What is with the popcorn legs?

I've had a "pop" here and there in my life, you know when your calf twitches or something. But lately...maybe in the last week or two?...my legs, especially my left, and the bottom of my feet in the arch are just POPPING, specifically after I've been on them for awhile or exercised. What is UP with that? It feels like kernels of corn are popping just under my skin, all along my calf and the sides and soles of my feet.

Anyone else have popcorn legs? I thought I'd seen a post about this, but I searched and couldn't find anything. What is it? Is it twitches? Big ones that you can see? They don't "wriggle" the way I've seen fasciculations described-- they "pop"!

Bio

[MCBCON]

Sounds like how my legs feel when I forget to take my meds on time.  This feeling is wha I get a little while before the big time pain kicks in.  The pop corn feeling tells me that I better hurry and take my drugs.

[Lulu54]

Bio, Funny you wrote about this because I do have popping in my knee.  It happens in particular with certain Tai Chi positions, but not all the time.  I wrote about this in my journal about my first tai chi classes.  

It goes away, but tonight it was back again.  My knee is not strained, dislocated or otherwsie injured but it makes this very loud "pop, pop, pop" sound much like the popcorn your described. AND everyone in class can hear my knee going off!


I wonder if someone else has this problem or if it even is a problem?
Lu

[biowham]

Lu, I don't know if it's the same thing? Yours sounds like joints--and my knees are unquestionably crackly. But this is popping (no sound, just feeling) in the muscles, always in these specific places. Is yours in muscle around your knee?

Bio

[Lulu54]

I don't think mine is the joint itself - there is intense popping motion that goes along with the sound.  Like a rubber band that is stretched tight and then plinked ... I have crackly knees too but this is totally different.  Too bad you don't have the special effects of the sound to go with the sensations.  

After I hit the post button it registered with me that we're probably talking apples and oranges here,
Lu

[MCBCON]

Mine is in the muscle.  It is not a noise, but rather the feeling poping.

[biowham]

MCBCON--sounds just like mine.

Lu--at least it's all fruity. ;-)

Bio

[Nancy T]

I posted in the past (somewhere; maybe another forum) about what I named "popcorn butt."

As soon as I'd return from my neighborhood walk (40 minutes of moderate to fast walking), when I would sit down or just stand still, after a few seconds all the muscles across my rear and adjacent areas would start "popping" as you describe--it felt just like popcorn popping, fast random twitches across that whole area. It would stop after a minute or two, maybe.

I don't get that anymore, perhaps because I can no longer walk fast.

Nancy

[diemyn]

That is a great way to describe the feeling. I get it esp when I lay down or walk for a little bit.

[shoshin]

I get some kind of localized vibrating/throbbing kind of thing that doesn't look like it's moving. Mostly in my upper right thigh, but sometimes around my right knee or a toe on my left foot. I think this used to happen once in a while, but recently I've been getting this quite a bit (it's happening right now in fact), usually only when I'm sitting. It seems to go away if I move, but when I stop it comes back again. It's not exactly popping, though, in that it feels like a bigger area is moving all together, so I don't know how much this helps.

sho