Myalgia (also called muscle pain and muscle ache in layman's terms) is the medical term for muscle pain. Myalgia 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 trauma.
Long-lasting myalgia can be caused by metabolic myopathy, some nutritional deficiencies, chronic fatigue syndrome, 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; autoimmune diseases, such as celiac disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome or polymyositis; 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).
The most common causes are:
Overuse
Overuse of a muscle is using it too much, too soon or too often. One example is repetitive strain injury. See also: Exercise Weight lifting
Injury
The most common causes of myalgia by injury are: sprains and strains.
Autoimmune
Multiple sclerosis (neurologic pain interpreted as muscular) Myositis Mixed connective tissue disease Lupus erythematosus Fibromyalgia syndrome Familial Mediterranean fever Polyarteritis nodosa Devic's disease Morphea Sarcoidosis
Metabolic defect
Carnitine palmitoyltransferase II deficiency
Conn's syndrome
Adrenal insufficiency
Hyperthyroidism
Hypothyroidism
Diabetes
Hypogonadism
Postorgasmic illness syndrome
Other
Chronic fatigue syndrome (a.k.a. myalgic encephalomyelitis) 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 Infarction
Withdrawal syndrome from certain drugs
Sudden cessation of high-dose corticosteroids, opioids, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, caffeine, or alcohol can induce myalgia.
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.