Associated symptoms of muscle pain

Depending on the cause, accompanying symptoms can also be manifold. They should definitely be mentioned during the medical consultation in order to identify and treat the underlying disease. First of all, muscle pain can occur in certain areas or in a generalized way, i.e. in the whole body.

Infections, for example, go hand in hand with whole-body muscle pain; in addition, physical discomfort, temperature increases or fever, cough, cold, headache and other complaints occur. If there is local tension or hardening, the muscle pain can also radiate into other areas (for example from the neck to the jaw or shoulder and arm) and painfully restrict movement. Torn muscle fibers can lead to bruising and swelling, as well as strains and contusions. Muscular diseases such as muscular dystrophy can lead to increasing muscle atrophy and loss of strength, rheumatoid diseases lead to joint problems in addition to muscle pain, and diseases of the nervous system are accompanied by a wide variety of accompanying complaints, such as facial rigidity and tremor in Parkinson’s disease. Statins can even trigger liver dysfunction in addition to muscle pain, as well as rhabdomyolysis, a disintegration of muscle fibers.

Localization of muscle pain

Muscle pain in the thigh can affect different parts of the body and appear differently. They can have different causes and affect the person affected to varying degrees, and can also be temporary or chronic. The character of the pain ranges from dull to stabbing pain, locally limited or radiating into other areas.

Muscle pain is usually the result of sports injuries or accidents. Therefore, a past traumatic event and the course of the accident can be useful for the diagnosis of muscle pain. The most common causes of muscle pain in the thigh include pulled muscles, torn or bruised muscle fibers.

Sore muscles after overexertion can also lead to temporary muscle pain. The front thigh is formed by the quadrips femoris muscle. It is the extensor of the knee joint and is very important for straightening the body.

Typical movements that lead to an injury of the muscle and thus to pain in the front thigh are jerky stretches of the knee, especially during sports activities. Older patients in particular can be affected by a so-called quadriceps tendon rupture, which can be palpated and is also accompanied by severe pain in the front thigh. Injuries to the rear thigh occur less frequently, mostly also in connection with sports.

The muscle groups of the rear thigh are responsible for flexion and rotation in the knee. If injuries occur, these movements are painfully restricted. Pain in the outer thigh occurs when the tendon plate is injured.

It is a typical injury in runners who are exposed to excessive strain and long running distances. In the event of an injury, sporting activity should be interrupted immediately and paused for a few weeks. Strains and fiber tears in particular can result in lengthy healing processes.

However, muscle pain in the thigh can also have other causes besides sports injuries.This includes, for example, a slipped disc. The pain can extend from the back to the thigh and affect the entire leg. Poor posture and incorrect weight bearing can also lead to chronic pain in the hips and legs.

Chronic pain in the thigh, which cannot be explained by a sports injury, should be clarified and treated by a doctor. The cause of muscle pain in the back is usually tension in the neck, shoulder and back caused by a sedentary lifestyle and poor posture. Back pain is often chronic and can be a great burden for the person affected.

Tension can be prevented by sufficient movement in everyday life, active weight training and stretching exercises. Massages and local warmth are also possible therapies. Relaxation exercises, meditation and stress reduction in everyday life can also alleviate the complaints, as chronic back pain is often also stress-related.

Muscle pains in the back also occur with herniated discs. Depending on the nerve root affected, the pain can radiate into the legs, and more rarely into the arms, and trigger other accompanying complaints such as discomfort. Back pain can also occur temporarily with muscle injuries such as strains.

Especially chronic pain or back pain with accompanying symptoms should be clarified and treated by a doctor. Calf pain can have a variety of causes, muscular causes being among the most common. The affected muscles are the two-headed gastrocnemius muscle and the plaice muscle.

Typical injuries include contusions, strains and torn muscle fibers as a result of sports accidents or muscle ache after overexertion. Tension can also lead to muscle pain. Depending on the severity of the injury, the pain can be of varying intensity.

In any case, a strict sports break over several days to weeks should be observed. Painful feelings of tension in the calf, accompanied by overheating, thickening and discoloration of the affected extremity, should be taken seriously. These are important warning symptoms for a so-called phlebothrombosis, a vein occlusion in the lower leg region.

This must be treated at an early stage in order to prevent a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. You can find further information here: Calf painMuscle pain in the arm can also have a variety of causes. Muscle injuries and muscle soreness after overexertion should be mentioned again.

In case of muscle injury, a sports break should be taken in any case. Tensions in the neck area can also reach into the arm and cause muscle pain. Herniated discs in the cervical spine can lead to pain radiating into the arm.

In addition, feelings of numbness or tingling occur. If these accompanying symptoms occur, a doctor should be consulted. If sudden, severe pain occurs, especially in the left arm, a heart attack should always be considered.

In addition to arm and chest pain, other symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness and weakness can occur. If there is the slightest indication of a possible heart attack, the emergency doctor must be informed immediately, as this is a life-threatening emergency. In case of muscle pain, the first thing to do is to see your family doctor.

As a point of contact and referral, this doctor is necessary anyway in order to issue a possible prescription for a specialist. In the case of muscle pain, the family doctor should have a detailed conversation with the person affected about the symptoms and carry out a thorough physical examination. Depending on what the general practitioner suspects to be the cause or what diseases he excludes, further visits to appropriate specialists are indicated. An appropriate referral to a neurologist, orthopedist or rheumatologist is made by the family doctor.