Myalgia
Muscle pain symptom of many diseases and conditions.
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Myalgia, also known as muscle pain, is a sensation of discomfort that comes from muscle tissue. It serves as a symptom for numerous illnesses. The primary trigger for short-term myalgia is overworking a muscle or a set of muscles; another frequent cause is a viral infection, particularly when no injury has occurred. Persistent myalgia may stem from metabolic myopathy, certain nutritional deficiencies, ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, or amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome.
Overuse, injury, and strain are the most common reasons for myalgia. Other triggers include allergies, diseases, medications, or a reaction to a vaccination. Dehydration can also lead to muscle pain, especially in those doing heavy physical activity. Muscle pain frequently appears in infectious diseases like influenza, muscle abscesses, Lyme disease, malaria, trichinosis, or polio; autoimmune conditions such as celiac disease, lupus, Sjögren's syndrome, or polymyositis; and gastrointestinal issues like non-celiac gluten sensitivity (which may occur without digestive symptoms) and inflammatory bowel disease (including Crohn's and ulcerative colitis).
Overuse means using a muscle too much, too soon, or too often—repetitive strain injury is one example. Injury-related myalgia most often comes from sprains and strains. Autoimmune causes include multiple sclerosis (where neurological pain feels muscular), myositis, mixed connective tissue disease, lupus, fibromyalgia, familial Mediterranean fever, polyarteritis nodosa, Devic's disease, morphea, and sarcoidosis.
Metabolic defects like carnitine palmitoyltransferase II deficiency, Conn's syndrome, adrenal insufficiency, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, diabetes, hypogonadism, and postorgasmic illness syndrome can also be responsible. Other causes are ME/CFS, channelopathy, Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, Stickler syndrome, hypokalemia, hypotonia, exercise intolerance, mastocytosis, peripheral neuropathy, eosinophilia myalgia syndrome, Barcoo fever, herpes, hemochromatosis, delayed onset muscle soreness, HIV/AIDS, generalized anxiety disorder, tumor-induced osteomalacia, hypovitaminosis D, and infarction. Withdrawal from certain drugs—such as suddenly stopping high-dose corticosteroids, opioids, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, caffeine, or alcohol—can induce myalgia.
If the cause of myalgia is unknown, treatment focuses on symptoms.
Lore & Background
Myalgia is a common symptom that can arise from acute causes such as overuse of a muscle or group of muscles, viral infection, or injury. Long-lasting myalgia may be caused by metabolic myopathy, nutritional deficiencies, ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, or amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome. Dehydration can also result in muscle pain, especially during extensive physical activities.
Reader's Guide
Myalgia is significant as a symptom that can indicate a wide range of underlying conditions, from benign overuse to serious autoimmune or metabolic diseases. Its presence often guides diagnostic evaluation, as it is associated with infectious diseases like influenza and Lyme disease, autoimmune conditions such as lupus and polymyositis, and gastrointestinal disorders like inflammatory bowel disease. Treatment is symptomatic when the cause is unknown, including heat, rest, paracetamol, NSAIDs, massage, cryotherapy, and muscle relaxants. Understanding myalgia helps clinicians differentiate between acute and chronic causes, and it remains a key clinical marker in conditions like fibromyalgia and ME/CFS.
More in Symptoms And Sensations
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Myalgia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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