Myalgia

Last updated
Myalgia
Other namesMuscle pain, muscle ache
Symptoms-muscle-pain.jpg
One of the myalgic symptoms
Specialty Rheumatology

Myalgia or muscle pain is a painful sensation evolving from muscle tissue. It is a symptom of many diseases. The most common cause of acute myalgia is the overuse of a muscle or group of muscles; another likely cause is viral infection, especially when there has been no injury.

Contents

Long-lasting myalgia can be caused by metabolic myopathy, some nutritional deficiencies, ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome.

Causes

The most common causes of myalgia are overuse, injury, and strain. Myalgia might also be caused by allergies, diseases, medications, or as a response to a vaccination. Dehydration at times results in muscle pain as well, especially for people involved in extensive physical activities such as workout.

Muscle pain is also a common symptom in a variety of diseases, including infectious diseases, such as influenza, muscle abscesses, Lyme disease, malaria, trichinosis or poliomyelitis; [1] autoimmune diseases, such as celiac disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome or polymyositis; [1] [2] gastrointestinal diseases, such as non-celiac gluten sensitivity (which can also occur without digestive symptoms) and inflammatory bowel disease (including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis). [3]

The most common causes are:[ citation needed ] [4] [5] [6]

Muscle pain occurs with:

Overuse

Overuse of a muscle is using it too much, too soon or too often. [10] One example is repetitive strain injury. See also:

Injury

The most common causes of myalgia by injury are: sprains and strains. [10]

Autoimmune

Metabolic defect

Other

Withdrawal syndrome from certain drugs

Sudden cessation of high-dose corticosteroids, opioids, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, caffeine, or alcohol can induce myalgia.[ citation needed ]

Treatment

When the cause of myalgia is unknown, it should be treated symptomatically. Common treatments include heat, rest, paracetamol, NSAIDs, massage, cryotherapy and muscle relaxants. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

Inclusion body myositis (IBM) is the most common inflammatory muscle disease in older adults. The disease is characterized by slowly progressive weakness and wasting of both proximal muscles and distal muscles, most apparent in the finger flexors and knee extensors. IBM is often confused with an entirely different class of diseases, called hereditary inclusion body myopathies (hIBM). The "M" in hIBM is an abbreviation for "myopathy" while the "M" in IBM is for "myositis". In IBM, two processes appear to occur in the muscles in parallel, one autoimmune and the other degenerative. Inflammation is evident from the invasion of muscle fibers by immune cells. Degeneration is characterized by the appearance of holes, deposits of abnormal proteins, and filamentous inclusions in the muscle fibers. sIBM is a rare disease, with a prevalence ranging from 1 to 71 individuals per million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glycogen storage disease</span> Medical condition

A glycogen storage disease is a metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency of an enzyme or transport protein affecting glycogen synthesis, glycogen breakdown, or glucose breakdown, typically in muscles and/or liver cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhabdomyolysis</span> Human disease (condition) in which damaged skeletal muscle breaks down rapidly

Rhabdomyolysis is a condition in which damaged skeletal muscle breaks down rapidly, often due to high intensity exercise over a short period. Symptoms may include muscle pains, weakness, vomiting, and confusion. There may be tea-colored urine or an irregular heartbeat. Some of the muscle breakdown products, such as the protein myoglobin, are harmful to the kidneys and can cause acute kidney injury.

In medicine, myopathy is a disease of the muscle in which the muscle fibers do not function properly. Myopathy means muscle disease. This meaning implies that the primary defect is within the muscle, as opposed to the nerves or elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exercise intolerance</span> Inability to perform physical exercise at normal levels

Exercise intolerance is a condition of inability or decreased ability to perform physical exercise at the normally expected level or duration for people of that age, size, sex, and muscle mass. It also includes experiences of unusually severe post-exercise pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting or other negative effects. Exercise intolerance is not a disease or syndrome in and of itself, but can result from various disorders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polymyositis</span> Chronic muscular inflammation, primarily of the endomysium

Polymyositis (PM) is a type of chronic inflammation of the muscles related to dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis. Its name is derived from poly- 'many' myos- 'muscle' and -itis 'inflammation'. The inflammation of polymyositis is mainly found in the endomysial layer of skeletal muscle, whereas dermatomyositis is characterized primarily by inflammation of the perimysial layer of skeletal muscles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitochondrial myopathy</span> Muscle disorders caused by mitochondrial dysfunction

Mitochondrial myopathies are types of myopathies associated with mitochondrial disease. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the chemical used to provide energy for the cell, cannot be produced sufficiently by oxidative phosphorylation when the mitochondrion is either damaged or missing necessary enzymes or transport proteins. With ATP production deficient in mitochondria, there is an over-reliance on anaerobic glycolysis which leads to lactic acidosis either at rest or exercise-induced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myoglobinuria</span> Presence of myoglobin in the urine

