Muscle Pain (Myalgia): Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

• Written by Riya Lohia

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Muscle pain, also referred to as myalgia, is a sign that you are suffering from the effects of an injury or an infection, a disease or any other problem related to your health. Body pain may be in the form of deep and steady aches in specific areas of your body or may manifest as sharp pains in random parts of your body at irregular intervals. Muscle pain is a varying experience for different people and can make even your daily activities difficult and painful. Muscle spasm may strike anyone, regardless of age and gender. Starting with new physical activity or switching your exercise routine may cause muscle cramps and muscle spasm which may start 6 to 12 hours after your workout. This muscle stiffness may last up to 48 hours. This sort of myalgia is called delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Let’s know in detail about what causes muscle pain, its symptoms and how to cure it.

What are the Causes of Muscle Pain?

Body pain causes or the causes of muscle pain may be due to many reasons. Some of the common causes are as follows:

Autoimmune Diseases

There are certain situations under which your body’s immune system mistakes certain symptoms and ends up attacking itself. Such situations are referred to as autoimmune diseases. The role of the healthy immune system is to fight infections and germs attacking your body. 

Autoimmune diseases that attack your body and end up causing muscle pain include the following:

• Different types of inflammatory myopathy diseases such as polymyositis and inclusion body myositis.
• Lupus is also known as systemic lupus erythematosus.
• Multiple sclerosis (MS),  an autoimmune disease, where the insulating covers of the nerve cells in one’s brain or spinal cord suffer from damage.

Infections

Infections caused by viruses and bacteria can cause you to suffer from aches all over your body. Depending on the cause of the infection, you may also additionally suffer from fever, nausea and swelling in your lymph nodes.

The infections which usually cause muscle pain are as follows:

• Influenza (common flu) and common cold
• Infections caused by the bite of ticks such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
• Malaria causes acute body pain, pain in your muscles and joints all over your body
• Trichinosis, a disease caused by the parasites commonly present in meat that is raw or undercooked

Injuries

Muscle injuries are caused by overuse of the same muscles or muscle groups while doing physically intensive work or while exercising. You may suffer from pain in your back muscles or may experience leg cramps as a result of over-exertion of your muscles.

The following types of injuries may also lead to muscle pain:

• Abdominal strains, commonly referred to as pulled muscles, are a condition caused by the tearing or stretching of the muscles in your stomach.
• Back strains and sprains are caused by the stretching or tearing of a ligament in your back.
• Broken bones and other traumatic injuries cause muscle pain as the muscles around the injured area try to hold the bone in place.
• Myofascial pain syndrome is caused by an overuse of muscles and causes pain in sensitive areas of the muscles.
• Tendinitis is caused by the inflammation in the thick cords called tendons which attach muscles to bones. This is normally caused by over activity.
• Tendinosis is caused by the degeneration in the collagen of the tendons caused by overuse without giving the tendon the time to rest and heal.

Medications

The side effects of certain therapies and medications may result in temporary and chronic pain, caused by a condition called myositis where the muscle cells suffer from inflammation or due to the activation of the pain receptors in your muscles. Such treatments include the following:

• Treatments for cancer include chemotherapy and radiation therapy
• Medications for the treatment of high blood pressure such as angiotensin-converting enzymes commonly called ACE inhibitors
• Medications like statins thatare used in the reduction of cholesterol levels

Neuromuscular Disorders

Disorders of the neuromuscular system cause your muscles and the nerves controlling them to dysfunction resulting in pain and weakness in your muscles. Some of the conditions causing such disorders are:

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease where the breaking down of nerve cells reduces the functionality of muscles.
• Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease causing muscle degeneration and loss of muscle mass.
• Myasthenia gravis is a disease where antibodies destroy the functional communication between the nerves and muscles as a result of which the skeletal muscles get weakened.
• Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a disorder which affects the motor neurons, the nerve cells in your spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.

