Causes

A variety of illnesses can cause pain in the limbs, the most common cause being, as mentioned, infectious diseases. Thus a cold often causes pain in the body, which is then perceived as pain in the limbs. But also other viral diseases, such as the “classic” flu or an infection with the measles virus, often cause unpleasant aching limbs.

Especially when arms and legs as well as other parts of the body hurt at the same time, there is usually an infectious disease behind the symptoms. If infectious diseases could be excluded by the treating physician, other diseases can be a possible cause for pain in the limbs. Especially if there is no elevated temperature together with aching limbs, it must be assumed that another cause is causing the aching limbs.

Thus, a number of drugs or therapies can cause limb pain as a side effect. For example, taking so-called PDE-5 inhibitors can lead to the occurrence of the unpleasant symptoms. Pain in the limbs is also typical during radiation therapy.

So-called degenerative diseases can also cause symptoms that are described as aching limbs. These include above all diseases such as rheumatism or arthrosis. Gout can also cause aching limbs.

If nerves are damaged, this can also lead to aching limbs. Typically, however, only one leg or arm is affected and the pain does not occur throughout the entire body. Pain in the legs can also be caused by circulatory disorders, such as those resulting from diseases such as diabetes mellitus, arteriosclerosis, or smokers.

There are a number of other rare diseases and syndromes that can be responsible for the pain. However, the pain is usually one-sided and more severe than is usually described as limb pain. In summary, if limb pain is generalized, i.e. occurs in both arms and legs, in most cases an infectious disease is the cause of the complaints.If the pain only occurs on one arm or leg, a number of different causes can be held responsible. In these cases, a doctor should be consulted so that the cause can be found and the problem can be solved using diagnostic methods.