Muscle Aches

Muscle pains and aches are common and most people will experience them during their life. Often these aches can involve multiple muscles. As well, muscle pain can also involve fascia, ligaments and soft tissues that connect organs, bones and muscles.

Most frequently, muscle pain is related to overuse, tension or muscle injury from physically demanding work or from intense exercise. In these cases, the pain tends to involve certain muscles and begins just after the activity or during. Most of the time, it is obvious which particular activity causes the discomfort.

Muscle pain may also be a sign of some health conditions affecting your entire body. For example, some infections, such as the flu, lupus and other disorders that affect connective tissues through the body. Fibromyalgia is one of the common causes of pain and muscle aches. This condition includes tenderness in your surrounding soft tissue and in your muscles. Additional symptoms included fatigue, headaches, and sleep difficulties.

Causes

The most common causes include: trauma or injury such as strains and sprains; stress or tension; and overuse, such as utilizing a muscle too often, too soon or too frequently.

Muscle pain may also be due to:

Muscle pain may also be the result of ACE inhibitors for lowering blood pressure and other drugs; Statins for lowering cholesterol and cocaine. Lupus, polio, trichinosis or roundworm, rocky mountain spotted fever, lyme disease, muscle abscess, malaria, electrolyte imbalances such as too little calcium or potassium, the flu and other infections, dermatomyositis, rhabdomyolysis and polymyositis and polymalgia rheumatic.

Muscle Cramps

Muscle cramps occur when a muscle contracts or gets tight without you trying to do anything. The muscle does not relax and becomes tight. Muscle cramps may involve all or part of one or more muscles. The most commonly involved muscle groups include: the hamstrings or back of the thigh, the back of the lower calf or leg and the quadriceps or front of the thigh. It is also common to experience cramping in the abdomen, feet, arms, along the rib cage and the hands. It is very common to experience muscle cramps. They can be stopped by stretching the muscle. At times, the cramping muscle may feel bulging or hard and bulky.

It is quite common for muscle cramps to occur. They often set in when a muscle is injured or overused. Working out when you are dehydrated or have not had enough fluids or when you have low levels of particular minerals such as calcium or potassium can also make you more likely to experience a muscle spasm.

Muscle cramps can show up while you swim, play tennis, run, play golf or take part in any other kind of exercise. Heli-skiing and snowboarding and even downhill and cross-country skiing can leave you feeling quite sore for the next 24 to 72 hours afterwards. A variety of other factors such as hypothyroidism, pregnancy, medications, alcoholism, menstruation and kidney failure can trigger them as well.

Joint Pain

Joint pain may be experienced by one or more joints.

Causes

Joint pain can be caused by certain kinds of conditions or injuries. Regardless of what causes it, joint pain can be very upsetting. Certain things that can lead to joint pain include: bursitis, gout especially located in the big toe, Autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, chondromalacia patellae, hepatitis, infections caused by a virus including Epstein-Barr viral syndrome, lyme disease, the flu or Influenza, Varicella or chickenpox, parvovirus, mumps, German measles or rubella, rubeola or measles, and rheumatic fever.

Joint pain can also be the result of an injury such as some kind of fracture. As well, it may be caused by a bone infection or osteomyelitis, tendinitis, joint infection such as septic arthritis, osteoarthritis, overuse or unusual exertion including sprains and strains.