Muscle Pain

What is Muscle Pain?

Muscle pain or myalgia is a common condition and can affect more than one muscle. Muscle pain can also be experienced in tendons and ligaments that are soft tissues connecting your muscles, organs and bones.

It is a symptom that can signal an underlying disease or health disorder. Myalgia can occur as muscle ache that is deep, dull and constant or an ache that is sharp, stabbing and sporadic and develop anywhere in the body such as areas of your back and neck, or in the hands and legs.

Muscle pain treatment depends on the cause of pain. Medications are often used to relieve pain such as during muscle cramping.

Causes of Muscle Pain

Excessive tension in your muscles causes muscle pain. Through pain, your body tells you to decrease the tension created in the muscle by relaxing it to gain muscle pain relief.

Muscle pain can be caused due to prolonged muscle use, it can occur through movements or exercise your body is not accustomed to or through strain or injury.

Infection of the blood that brings about fever may possibly cause muscle ache. There also may be an inflammation or infection in a muscle group, which are also among causes of muscle pain.

Certain medications such as those used in chemotherapy to treat joint pain can cause myalgia, but resolves when medication is stopped.

Inflammatory conditions, including fibromyalgia that is characterized by widespread muscle pain, headaches and sleeplessness can also be among muscle pain causes.

Symptoms of Muscle Pain

Muscle pain may occur together with other symptoms. This varies according to the associated underlying disorder, condition or disease.

Common muscle pain symptoms include:

• Muscle pain may be local or it can be more widespread. It can be a dull or sharp pain.
• The pain may affect for a short period or maybe constant, it can be severe or mild.
• If the pain is caused by infection it may give you fever and chills.
• Pain can occur in your joints and muscles.
• Muscle tension or pain can make you tired or weak and this may interfere with your normal tasks.
• Constant pain can cause depression.

Additional symptoms of muscle pain that can be found in those affected are loss of appetite, difficulty in walking, sleep disturbance, diarrhea and inability to concentrate.

Treatment for Muscle Pain

The most common way to treat muscle pain is the RICE method i.e. rest, ice, compression, elevation.

Take rest and stop activity that causes or aggravates your pain. Cold therapy helps reduce the inflammation and prevent further damage.

A compress or wrap on the injured limb with the aid of a warm elastic bandage can reduce the swelling and give relief.

Elevating the injured limb higher than your level of the heart also limits and brings down the swelling.

Also, medications such as muscle relaxants are used as part of treatment for muscle pain. These relieve tension caused in the muscle, thus giving substantial relief from muscle pain.

In case there is excruciating pain in the muscles, the doctor may prescribe or administer steroidal medications to control and limit the intensity and duration of the pain.