Myoglobinuria is the presence of myoglobin in the urine, which usually results from rhabdomyolysis or muscle injury. Myoglobin is present in muscle cells as a reserve of oxygen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myositis</span> Inflammation of skeletal muscle

Myositis is a rarely-encountered medical condition characterized by inflammation affecting the muscles. The manifestations of this condition may include skin issues, muscle weakness, and the potential involvement of other organs. Additionally, systemic symptoms like weight loss, fatigue, and low-grade fever can manifest in individuals with myositis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neuromuscular disease</span> Medical condition

A neuromuscular disease is any disease affecting the peripheral nervous system (PNS), the neuromuscular junctions, or skeletal muscles, all of which are components of the motor unit. Damage to any of these structures can cause muscle atrophy and weakness. Issues with sensation can also occur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inflammatory myopathy</span> Muscular inflammatory disease of unknown origin

Inflammatory myopathy, also known as idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM), is disease featuring muscle weakness, inflammation of muscles (myositis), and in some types, muscle pain (myalgia). The cause of much inflammatory myopathy is unknown (idiopathic), and such cases are classified according to their symptoms and signs, electromyography, MRI, and laboratory findings. It can also be associated with underlying cancer. The main classes of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy are polymyositis (PM), dermatomyositis (DM), inclusion-body myositis (IBM), immune-mediated necrotising myopathy (IMNM), and focal autoimmune myositis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acquired non-inflammatory myopathy</span> Medical condition

Acquired non-inflammatory myopathy (ANIM) is a neuromuscular disorder primarily affecting skeletal muscle, most commonly in the limbs of humans, resulting in a weakness or dysfunction in the muscle. A myopathy refers to a problem or abnormality with the myofibrils, which compose muscle tissue. In general, non-inflammatory myopathies are a grouping of muscular diseases not induced by an autoimmune-mediated inflammatory pathway. These muscular diseases usually arise from a pathology within the muscle tissue itself rather than the nerves innervating that tissue. ANIM has a wide spectrum of causes which include drugs and toxins, nutritional imbalances, acquired metabolic dysfunctions such as an acquired defect in protein structure, and infections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antisynthetase syndrome</span> Medical condition

Antisynthetase syndrome (ASS) is a multisystematic autoimmune disease associated with inflammatory myositis, interstitial lung disease, and antibodies directed against various synthetases of aminoacyl-transfer RNA. Other common symptoms include mechanic's hands, Raynaud's phenomenon, arthritis, and fever.

Perimyositis is inflammation of the connective tissue around a muscle.

Benign acute childhood myositis (BACM) is a syndrome characterized by muscle weakness and pain in the lower limbs that develop in children after a recent viral illness. It is transient with a spontaneous clinical resolution within 1 week.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome</span> Condition characterized by amplified and chronic pain

Amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome (AMPS) is an illness characterized by notable pain intensity without an identifiable physical cause.

References

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  2. Vitali, Claudio; Del Papa, Nicoletta (February 2015). "Pain in primary Sjögren's syndrome". Best Practice & Research. Clinical Rheumatology. 29 (1): 63–70. doi:10.1016/j.berh.2015.05.002. ISSN   1532-1770. PMID   26267000.
  3. Tovoli, Francesco (2015). "Clinical and diagnostic aspects of gluten related disorders". World Journal of Clinical Cases. 3 (3): 275–284. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v3.i3.275 . ISSN   2307-8960. PMC   4360499 . PMID   25789300.
  4. "Muscle Pain - Causes". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  5. "Muscle aches". MedlinePlus. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  6. "Understanding Myalgia: Causes, Treatments, and Prevention". 8 September 2023.
  7. 1 2 Balon R, Segraves RT, eds. (2005). Handbook of Sexual Dysfunction. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9780824758264.
  8. 1 2 Wylie KR, ed. (2015). ABC of Sexual Health. John Wiley & Sons. p. 75. ISBN   9781118665565.
  9. 1 2 "Postorgasmic illness syndrome". Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD). National Institutes of Health. 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  10. 1 2 MedlinePlus
  11. Glueck, CharlesJ; Conrad, Brandon (2013). "Severe vitamin D deficiency, myopathy, and rhabdomyolysis". North American Journal of Medical Sciences. 5 (8): 494–495. doi: 10.4103/1947-2714.117325 . ISSN   1947-2714. PMC   3784929 . PMID   24083227.
  12. Shmerling, Robert H (February 27, 2024). "Approach to the patient with myalgia" . UpToDate .