Muscle pain (myalgia): symptoms, causes, medications, treatments • hello healthy

Definition of muscle pain

What is muscle pain (myalgia)?

Myalgia is the medical term for pain or soreness that occurs in muscles. Pain generally affects a small number of muscles in only certain areas of the body. For example, muscle pain in the hands only, neck muscles only, back muscles only, or leg muscles only.

However, pain can also affect the body's overall muscle tissue at one time. This occurs because muscles are present in every part of the body, so myalgia is a condition that can appear in any muscle in the body.

Myalgia is muscle pain related to tension resulting from repeated or excessive use of the muscles. However, this condition can also occur due to sudden and sudden strenuous or extreme physical activity.

Myalgia can be mild or even very severe. However, most muscle pains usually go away on their own, either over a long period of time or in a short time.

How common is muscle pain (myalgia)?

Myalgia is a fairly common musculoskeletal disorder. The reason is, almost everyone has experienced muscle pain at least once in their life.

Usually, myalgia or muscle pain is caused by stress, feeling tense, and too much physical activity.

However, muscle pain can be relieved by reducing risk factors. Talk to your doctor for more information.

Signs & symptoms of muscle pain

The most common symptom of myalgia is pain, soreness, or discomfort in the muscles, whether in a still or moving position. Symptoms can also include tension or a sensation of spasm in the muscles. Usually, pain occurs after exertion or injury, which can be relieved by rest.

Pain can occur in only a few specific muscles (local myalgia) or spread from one place to another (diffuse myalgia).

Some of the other features and symptoms that may accompany myalgia or muscle pain are:

• Dizzy.
• Stiffness as well as weakness in certain areas coupled with fever.
• There is a rash, redness, and swelling on the affected area of ​​the body.
• Discomfort in certain areas.

When to see a doctor?

Although it is one of the most common conditions, you can also experience severe muscle pain. Contact your doctor if you experience:

• Quite high fever.
• Difficulty breathing.
• Flea bites (recent).
• Signs of infection, such as redness and swelling around the sore muscle.
• Muscle pain after you start taking or increasing the dose of drugs (especially statins, drugs useful for controlling cholesterol).

Some of the other symptoms or signs may not be listed above. If you feel anxious about these symptoms, consult a doctor immediately.

Causes of muscle pain

What are the causes of muscle pain?

There are several conditions that can cause you to experience muscle pain. Some of the conditions that cause myalgia or muscle pain include:

1. Injury

Injury to a muscle can cause pain. Usually an injury is characterized by pain, muscle weakness, bruising, swelling and muscle cramps.

An injury that can cause pain in this muscle can occur for several reasons, including the following:

• Doing repetitive body movements, can occur if you do the same job every day or if you do strenuous sports activities that are done with repetitive movements.
• Not doing proper warm-up and cool-down activities while exercising.
• Accustomed to practicing bad posture, whether standing, sitting or lying down.
• Doing the wrong sports movements.
• Sprain, so that the muscles become tense, stiff, pulled, twisted, and also feel sore.

In some cases, this condition is not something to worry about. However, if the pain in your muscles gets worse, doesn't get better, and you limit your movement, you should see a doctor right away.

2. Stress

One of the other causes of myalgia is stress. Both physical and mental stress can increase your risk of developing muscle pain.

Stress can make it more difficult for the body to fight certain diseases that enter the body. It also relates to the muscles in your body when there is inflammation or infection.

Usually, you also feel other things such as a pounding heart, headaches, trembling, shortness of breath, as well as pain in the chest.

3. Infection

Apparently, infection is a condition that could be the cause of your myalgia. Some of these types of infections are:

• Lung infection.
• Malaria.
• Parasitic worm infection (trichinosis).
• Lyme disease.

If the muscle pain you feel occurs due to one of the conditions mentioned above, the way to treat myalgia that you are experiencing is to treat or treat the condition.

4. Certain diseases

Apart from the causes mentioned above, there are also several medical problems that can cause muscle aches or pains. Medical conditions that can affect you include:

• Anemia.
• Arthritis.
• Fibromyalgia.
• Flu.
• Pneumonia.
• Lupus.

