Muscle Pain and Weakness

Muscle pain accompanied with weakness can be a symptom of many conditions in the human body. Before looking at the combination of muscle pain and weakness as to why and when it appears and becomes a sign for worrying, let us first understand what causes this ailment.

Muscle pain can be a result of many reactions taking place inside our body. Onset of certain infectious diseases like the influenza or the lyme disease are very often connected with muscle pain. Connective tissue disorders also cause a considerable amount of pain e.g. the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE ). Patients also complain of muscle tenderness. It is often accompanied with symptoms like difficulty in sleeping, fatigue, and headaches. Peripheral neuropathy is also something that results in muscle pain. The nerves fail to exchange information with the brain and nervous system. This not only causes pain but contributes in numbness and inability in muscle control. Electrolyte imbalance i.e. imbalance in the electrolytes in blood serum, that exist in the blood in the form of acids, bases and salts also cause muscle pain and weakness. Examples of electrolytes are bicarbonate, calcium, chlorine, magnesium, potassium and sodium.

Muscle Pain

Muscle pain can be of various types and can strike in various places. Muscle pain in legs is a very common along with arm muscle pain. It can involve ligaments, tendons, bones, and organs. Pain is one of the most prominent and major symptom of most muscle and bone related problems i.e. musculoskeletal disorders like fibromyalgia and degeneration of muscles i.e. polymyositis. The pain resulting from these may vary from being mild to severe and can be either localized or diffusing in nature. The causes can be due to injury by a blow, accident, over exercises, physically demanding work, sore muscles, muscle tension, exertion of muscles, pain due to muscle spasms, etc. Usually pain caused by the factors just mentioned is temporary but if it lasts long it can be a case of chronic illnesses and rheumatic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, etc. Patients also complain of muscle twitching.

Weakness

Medical definition of 'weakness' is loss of strength. It is a failure of muscular function in one or more muscles. In the following table weakness is classified into four types viz., metabolic, neurologic i.e. brain related, toxic and muscle related weaknesses.

Metabolic	Neurologic	Toxic	Muscular
Addison's Disease	Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)	Multiple Sclerosis	Botulism	Becker muscular dystrophy
Hyperparathyroidism	Bell's palsy	Pinched nerve	Organophosphate poisoning	Dermato myositis
Low sodium or potassium	Cerebral plasy	Stroke	Paralytic Shellfish poisoning	Muscular Dystrophy
Thyrotoxicosis	Guillain-Barre Syndrome	Myotonic Dystrophy	Ankle pain and Tondinitis

Often we hear people say they have weakness, however, it is not the medical term they refer to. It is important to note that 'weakness' is a medical term and does not mean the way it is used by common men. It is defined as loss of strength, as mentioned earlier.

Other Reasons of Weakness
Anemia	Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease	Myasthenia gravis
Congenital myopathies	Malignant tumors	Facial Nerve Problems
Malnutrition	Poliomyelitis	West Nile Virus
Diabetic Neuropathy	Medications	Sprains and Strains
Electrolyte imbalances	Multiple Myeloma	Trauma
Hodgkin's Disease	Nerve impingement

It is very necessary to evaluate the pain and its origin so as to have the accurate treatment. A doctor's examination, prescribed laboratory tests and X-rays help detect the cause of muscle pain and weakness. This can be treated with either, medication, in case of chronic muscle pain and weakness or with the general but very effective pulled muscle treatment which includes ice therapy, heat therapy and the RICE therapy. Always keep in mind that pain is a signal that our body gives when something is wrong and it should not be ignored.