3 Kinds of Muscle Pains You Should Address

By Arsalan Ahmed –

You know the signs – the familiar soreness in your lower back after a hard day’s work; that persistent ache in your arms after a round of sports; the throbbing pain in your thighs that starts during the middle of your workout and lingers for the next few hours. Whether you’re young or old, muscle pain is a frequent occurrence in the life of an active woman that can target any part of the body, from your shins to your back.

Muscle pain: Not often a serious health concern

The good news is that muscle pain is not often a serious health concern, unless your back or your neck is suffering periodically. It tends to happen when you take up a physical activity your body is not used to, whether because it’s a new addition to your routine or has been picked up at after a long time. This doesn’t just mean activities like picking up a new sport or working out after a few months – it could be something as simple as doing the dishes or cooking an exhausting dish. In such cases, warming up to the activity by slowly increasing the time you spend on it can help avoid muscle pain. So what if soreness strikes all the same? Resting the painful muscle groups makes you as good as new. However, this does not mean all muscle pain will vanish if left unchecked.

Three kinds of muscle pains you should address

Health is wealth, and it’s important for women to know when to address muscle pain to continue living an active and inspired life. Here are three kinds of muscles pain you should always address:

• Chronic pain in multiple muscle groups: If you experience deep or burning pain in multiple areas for more than 12 weeks, stop using the regular ice-pack or over-the-counter NSAID, and consult your medical provider. Chronic pain in the neck, shoulders, elbows, back hips and knees that worsens with activity is linked to Fibromyalgia, a disease most common in women between the ages of 20 and 50 years. The muscle pains in Fibromyalgia spread from multiple ‘tender points,’ and patients tend to have sleep problems as well as wake up with body stiffness.
• Severe neck pain: It’s normal for the neck and shoulders to hurt after a long day in front of the laptop, but this should not be happening on a regular basis. People with chronic neck pain can have trouble going about their daily lives, with common side-effects including exhausting, depression and anxiety. Chronic neck pain is often due to bad posture and sitting practices but, in some cases, it can also point to more serious issues – such as a pinched nerve in the neck, or the impingement of a nerve root on one side, problems that can affect your spinal cord. These issues are often characterized by associated symptoms, such as the neck pain radiating down the arm or causing pins-and-needles in a hand. So if you find that your neck pain is long-lasting or associated with other symptoms such as numbness or tingling in your limbs, it is time to see if you need to tweak your posture, embark on a course of medicines, or engage in certain prescribed exercises.
• Muscle pain accompanied by skin rash: If your muscle pain is unexplained and accompanied by a rash, do not put it down to general body weakness. Muscle pain alongside skin rashes is characteristic of several different diseases – these include Mononucleosis, a viral infection that causes a pink rash and overall muscle pain; Lyme Disease, which causes arthritis-like bouts of pain in addition to a bull’s-eye shaped rash; and Lupus, which often involves a red rash that spreads on the face, alongside swelling and pain in the joints and muscles.

Also see your doctor when…

In general, muscle pain can be treated by elevating the affected area, icing it for 15-20 minutes every 3-4 hours, or taking an over-the-counter painkiller. However, if your muscle pain is unexplained, persists for more than a week, or accompanied by signs of infection such as swelling and discoloration around the painful muscle, make sure to consult your medical provider.

Arsalan Ahmed is a passionate health and lifestyle blogger. Follow @arsalanahmedk for more updates.