5. Lack of nutrition

Another cause of myalgia or muscle pain is when you don't get enough nutrition from your daily diet. Try to pay attention to the intake of vitamin D in the body to ensure that the muscles are functioning properly.

Not only that, vitamin D can also help absorb calcium. If the intake is too low, there will be hypokalemia, which is a condition when the body has low calcium levels.

It can also affect bones and other organs including muscles.

Risk factors for muscle pain

There are many medical conditions that are considered risk factors for myalgia or muscle pain, including:

• Risk of injury during physical activity.
• Excessive use of the musculoskeletal system in everyday life.
• Risk of infection and inflammation of the muscles.

Therefore, it is important to always maintain muscle health in order to reduce the risk of experiencing muscle pain.

Diagnosis of muscle pain

The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice. ALWAYS consult your doctor.

What are the usual tests?

When the pain you feel becomes more serious, it is better to immediately consult a doctor to identify the cause. The doctor will ask you to describe the pain you are experiencing.

Based on your description, your doctor can recommend the best treatment. Some of the questions your doctor will ask include:

• Where is the source of the pain?
• Is the pain stabbing or not?
• Do you have constant pain throughout the day, at night or during the day?
• What level of pain are you experiencing (mild, moderate or severe)?
• Have you been injured or injured recently?
• Are you exercising?
• Are you physically active?

There are various techniques for determining the cause of pain, including physical exams, pain gauges, and imaging tests. The doctor may also:

• CT or CAT scan: Computed tomography (CT).
• MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging.
• Myelogram.
• EMG.
• Bone scan.

Muscle pain treatment

Usually, the treatment for myalgia or muscle pain that is recommended by a doctor is one that is tailored to the cause of the pain itself. However, some treatments that are generally recommended by doctors are:

1. Use of drugs to treat pain

One way to deal with muscle pain or myalgia is to take pain relievers. This medication will help you relieve muscle soreness that you feel.

Medicines to relieve muscle pain can be purchased over the counter at a pharmacy or by prescription from a doctor. Usually, the drugs that doctors recommend are ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

If the muscle pain you are experiencing is severe, your doctor will ask you to take a muscle relaxant to reduce tension in the muscles and increase your ability to move the sore muscles.

2. Undergo physical therapy

According to Intermountain Healthcare, your doctor may recommend that you undergo professional physical therapy. By doing this as soon as possible, you may be able to recover faster and in much better shape.

Physical therapy for myalgia or muscle pain is an activity that can help you increase muscle flexibility and strength through a physical exercise program that is determined according to your condition.

What are the home remedies for treating myalgia?

In addition to taking medication to treat muscle pain on the advice of your doctor, there are a number of things you can do at home to help with the treatment and recovery process. Some things you can do to treat myalgia at home are:

1. Warm or cold compress

If muscle pain occurs as a result of a recent injury, you should use a cold compress to reduce pain, swelling, and inflammation.

However, if the muscle pain that occurs is pain that has occurred in the long term, you can apply warm water to the area that is painful.

You can do this by wetting a towel with warm water and gently compressing it on the affected area.

2. Stay active

You may tend to choose to reduce activity if you have muscle pain. Moreover, activities that force you to move the part of the body that feels sore or painful.

Unfortunately, when you have myalgia, it is wiser to stay active. Why? Too much rest, such as lying down, actually slows down the healing process and weakens the muscles and makes them feel even more sore.

You don't need to do strenuous activities, the most important thing is to keep your body moving by doing physical activity.

3. Find a comfortable position

If you are experiencing muscle pain, of course there are certain positions that make your muscles even more painful and uncomfortable. So, try several positions both sleeping and sitting that are comfortable for you.

4. Stretch muscles

If your myalgia is still relatively mild, it doesn't hurt to do physical exercises that emphasize muscle stretching movements. For example, one activity that can help you stretch your muscles is yoga.

The reason is, yoga can help stretch stiff muscles and feel uncomfortable because of the pain you are experiencing. However, choose movements that are light or moderate so they don't hurt your muscles any more.

Prevention of muscle pain

There are several things you can do to prevent myalgia, including:

• Doing exercise regularly.
• Control your weight.
• Avoid activities that require you to lift weights that are too heavy.
• Reduces stress.
• Quit smoking or using other tobacco products.