Muscle pain

Updated: 2021-12-21

Definition

Almost everyone has sore, aching muscles now and then. Muscle pain can involve a small area or your whole body, ranging from mild to excruciating.

Although most muscle aches and pains go away on their own within a short time, sometimes muscle pain can linger for months. Muscle pain can develop almost anywhere in your body, including your neck, back, legs and even your hands.

Causes

The most common causes of muscle pain are tension, stress, overuse and minor injuries. This type of pain is usually localized, affecting just a few muscles or a small part of your body.

Systemic muscle pain — pain throughout your whole body — is more often the result of an infection, an illness or a side effect of a medication.

Common causes of muscle pain include:

• Chronic exertional compartment syndrome
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Claudication
• Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Dermatomyositis
• Dystonia
• Fibromyalgia
• Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
• Influenza (flu) and other viral illness (influenza-like illness)
• Lupus
• Lyme disease
• Medications, especially the cholesterol medications known as statins
• Muscle cramp
• Myofascial pain syndrome
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Polymyositis (inflammatory disease that causes muscle weakness)
• Repetitive strain injuries
• Rheumatoid arthritis (inflammatory joint disease)
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Sprains

When to see a doctor

Muscle pain from minor injuries, stress or exercise is usually helped with simple home treatment. Muscle pain from severe injuries or systemic disease is often serious and requires medical care.

Get immediate medical care if you have muscle pain with:

• Trouble breathing or dizziness
• Extreme muscle weakness
• A high fever and stiff neck

Schedule an office visit if you have:

• A known tick bite or could have had a tick bite
• A rash, especially the "bulls-eye" rash of Lyme disease
• Muscle pain, especially in your calves, that occurs with exercise and resolves with rest
• Signs of infection, such as redness and swelling, around a sore muscle
• Muscle pain after you start taking or increase the dosage of a medication — (particularly statins — medications used to control cholesterol
• Muscle pain that doesn't improve with self-care

Self-care

Muscle pain that occurs during an activity usually signals a "pulled" or strained muscle. These types of injuries usually respond well to R.I.C.E. therapy:

• Rest. Take a break from your normal activities.
• Ice. Place an ice pack or bag of frozen peas on the sore area for 20 minutes several times a day.
• Compression. Use a compression bandage to reduce swelling.
• Elevation. Elevate the injured area above the level of your heart, especially at night, which allows gravity to help reduce swelling.