Whether caused by poor posture or overuse, muscle strains, pulls or injuries can take a toll on muscles and lead to pain. These types of pain and symptoms are also known as myalgias. In most cases, muscle pain is therefore due to harmless triggers, which makes it easy to treat. Now and then, however, serious diseases of the muscles, the skeleton, individual organs or the nervous system can be behind it.
Most often, muscle pain occurs in the back, shoulder or neck area, but basically any of the many muscles of the human body can be affected. Muscle pain is characterized by a stabbing, cramping, pulling, burning or pressing pain that either occurs only in a specific part of the body or spreads. It ranges from sudden and very severe muscle pain to muscle pain that disappears and reappears after some time.
Muscle pain is usually related to misuse, overexertion or injury. Less often, an infection, a serious illness or medication, drug and alcohol abuse are behind it. The main types of muscle pain are as follows:
Depending on the cause, various treatments can be effective for muscle pain. For acute muscle pain resulting from an injury, it is important to stop the activity in question immediately, take it easy on the affected area, possibly elevate it or use cooling measures. A protective bandage is helpful in many cases, and surgery may be necessary for larger muscle tears. Chronic muscle pain can be addressed with remedial massage, physiotherapy, electrotherapy, acupuncture, exercise therapy or thermotherapy.