Last updated: Wed, Jun 21, 2017
Several types of muscle spasms are believed to be caused by spinal reflexes. One is the muscle cramp. Local irritation in a muscle may be caused by cold, overuse, or lack of blood flow. This can cause signals to the spinal cord from the muscle that then lead to reflex contraction of the muscle. If contraction of the muscle increases the sensory signals, the cramp may be sustained by the reflex reaction of the spinal cord.