Muscle Pain: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention

What is pain in a muscle?

Myalgia is the medical term for muscle pain that is caused by an injury, infection, disease, or other health problem. You might feel a deep, steady ache or sharp pains that come and go. Some people have pain in their muscles everywhere, while others only have it in certain places. Muscle pain is different for each person.

Who could experience muscle pain?

Muscle pain can happen to people of all ages and both sexes. You may get delayed-onset muscle soreness if you try a new physical activity or change how you work out (DOMS). 6 to 12 hours after a workout, your muscles may hurt for up to 48 hours. As the muscles heal and get stronger, you feel pain.

What else can happen besides muscle pain?

Besides muscle pain, you might also have: 

• Joint pain.
• Muscle cramps.
• Muscle spasms.

What hurts the muscles?

There are many things that can cause muscle pain, such as:

• Autoimmune diseases.
• Neuromuscular disorders.

What autoimmune diseases cause muscle pain?

When the body’s immune system attacks itself, this is called an autoimmune disease. Germs and infections can be fought off by a healthy immune system.

Autoimmune diseases that cause muscle pain include:

• Myopathies that cause inflammation, like inclusion body myositis and polymyositis
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)

What kinds of infections cause pain in the muscles?

Infections from bacteria and viruses can make your whole body hurt. Depending on the cause, you may also have a fever and feel sick. Your lymph nodes may also be swollen.

There are several kinds of infections that can cause muscle aches.

• Colds and flu
• Infections like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are spread by tick bites.
• trichinosis (a foodborne illness) (a foodborne illness).

What kinds of injuries can hurt your muscles?

When you use the same muscles at work or during exercise over and over again, you may end up with sore muscles.

Other injuries that can lead to sore muscles are:

• strains in the stomach.
• Sprains and strains of the back
• Broken bones and serious wounds
• Repetitive movements can lead to myofascial pain syndrome (overuse).

What kinds of drugs make muscles hurt?

Some medicines and treatments can cause short-term or long-term pain. Some medicines cause inflammation (myositis) around muscle cells or turn on pain receptors in muscles. Among these treatments are:

• There are many ways to treat cancer, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and other drugs are used to treat high blood pressure.
• Statins are used to lower cholesterol.

What neuromuscular disorders cause muscle pain?

Neuromuscular disorders are conditions that affect the nerves that control the muscles. They can cause pain and muscle weakness. Among these conditions are:

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is another name for the disease that killed Lou Gehrig.
• It is also called MD.
• Grave Myasthenia.
• Spinal muscle wasting (SMA)

What other things can hurt muscles?

• There are also other things that can cause muscle pain, such as:
• Cancers like sarcomas (cancers of soft tissue) and leukaemia (blood cancer).
• Syndrome of constant tiredness.
• This is called compartment syndrome (a buildup of pressure in the muscles).
• Electrolytes are minerals in your blood, like calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. When they are out of balance, you can get sick.
• Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).
• Disease of the peripheral arteries (PAD).
• Tension and stress.

How do doctors figure out what’s wrong when someone has muscle pain?

If you have muscle pain and don’t know what’s causing it, or if the pain is severe or lasts for a long time, your doctor may order tests like:

• Blood tests to look for infections and check enzyme, hormone, and electrolyte levels.
• MRI or CT scan to look for damaged or injured muscles.
• Electromyography checks how nerves and muscles use electricity.
• A muscle biopsy will be done to look for changes in muscle tissue that could be signs of neuromuscular diseases.

How do you deal with or treat muscle pain?

Depending on what’s wrong, the following steps might help you feel better:

• Rest and raise the area that hurts.
• Switch between ice and heat packs to reduce swelling and improve blood flow.
• Take a warm shower or a warm bath with Epsom salts.
• Take the painkillers you can buy over the counter (aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and Pain O Soma). Pain O Soma Medicine is also available online from Woodstock Family Medicine.
• You could try massage, meditation, or acupuncture, as well as other treatments.

When should I make an appointment?

If any of the following happen, you should call your doctor:

• Chest pain.
• Loss of control of the bladder
• Weakness in muscles.
• New or getting worse pain
• limbs that feel numb or tingly