between muscle fatigue and muscle cramps.

Reference:

1. Wan, Jing-Jing, et al. “Muscle Fatigue: General Understanding and Treatment.” Experimental & Molecular Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
2. “Muscle Spasms (Muscle Cramps): Causes, Pain Relief & Treatment.” Cleveland Clinic.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Signs of Heat Illness, Muscle cramps” By Pacific Northwest Agriculture (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DEED) via Flickr
2. “A Man Having Lower Back Pain” (CC0) via Pexels