Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSymptomsCausesWhen To Seek Medical CareDiagnosisTreatment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Symptoms
Causes
When To Seek Medical Care
Diagnosis
Treatment
Myalgia, or muscle aches and pain, is associated with muscle function.
Short-term (acute) causes of myalgia include muscle strains or overuse, infections, and vitamin deficiencies. Long-term (chronic) conditions can also cause muscle pain and soreness. These include fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and depression.
Depending on the underlying condition, myalgia treatment may involve medication, self-treatment, and physical therapy.
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Pain in one or more muscles is the primary symptom of myalgia. Depending on the cause and part of the body affected, the pain can develop suddenly or gradually. Whether the pain is temporary or continual will depend on the underlying cause.
Along with pain, the most common accompanying symptoms of myalgia include:
What does COVID myalgia feel like?
During and after COVID-19 symptoms of myalgia may be felt in the lower and upper back, shoulders, legs, and neck. Back and shoulder pain are most common and joints, tendons, muscles, ligaments, and bones may all be affected.
Myalgia can have many different causes. Acute myalgia usually happens suddenly with exercise, exertion, or illness. Chronic myalgia can be the result of various long-term conditions.
Acute Myalgia
Acute myalgia is typically short-lived and easily managed. The most common cause is exercise or muscle exertion.
Acute myalgia can also be the main symptom of many conditions, including:
Glucocorticoids, immunologic drugs, and antimicrobials causemyopathies, or diseases that affect muscle tissue. Suddenly stopping high doses of these medications may trigger myalgia. The same is true ofopioids,benzodiazepines, caffeine, and alcohol.
Chronic Myalgia
Chronic myalgia is often the main symptom of muscle and bone conditions, as well asautoimmune diseases(which occur when the body mistakenly attacks healthy cells).
Examples of some of these include:
When to See a Healthcare Provider
It is a good idea to see your healthcare provider if:
While rare, myalgia can also be a sign of a medical emergency. If you are experiencing the following symptoms along with aching muscles, call 911 or seek immediate medical attention:
Myalgia itself is a symptom, not a diagnosis. The diagnosis process is directed toward finding an underlying condition that may have triggered the onset of muscle pain.
Getting to a diagnosis may include several steps:
Condition-Specific Testing
Depending on the condition a healthcare provider may suspect, they can order or perform additional diagnostic testing.
For example, specific blood work is done to identify autoimmune diseases, including testing for certain antibodies and genes.
Nerve conduction studiescan determine whether the nerves supplying the muscles are functioning normally. This could be used to diagnosemyositis, which causes inflammation and degeneration of muscle tissue.
Some muscle conditions, such as fibromyalgia, cannot easily be confirmed or ruled out with blood work or imaging. In this instance, your healthcare provider will rely on your symptoms and the ruling out of other conditions to reach a diagnosis.
Treatment for myalgia depends on the cause and whether you have acute or chronic pain.
Acute Myalgia Treatments
Cases of short-term myalgia often respond well to home remedies. Some things you can do to relieve acute muscle pain include:
Chronic Myalgia Treatments
Physical therapyis the most common treatment for chronic myalgia. It can increase flexibility in sore muscles and help strengthen the surrounding tissues.
A therapist can also help you find ways to manage stress and focus onergonomicson the job and at home. Ergonomics can improve your workspace and environment to minimize the risk of injury or harm.
In addition to physical therapy, your healthcare provider might suggestOTC pain relieversor prescribe drugs to help manage your pain. Pain medications and anti-inflammatory drugs are sometimes directly injected into a sore area to decrease pain.
Fibromyalgia sometimes improves with prescription medicines. These can include anti-seizure drugsLyrica (pregabalin)and anti-depressants likeCymbalta (duloxetine), which modify the body’s chemical responses to pain.
Autoimmune diseasescause excessive systemic (whole-body) inflammation. Treatment depends on the condition but may include medications such as corticosteroids, which can reduce inflammation.
What Type of Doctor Treats Autoimmune Diseases?
Summary
Myalgia is a medical term for muscle pain. It can be acute, or short-term, such as when you have sore muscles the day after exercising. It can also be chronic, or long-term, because of a health condition such as fibromyalgia.
Muscle pain can often be managed with at-home remedies like rest and over-the-counter pain medication. If it’s chronic, your healthcare provider can do an examination and order tests to determine the right treatment for you.
