Muscle pain (myalgia):What are the causes??Muscle pain can have many different causes. In most cases it is a matter of unpleasant but harmless tension or muscle soreness. But diseases as well as nutrient deficiencies can also trigger myalgia. Here you can learn about the different types and causes and what you can do about muscle pain.
Muscle pain often occurs after sport in the form of muscle soreness – but there are also other causes.
Types and triggers of muscle pain
Humans have around 650 muscles that are distributed throughout the body and perform a wide variety of functions. If these are excessively stressed, muscle pain develops. These can take on different forms, from pulling to stabbing to cramping. They can occur locally or throughout the entire body. In about one-third of cases, muscle pain is the result of one-sided strain and tension. This mostly affects the shoulder, neck and back area.
Sport is also a common cause of muscle pain. This can be the harmless muscle soreness or strains or bruises as a result of sports accidents. In all these forms, the muscle pain occurs only in the affected part of the body. As a rule, they can be attributed to a specific cause. This type of pain also subsides relatively quickly. If muscle pain occurs without a tension or sports injury, the cause can also be a disease.
Diseases as a cause of muscle pain
– be genetic, like myopathy, – be caused by viruses, bacteria or parasites, or – be the result of an autoimmune disease.
Metabolic disorders, for example due to hypothyroidism, are also a possible cause of muscle pain. In addition, muscle pain occurs as a symptom of a wide variety of diseases, such as osteoarthritis, peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAVK), or diseases of the nervous system.
Fibromyalgia is another disease that affects around three percent of the German population and about whose causes little is known so far. This is chronic muscle pain that affects the entire body. This special form of soft-tie rheumatism is manifested by persistent pain in the muscles and tendon attachments, which varies in intensity during the course of the day, under stress or in cold conditions. Frequent accompanying symptoms of fibromyalgia are sleep disturbances, morning stiffness and depression.
What to do in case of muscle pain?
In the treatment of muscle pain, a distinction is made between the treatment of possible causative diseases and the treatment of the symptoms themselves, in order to enable the affected person to lead a pain-free life. The latter can be achieved, for example, through targeted physiotherapy. A change in dietary habits can be achieved. Among the nutrients that are important for muscle activity is, for example, magnesium. Magnesium deficiency is considered a common cause of muscle cramps.
Studies have also shown that patients who had chronic muscle pain often suffered from carnitine deficiency 1 . Carnitine is a so-called bio-carrier, which supplies the muscle cells with nutrients. Because of its central role in maintaining muscle function, regular use of carnitine can help relieve muscle pain and support treatment.