Lamig! Filipino word for muscle spasm

In the Filipino “lamig” means coolness or cold. The reference is mainly made when a muscle feels hard to touch and is painful due to the hardness. It is called a lamig because the hilots or traditional barefoot healers claim that this hard muscle is the result of being exposed to cold weather or a sudden loss of heat in the muscle, resulting in a loss of circulation or spasm like change in the muscle.

The scientific version is that this is a muscle spasm, myofascitis or a trigger point.

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The solution to a lamig is to rub or massage the affected muscle until it softens and the pain is subsided. Also, topical agents that produce heat such as Eucalyptus oil or ginger that make up medicated patches can make the area feel hot. Rationale is to treat something cold with something hot. Works for me!

As a Doctor of Chiropractic I am familiar with the distinction between a muscle spam and a muscle compensation to an underlying unstable joint. When a lamig is just that, a transient temporary muscle spam, just about anything will help. Muscle are red and rich in blood supply; so the body will eventually increase circulation to the muscle and the lamig will self resolve.

When the muscle spam keeps returning to the same place, then we are talking about something entirely different. There has to be a physiological reason for this to repeat over and over again; when everything that should work, just doesn’t seem to get the job done. As noted above, an underlying joint instability or misalignment is frequently the culprit. A chiropractic evaluation is the most effective process to identify what is causing the muscles to always stay hard and to locate the underlying misalignment that is responsible. Then, when the joint is restored to normal movement, the muscle can finally calm down and stop reacting or compensating. Makes sense eh!

Yours in Health,
docMIKE