Types of Non-Opioids for Pain Relief
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16 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Queme LF, Ross JL, Jankowski MP.Peripheral mechanisms of ischemic myalgia.Front Cell Neurosci. 2017;11:419. doi:10.3389/fncel.2017.00419OSF Healthcare.Coping with muscle and joint pain from COVID-19.MedlinePlus.Muscle aches.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Myalgia.National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.Influenza.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Signs and symptoms of untreated Lyme disease.Yale Medicine.Vitamin D deficiency.Holder K.Myalgias and myopathies: Drug-induced myalgias and myopathies.FP Essent. 2016;440:23-7.Löfgren M, Opava CH, Demmelmaier I, et al.Pain sensitivity at rest and during muscle contraction in persons with rheumatoid arthritis: A substudy within the Physical Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis 2010 study.Arthritis Res Ther. 2018;20(1):48. doi:10.1186/s13075-018-1513-3National Institute on Mental Health.Depression.MedlinePlus.Pain and your emotions.Johns Hopkins Myositis Center.Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCS) for myositis diagnosis.National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.Fibromyalgia: diagnosis, treatment, and steps to take.NHS.10 ways to reduce pain.Tsang SMH, So BCL, Lau RWL, Dai J, Szeto GPY.Comparing the effectiveness of integrating ergonomics and motor control to conventional treatment for pain and functional recovery of work-related neck-shoulder pain: A randomized trial.Eur J Pain. 2019;23(6):1141-1152. doi:10.1002/ejp.1381John Hopkins Lupus Center.Fibromyalgia medications.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Queme LF, Ross JL, Jankowski MP.Peripheral mechanisms of ischemic myalgia.Front Cell Neurosci. 2017;11:419. doi:10.3389/fncel.2017.00419OSF Healthcare.Coping with muscle and joint pain from COVID-19.MedlinePlus.Muscle aches.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Myalgia.National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.Influenza.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Signs and symptoms of untreated Lyme disease.Yale Medicine.Vitamin D deficiency.Holder K.Myalgias and myopathies: Drug-induced myalgias and myopathies.FP Essent. 2016;440:23-7.Löfgren M, Opava CH, Demmelmaier I, et al.Pain sensitivity at rest and during muscle contraction in persons with rheumatoid arthritis: A substudy within the Physical Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis 2010 study.Arthritis Res Ther. 2018;20(1):48. doi:10.1186/s13075-018-1513-3National Institute on Mental Health.Depression.MedlinePlus.Pain and your emotions.Johns Hopkins Myositis Center.Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCS) for myositis diagnosis.National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.Fibromyalgia: diagnosis, treatment, and steps to take.NHS.10 ways to reduce pain.Tsang SMH, So BCL, Lau RWL, Dai J, Szeto GPY.Comparing the effectiveness of integrating ergonomics and motor control to conventional treatment for pain and functional recovery of work-related neck-shoulder pain: A randomized trial.Eur J Pain. 2019;23(6):1141-1152. doi:10.1002/ejp.1381John Hopkins Lupus Center.Fibromyalgia medications.
Queme LF, Ross JL, Jankowski MP.Peripheral mechanisms of ischemic myalgia.Front Cell Neurosci. 2017;11:419. doi:10.3389/fncel.2017.00419
OSF Healthcare.Coping with muscle and joint pain from COVID-19.
MedlinePlus.Muscle aches.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Myalgia.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.Influenza.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Signs and symptoms of untreated Lyme disease.
Yale Medicine.Vitamin D deficiency.
Holder K.Myalgias and myopathies: Drug-induced myalgias and myopathies.FP Essent. 2016;440:23-7.
Löfgren M, Opava CH, Demmelmaier I, et al.Pain sensitivity at rest and during muscle contraction in persons with rheumatoid arthritis: A substudy within the Physical Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis 2010 study.Arthritis Res Ther. 2018;20(1):48. doi:10.1186/s13075-018-1513-3
National Institute on Mental Health.Depression.
MedlinePlus.Pain and your emotions.
Johns Hopkins Myositis Center.Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCS) for myositis diagnosis.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.Fibromyalgia: diagnosis, treatment, and steps to take.
NHS.10 ways to reduce pain.
Tsang SMH, So BCL, Lau RWL, Dai J, Szeto GPY.Comparing the effectiveness of integrating ergonomics and motor control to conventional treatment for pain and functional recovery of work-related neck-shoulder pain: A randomized trial.Eur J Pain. 2019;23(6):1141-1152. doi:10.1002/ejp.1381
John Hopkins Lupus Center.Fibromyalgia medications.
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