Charley horse - wikipedia Charley horse `` Dead leg '' redirects here ; in engineering, a `` dead leg '' is a redundant length of pipe through which flow is impossible because one end is sealed. Charley horse Specialty Sports medicine Charley horse ( or charlie horse ) is a popular colloquial term in Canada and the United States for painful involuntary spasms or cramps in the leg muscles, typically lasting anywhere from a few seconds to about a day. It is less likely to refer to a bruise on an arm or leg and a bruising of the quadriceps muscle of the anterior or lateral thigh, or contusion of the femur, that commonly results in a haematoma and sometimes several weeks of pain and disability. In this latter sense, such an injury is known as dead leg. Dead leg and Charlie horse are two different kinds of injuries. Dead leg is when someone or something hits your leg making it go numb. A charlie horse is when your muscles contract without warning, and can last from a few minutes or a few days. In Australia it is also known as a corked thigh or corky. It often occurs in contact sports, such as football when an athlete suffers a knee ( blunt trauma ) to the lateral quadriceps causing a haematoma or temporary paresis and antalgic gait as a result of pain. Contents 1 Cause 2 Treatment 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links Cause The term can also be used to refer to cramps in the foot muscles. These muscle cramps can have many possible causes directly resulting from high or low pH or substrate concentrations in the blood, including hormonal imbalances, dehydration, low levels of magnesium, potassium or calcium ( although the evidence has been mixed ), side effects of medication, or, more seriously, diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and neuropathy. They are also a common complaint during pregnancy.. Being physically un-fit can also be a main causing factor for the Charley Horse. Treatment Relief is usually given by either massaging or stretching the foot, ankle or knee in the opposite direction of the spasm. Colloquial advice suggests that dietary deficiency of potassium, found richly in bananas and many vegetables, is a common cause of these spasms. Notes Jump up ^ corked thigh, mydr.com.au Jump up ^ Schwellnus MP, Nicol J, Laubscher R, Noakes TD ( 2004 ). `` Serum electrolyte concentrations and hydration status are not associated with exercise associated muscle cramping ( EAMC ) in distance runners ''. Br J Sports Med. 38 ( 4 ) : 488 -- 492. doi : 10.1136 / bjsm. 2003.007021. PMC 1724901. Jump up ^ Sulzer NU, Schwellnus MP, Noakes TD ( 2005 ). `` Serum electrolytes in Ironman triathletes with exercise - associated muscle cramping ''. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 37 ( 7 ) : 1081 -- 1085. doi : 10.1249 / 01.mss.0000169723.79558.cf. Jump up ^ Allen RE, Kirby KA ( 2012 ). `` Nocturnal Leg Cramps ''. American Family Physician. 86 ( 4 ) : 350 -- 355. Jump up ^ Miller TM, Layzer RB ( 2005 ). `` Muscle cramps ''. Muscle Nerve. 32 ( 4 ) : 431 -- 42. doi : 10.1002 / mus. 20341. PMID 15902691. Jump up ^ Young GL, Jewell D ( 2002 ). Henderson S, ed. `` Interventions for leg cramps in pregnancy ''. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews ( 1 ) : CD000121. doi : 10.1002 / 14651858. CD000121. PMID 11869565. References Shulman, D. Whence `` Charley Horse '' ?. American Speech, Vol. 24, No. 2 ( Apr., 1949 ), pp. 100 -- 104. Tonbridge, St. V. `` Charley Horse '' Again. American Speech, Vol. 25, No. 1. ( Feb., 1950 ), p. 70. Woolf, H B. Mencken as Etymologist : Charley Horse and Lobster Trick. American Speech, Vol. 48, No. 3 / 4. ( Autumn -- Winter, 1973 ), pp. 229 -- 238. External links Classification ICD - 10 : M62. 831, R25. 2 ICD - 9 - CM : 728.85 External resources MedlinePlus : 002066 Look up charley horse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. What works ? Research summarized at PubMed Health. Myopathy ( M60 -- M63, 728.0 -- 3, 8 ) Pain Myalgia Fibromyalgia Inflammation Myositis Pyomyositis Lytic Muscle weakness Rhabdomyolysis Muscle atrophy / Amyotrophy Other Myositis ossificans Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva Compartment syndrome Anterior Diastasis of muscle Diastasis recti Muscle spasm Symptoms and signs : nervous and musculoskeletal systems ( R25 -- R29, 781.0, 781.2 -- 9 ) Primarily nervous system Primarily CNS Movement disorders Dyskinesia : Athetosis Tremor Gait abnormality Scissor gait Cerebellar ataxia Festinating gait Marche a petit pas Propulsive gait Stomping gait Spastic gait Magnetic gait Lack of coordination Dyskinesia : Ataxia Cerebellar ataxia / Dysmetria Sensory ataxia Dyssynergia Dysdiadochokinesia Asterixis Other Abnormal posturing : Opisthotonus Sensory processing disorder : Hemispatial neglect Facial weakness Hyperreflexia Pronator drift Primarily PNS Gait abnormality Steppage gait Antalgic gait Primarily muscular Movement disorders Spasm Trismus Fasciculation Fibrillation Myokymia Cramp Gait abnormality Myopathic gait Trendelenburg gait Pigeon gait Other Tetany Meningism Primarily skeletal Rachitic rosary Clubbing Primarily joint Joint locking Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charley_horse&oldid=843075277 '' Categories : Muscular disorders Colloquial terms Hidden categories : Infobox medical condition ( new ) All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Dansk Deutsch فارسی हिन्दी 日本 語 Suomi Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 26 May 2018, at 18 : 06. 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Question: where does the expression charlie horse come from
Answer: Canada and the United States