Excruciating pain in any region of your body can be a significant distraction while attempting to focus on your everyday duties. When you have persistent muscle discomfort, a severe headache, or body aches all over, it’s challenging to get anything done. Body pains can even make it difficult to walk about or get out of bed if they are severe enough.
Body pains are more concerning when you don’t know what’s causing them. Identifying the source of your body pains might help you manage the discomfort and speak with your physician about treatment choices.
Continue reading to learn more about common body ache reasons you probably didn’t know.
1. Infections Can Cause Body Aches
Aches and pains are frequent signs of viral illnesses like influenza. Other conditions, like Lyme disease (a bacterial infection spread by tick bites) and malaria, can also induce whole-body discomfort (caused by a parasite). During an infection, inflammation occurs in the body, which causes muscle pain.
Over-the-counter pain relievers like paracetamol or ibuprofen may be helpful, but you might require prescription medicine if you have a bacterial or parasite illness. Sometimes combining OTC drugs and other non-conventional treatments, such as THC, may help. THC oil is helpful in lowering inflammation and alleviating chronic pain. Viral infections frequently resolve on their own and do not require antibiotics.
2. Medication-Related Body Aches
A variety of drugs might induce muscle pains. Statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) and steroids such as prednisone are two of the most prevalent. Other treatments include hydroxychloroquine (for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis), colchicine (for gout), and zidovudine for HIV.
It is unknown why these drugs induce muscle soreness. Some are believed to induce muscle fiber weakening, affect electrolyte levels essential for proper muscle function, or change muscle energy levels.
Medication can occasionally cause an increase in the amounts of specific muscle proteins in your blood. Therefore, your doctor may request blood tests to check for this. The issue can be solved by reducing the medicine’s dose or switching to another medication.
Following these therapy modifications, it may take a couple of weeks for the body pains and other symptoms to subside.
3. Polymyalgia Rheumatica-Related Aches
Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory illness characterized by muscular pain and stiffness, most commonly in the neck, shoulders, pelvis, and torso. Morning symptoms are the worst. PMR frequently appears quickly and might impair your ability to complete daily duties. It can also produce weariness, an overall feeling of being unwell, and low-grade fevers in certain cases.
It is unknown what causes PMR. However, genetics and environmental factors (such as viruses) may play a significant role. The illness primarily affects adults over 50 and women more than males.
Your physician will probably do blood tests to look for elevated levels of specific inflammatory markers. Steroids are typically given at low doses as part of the treatment. PMR is usually gone within a week of starting medication, but it can take weeks or months to disappear.
4. Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia, a chronic ailment, can produce body discomfort. Individuals with fibromyalgia are susceptible to pain, although it is unclear how this hypersensitivity arises. Fibromyalgia is often associated with other illnesses, such as irritable bowel syndrome, persistent pelvic pain, mental problems, or rheumatoid arthritis. Though there isn’t a cure for fibromyalgia, a mix of therapy can provide some comfort. These include over-the-counter pain medications, antidepressants, physical rehabilitation, excellent sleep hygiene, and exercise.
5. Excessive Use of Muscles
Exercising at a higher intensity than you are accustomed to might result in muscular soreness in the muscle groups employed. For instance, if you regularly run two miles but decide to run five miles one day, you may experience painful legs the following morning. If you have body pains but no temperature, muscular overuse is most likely to cause them.
Muscle soreness may be avoided by progressively increasing the intensity of your workouts. Stretching before and after working out, as well as consuming enough water, are also beneficial. You might have to relax or limit your activity for one to two days. Apply cold packs to minimize muscular swelling, and if necessary, take over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol).
6. Suffering from Injuries
When muscles are stretched or flexed beyond their normal range, they might tear. When the rips are minuscule and do not involve the more considerable muscle, the ensuing muscular strain, or pulled muscle, is often a mild injury that heals quickly or within a day or two.
It can, however, be excruciating and often debilitating in serious cases involving partial or complete muscle tears. Sore or painful muscles may also result from sprains involving ligaments and tendons. As a result of a bone fracture or an injury to a muscle, joint, or soft tissue, the muscles surrounding the injured area are also often injured. This might happen while your body tries to compensate for an injured area that isn’t performing correctly.
The added tension on the surrounding muscles and bones frequently results in considerable muscular spasms and pain.
Conclusion
People frequently characterize bodily pains as dull or discomfort in one or more body parts. Aches can be minor or severe, and they can be brief or chronic. Body pains can be localized in certain circumstances but can also impact the entire body. Many causes of bodily pains are transient and treatable at home with rest, ice, and over-the-counter pain relievers. However, you may require prescription drugs, physical therapy, or other therapies if you suffer from chronic pain.
