Muscle hypertonicity and the pain accompanying this condition is a problem that many people of different ages face. So why does myalgia occur, what is it and what are the symptoms of the disease? What treatments are there? What is the danger of this disease? These questions are very relevant.
Myalgia: what is it?
Translated, the word "myalgia" means "muscle pain." Such a condition is accompanied by severe spasm of one or immediately muscle groups, which leads to the appearance of severe pain and stiffness in the movements. To date, it is customary to distinguish several forms of this disease:
- Fibromyalgia is accompanied by hypertonicity and muscle soreness, especially when you click on the affected area of ​​the body. Muscle fibers of the lower back, shoulder girdle, and occiput most often suffer from this form of the disease.
- Myositis is accompanied not just by spasm, but by inflammation of muscle tissue. This condition is extremely dangerous and requires hospitalization of a sick person.
- Polymyositis is accompanied by inflammation of the muscles, and in the absence of treatment leads to their degeneration.
If a few decades ago, mostly mature and elderly people suffered from muscle pain, today the disease has significantly “rejuvenated” - even teenagers often appear with such complaints in the doctor’s office.
Myalgia: what is it and why does it appear?
In fact, muscle spasm can be caused by exposure to completely different factors. After all, there is myalgia of rheumatic and non-rheumatic origin. For example, quite often fibromyalgia and myositis occur against the background of infection - the cause may be the flu, a cold. In addition, muscle hypertonicity can be associated with diseases of the spine, in particular, radiculitis, spondylitis, etc.
An attack of muscle pain often occurs against a background of physical overstrain, especially when it comes to a person who is not accustomed to stress and leads a sedentary lifestyle. Risk factors also include muscle tissue injuries (sprains, bruises), severe stress, and local hypothermia.
Myalgia: what is it and what are its symptoms?
In this case, the main signs depend on the form and severity of the disease. For example, fibromyalgia is accompanied by acute pain in the muscles, joints and ligaments, which intensify with sudden movements or pressing the affected muscle group. Along with this, fatigue, increased irritability, and insomnia occur. But with myositis, the symptoms are more severe - each, even the simplest movement, responds with severe pain. In some patients, along with muscle spasm, migraine attacks, nausea, and sometimes hyperthermia of the joints are observed.
It is immediately worth noting that such a condition can be dangerous. If untreated, the spasm goes into inflammation, and the inflammatory process provokes dystrophy. Complications include intervertebral hernias, osteochondrosis, and osteoarthritis.
How to treat myalgia?
First you need to determine and eliminate the cause of muscle spasm. Along with this, symptomatic treatment is also carried out , which involves the use of pain medications - "Imet", "Pentalgin", "Indomethacin" are considered effective. Anti-inflammatory drugs are also used, in particular, “Fastum-gel”, “Finalgon”. Electrophoresis with novocaine gives a good effect. It relieves spasm massage. To eliminate symptoms, methods of manual therapy and therapeutic exercises are used.