Other Factors Causing Muscle Pain

There are other conditions that cause muscle pain such as:

• Cancers like those of soft tissues, sarcomas, or blood cancer – leukaemia.
• Chronic fatigue syndrome is normally caused by genetic or environmental conditions characterised by abnormal fatigue sleep patterns and pain.
• Compartment syndrome is caused by the build-up of pressure caused by internal bleeding of the swelling in tissues, decreasing the flow of blood in your body and reducing the nourishment from reaching your muscles.
• Fibromyalgia which causes pain all over your musculoskeletal system.
• The imbalance of vital electrolytes in your body such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.
• Hypothyroidism is a condition characterised by the reduction of creation and release of the thyroid hormone in your blood, also referred to as underactive thyroid.
• Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is where fatty deposits and calcium build up in the walls of your arteries, narrowing them and thus reducing the flow of blood to the limbs, causing leg pain.
• Stress when long-term or chronic in nature causes muscle tension, a condition where your muscles tense up in a reflex reaction to stress. 

Symptoms of Muscle Pain

The following are the symptoms that you will notice if you are suffering from muscle pain:

• In the case of localised myalgia, you will feel weakness or soreness in your muscles in specific areas only. You may suffer from leg cramps, pain in the back muscles or calf muscle pain.
• If you are suffering from systemic myalgia, you will experience muscle cramps and muscle pain all over your body in various muscle groups.
• You are also likely to suffer from joint pain.

Diagnosing the Causes of Muscle Pain

In case you are suffering from muscle pain which has not been obviously caused by some physical activity or particular physical exercise, or if you are suffering from chronic or severe muscle pain, you need to consult your physician. 

You may need to take certain tests including:

• Blood tests may be suggested to check for infections, or levels of hormones, electrolytes or enzymes in your blood.
• MRI tests or CT scans may be required to check if you have suffered from any damage or injury in your muscles.
• You may need to take an electromyography test to measure the levels of electrical activity in your muscles and nerves and to check for deviations from the normal levels.
• Biopsy of your muscle tissues may be required to check for diseases of your nerves or muscles which may be indicated by changes in the tissues.

How to Treat Muscle Pain?

Muscle pain may be treated in two ways:

• Home therapy
• Professional treatment

Home Therapy Treatment for Muscle Pain

Home therapy involves treating temporary muscle pain usually by taking rest, stretching the affected areas or taking over-the-counter medication to relieve you of the pain. The most common ways of dealing with pain are:

• Reduce the strain on the affected area by resting it and elevating it above your body level to regulate the flow of blood.
• Application of a cold compress with ice packs and hot compress consecutively, in turns. A cold compress acts to relieve you of your inflammation and the hot compress serves to relieve your muscle soreness by improving blood circulation.
• A shower or bath in warm water with Epsom salts serves the purpose of relaxing your muscles.
• You may take over-the-counter medication to reduce the inflammation and pain. Common medicines are ibuprofen, aspirin, naproxen and acetaminophen.
• To get even more relief and to further relax your muscles, you may try therapies such as acupuncture or massages.

The aim of home therapy is to manage and reduce your temporary muscle pain to facilitate a swift recovery. However, in spite of these measures, if you find that your pain is persisting or increasing in intensity, then you need to seek professional medical care.

Professional Treatment for Muscle Pain

A physician will require you to undergo the tests we have already discussed previously to be able to diagnose the cause of your muscle pain. Apart from specialised medicines, your physician may recommend sessions with a physical therapist or physiotherapist to help you with gentle stretches to reduce your pain.  Depending on the probable cause of your muscle pain, your physician may also refer you to a rheumatologist, an orthopaedist or a specialist in neurology or neuromuscular conditions.

In case you find yourself suffering from the following conditions, you should seek immediate medical aid:

• Pain in your chest
• Fever
• Reduced control of your bladder
• Weakness in muscles
• New pain or pain that is getting worse
• Feelings of numbness or a tingling sensation in your limbs

In Conclusion

Muscle pains are quite common and most of us will feel them every now and then. Temporary muscle pains may be reduced and may go away with home remedies. However severe and chronic and worsening pains reduce our ability to do things in our daily life. It is essential to seek professional medical assistance in the latter case.

Additionally, don’t hesitate to invest in a comprehensive health insurance plan as early as possible to remain financially stress-free during a medical emergency. Care Health Insurance offers a number of plans that are made for the people from all walks of life catering to their various health insurance needs. All you need to do is to visit our official website, navigate through these plans and choose the one that rightly fit in your requirements. 

>> Also Read: Back Pain: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

Disclaimers: The above information is for reference purposes only. For more details about the health insurance plans and their benefits please refer to the sales prospectus, policy terms, and conditions.