Introduction
Muscle weakness (myasthenia or myasthenia) is a condition in which the muscles do not perform at their normal level, with the result that some movements cannot be performed at full strength or at all. Muscle weakness can be of varying degrees and can range from a slight feeling of weakness to manifest paralysis. There are various reasons for muscle weakness, the most common of which are completely harmless. However, a muscle weakness can also be a sign of a serious illness and should therefore be clarified by a doctor. The most common causes of muscle weakness will be briefly explained here.
Simple and disease-independent causes of muscle weakness
Simple muscle weakness is a weakness of the muscles that occurs alone, i.e. not in the context of another disease. It is the most harmless form and is usually caused by an incorrect diet, often in connection with a lack of exercise. If the food lacks important minerals or vitamins, this can be manifested by a weakness of the muscles, often accompanied by a general feeling of tiredness.
Iron and magnesium in particular are very important for the muscles to work properly. After considerable physical exertion, short-term muscle weakness can also occur, which is then quite natural. As a concomitant symptom of a flu-like infection, weakness and pain in the muscles can also occur.
Muscle weakness can also occur in the context of stress situations or due to excessive demands. Psychosomatically caused muscle weaknesses are based on a non-organic cause, i.e. the affected persons are physically healthy but still suffer from complaints. Taking certain medications can also lead to a weakening of the muscles.
After a hip operation or after the insertion of an artificial hip joint, a temporary muscle weakness can also occur postoperatively. A vitamin deficiency can lead to a slight form of muscle weakness, often combined with simultaneous fatigue. Relevant vitamins whose deficiency can result in muscle weakness are, for example, vitamin B12, B1, C, D and E. Vitamin B12, also known in medicine as “cobalamin” or “extrinsic factor”, is found in foods such as fish, meat, eggs or dairy products.
Although vitamin D is the only vitamin that humans can produce themselves, certain conditions must be met or appropriate conditions must be present in order for it to be produced and utilized. Sunlight, for example, is able to convert a precursor via the skin. Therefore a Vitamin D deficiency prevails straight in the winter or in countries with a low UV-exposition with many.
The exact and individual causes for the respective Vitaminmangel are however again very variable. The most frequent reason is however usually a wrong and unbalanced, vitaminarme nutrition. Nevertheless, there are also risk groups or certain circumstances such as pregnancy or stress that make people more susceptible to a vitamin deficiency, so that muscle weakness is more likely.
In general, the respective vitamin deficiency can be compensated by a purely symptomatic therapy, i.e. the administration of the missing vitamin. The body is able to recover from a vitamin deficiency relatively quickly and well. In addition to the vitamins, the two nutrients iron and magnesium also play a decisive role in the development of muscle weakness.
As a preventative measure, therefore, a balanced diet should always be followed. Muscle weaknesses that occur after sport are completely normal after appropriate use of the muscles and should not be a cause for concern. When the muscles are working, they consume energy.
hen the body is exposed to high levels of stress and intensity, it produces conditions of energy and lactate under anaerobic conditions, i.e. without oxygen. If the latter metabolic product accumulates in the working muscles, they become overacidified. This is the moment when the feeling of having no more strength arises and a temporary muscle weakness is present.
As soon as the lactate has been metabolized again with the help of oxygen after exercise, the muscle weakness disappears.In addition, new training requirements in terms of intensity and movement patterns after the first few times often lead to muscle twitches in the stressed muscles with the subsequent feeling of muscle weakness. If it is not a persistent muscle soreness, the muscle weakness recedes relatively quickly. Therapeutically, there are simple approaches to reduce muscle twitches and the associated muscle weakness or the sole muscle weakness after exercise.
A balanced and vitamin-rich diet including a sufficient magnesium intake as well as a varied training program and effective warm-up and stretching exercises also serve as preventive measures against muscle twitching and weakness. With regard to the metabolic product lactate, a precise lactate analysis can be carried out to optimize performance, which allows you to determine your own individual performance limits. In medicine, there are actually a few drugs that can trigger muscle weakness.
Such drug-induced muscle weakness can be triggered by taking the drugs D-penicillamine and chloroquine. D-Penicillamine plays a role in rheumatism therapy as well as in the treatment of heavy metal poisoning, Chloroquine also in the treatment of some rheumatic diseases, but also in the prevention and treatment of malaria. If it comes to the occurrence of muscle weakness, the drugs would have to be discontinued in consultation with the doctor.
In the context of a long-term cortisone therapy, muscle weakness can also develop, often accompanied by other symptoms. Muscle weakness is one of the possible side effects of long-term cortisone therapy. In extreme cases, the muscle weakness can escalate to muscle atrophy, i.e. muscle atrophy.
In general, however, muscle weakness under cortisone therapy does not occur in isolation, but is accompanied by other symptoms. These include weakening of the immune system, bleeding into the skin, edema and depressive episodes. There are also some contraindications to the use of cortisone.
These contraindications should be clarified before taking. However, if there are any side effects of cortisone, such as muscle weakness, the medication should be discontinued after consultation with the prescribing physician. Psychosomatic means that there is no organ-related trigger for the occurrence of muscle weakness, but the complaints are based on psychological problems or stress.
A close examination of one’s own health or one’s own illnesses beyond a natural measure can provoke the occurrence of psychosomatically caused muscle weakness. Psychosomatically caused muscle weaknesses are also closely related to muscle weaknesses caused by stress, as this is also a stressful situation. Depression also increases the risk of psychosomatic muscle paralysis.
Without any organic connection, affected persons complain about isolated so-called “pseudo-neurological” symptoms such as muscle weaknesses, but also paralysis or sensations. To diagnose psychosomatic muscle paralysis as such is often very difficult and takes a long time, since all possible organic causes must first be excluded and those affected often show no insight into the disease or do not accept that the muscle paralysis comes from the psyche. When stress is mentioned as a trigger for muscle weakness, it is referred to as distress, i.e. negative stress.
Stress in the form of physical, mental or disease-related strain on the physical organism can lead to a vitamin deficiency. This in turn results in muscle weakness. The reason for this is an increased breakdown of the vitamins by the body, as they are needed more often in a state of stress.
A very special connection between stress, vitamin deficiency and muscle weakness exists for example in the case of vitamin C and carnitine. Vitamin C is involved in the synthesis of carnitine, the chemical compound of two amino acids. Insufficient production due to a vitamin deficiency can in turn lead to disturbances in muscular metabolism, i.e. muscle weakness.
Immediately after a hip TEP, i.e. after insertion of a total endoprosthesis into the hip joint, muscle weaknesses in the hip area are completely normal and harmless.After all, the operation is an invasive procedure in which the musculature is subjected to enormous tensile and tension forces so that the hip joint to be operated on can be easily reached by the surgeon. The muscle weakness therefore reflects a kind of regeneration phase. The initial muscle weakness is often accompanied by pain caused by the wound on the operated joint.
The muscle weakness usually disappears after a short time. In order to strengthen the muscles, physiotherapy is usually prescribed postoperatively. However, if the muscle weakness does not improve significantly during the further healing process, it must be excluded that nervous structures were injured during the surgical procedure. This can be verified with the help of special diagnostic measures and treated accordingly if necessary.