Why Does My Body Ache?

When You Ache All Over

Muscle pain that affects a small part of your body is usually caused by overuse — sore arms from lifting boxes all day, for example. Or it could be a minor injury, like a bruised shoulder after a fall. But when you ache all over your body, it’s more likely caused by an infection, illness, or medicine you’ve taken.

The Flu

When a flu virus hits, it brings on fever and congestion, and it can make your muscles ache, especially in your back, legs, and arms. It usually gets better on its own in a week or so, but call your doctor if it doesn’t. You also should see him if you have other health problems and you get the flu or you have a cough that doesn’t go away.

Hypothyroidism

This is when your thyroid gland doesn’t make enough of certain key hormones. It can cause muscle and joint aches, as well as swelling and tenderness. It can make you tired and lead to memory problems, thinning hair, dry skin, high cholesterol, slowed heart rate, and other issues. Your doctor can do a simple blood test to find out if you have it, and if so, drugs can help replace the missing hormones.

Blood Flow Problem

If you have pain in your arms, legs, or both, your muscles may not be getting enough blood — a problem called claudication. At first, you may notice it only when you exercise, but in time, you might feel it when you sit or walk. This is usually caused by a condition called arteriosclerosis, which is when there’s blockage in the tubes that carry blood to your muscles.

Lupus

This is a kind of autoimmune disease — it causes your immune system, which normally helps protect your body, to attack your tissues and organs. When lupus affects your joints or muscles, it can make them stiff, and it can hurt to move. There’s no cure, but medication and certain exercises can help control your symptoms. Talk to your doctor about what would work best for you.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

This is also an autoimmune disease — it mainly affects your joints and can lead to bone loss. It can cause pain and inflammation all over your body, and your joints may swell into odd shapes. Medication and physical therapy can help with your symptoms, but there’s no cure. In some cases, you may need surgery to repair the affected joints.

Dermatomyositis

This autoimmune disease makes your muscles and joints ache and causes painful, itchy, red or purple rashes on your eyelids. It also makes spots on your knuckles, elbows, knees, and toes, can dry your skin, thin your hair, and cause swollen, irritated skin around your fingernails. It can be triggered by infection, drugs, or cancer. There’s no cure, but your doctor can help you manage your symptoms with drugs and physical therapy.

Fibromyalgia

This condition can cause pain in your joints and muscles as well as problems with sleep, mood, and memory. Scientists think it happens when your brain takes normal, mild pain signals and mistakenly makes them worse. It may be triggered by illness, surgery, or severe mental stress. Medicine can ease symptoms, and exercise and relaxation techniques like yoga may help, too.

Polymyositis

This happens when something — possibly a virus or a problem with your immune system — inflames muscles all over your body, especially in your belly, shoulders, upper arms, hips, and heart. Over time, your muscles can start to break down, and it might be hard to swallow or catch your breath. Your doctor may suggest drugs to ease inflammation or calm your immune system and physical therapy to help you regain muscle strength.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The main symptom of this condition is extreme tiredness (fatigue) that can’t be explained by anything else. It may get worse with exercise or mental strain, but rest doesn’t make it better. You also may have muscle pain, memory problems, sore throat, joint pain, and headaches, and you may not be able to sleep well. There’s no cure, but medication and physical therapy can help manage your symptoms.

Polymyalgia Rheumatica

This quickly brings pain and stiffness in your shoulders, neck, upper arms, buttocks, hips, or thighs that can be worse in the morning. You also may have fever, fatigue, weight loss, depression, and no appetite. Doctors think certain genes can make you more likely to get it. Something in the environment, like a virus, also may play a part. Steroids can ease pain and inflammation, and your symptoms may go away, but the condition can return

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Bacteria called R. rickettsii  cause it, and a tick bite is usually how you get it. Most of the symptoms are flu-like — fever, chills, headache, nausea, insomnia, and muscle aches. A rash that doesn’t itch can show up on your wrists and ankles after a few days, then spread. Antibiotics treat it, and the sooner you take them, the better. If not treated, it can lead to inflammation in your lungs, heart, and brain, then kidney failure.

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Lyme Disease

Bacteria from a tick bite also cause this. It can bring on fever, chills, tiredness, body aches, and a headache. Another sign is a “bull’s-eye” rash that’s clear in the middle and grows over a period of days — it can be up to 12 inches across. The rashes — there can be more than one — don’t necessarily show up near the bite. Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics, but some people still have aches and tiredness after finishing the drugs

Medications

Drugs called statins are used to control high cholesterol, and about 30% of people who take them say they have muscle pain. If this is happening with you, talk to your doctor. She may be able to give you a different medication

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Ways We Learned to Live Verywell This Year

It’s been a whole year since we first launched Verywell—and what a year it has been! While our main goal has always been to provide you, our readers, with easy-to-understand and thorough health information so you can learn to live well, we realized that we’ve learned a lot while doing that, too.

 

You may also be wondering who we are behind the curtain, publishing and promoting the content you see daily. We’re just like you, always striving to live better and healthier. So, in celebration of our first birthday, here’s a list of our top takeaways from this past year—how we’ve learned to live Verywell. Happy birthday to us and to all of our loyal readers!

1

Enjoy Food but Make Informed Decisions About Diet & Nutrition

It’s not always easy to make healthy choices, especially when it comes to your diet. That’s why we created a handy calculator so that you can learn the nutrition information for any recipe within seconds. It’s so easy to use: You simply copy and paste your recipe’s ingredients to reveal a Nutrition Facts label for one serving.

Dozens of food and recipe creators have also been able to share nutrition details with their readers by embedding our labels on their sites. Of course, we won’t let this information stop us from eating the foods we love. Here, at Verywell HQ, it’s not about deprivation, it’s about making informed decisions.

2

Sneak in Quick & Easy Activities to Re-Energize the Workday

Here’s a tip for when you have a lot of work to do: Take a break. It may sound counterintuitive, but we learned that a short stretch of activity or a quick meditation session is refreshing and energizing.

A seven-minute workout, desk stretches, and team walk-and-talks have gotten us through multiple mid-afternoon slumps this year. Research shows that they may help keep your calorie balance in check too, so we recommend getting up and getting going.

3

Tackle Workplace Stress Head on to Promote a Team Environment

It’s no secret that the daily grind of a 9 to 5 can take a toll on your health. And making sure our readers are equipped with the most accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive health information they need can sometimes be stressful.

We know how important it is to take steps to make sure our work environment is not only stress-free, but also inspiring and creative. With office yoga, quick massage sessions, and the occasional break to just have some fun and laugh, we manage to balance working in an often kinetic office environment with staying calm and focused on our goals as a team.

4

Focus on Small, Easily Maintained Steps for Year-Round Health

The New Year is always a great time to take a look at your health habits and try something new to improve them. Since our site is brimming with useful tips, we put together an easy-to-follow guide to starting 2017 off on the right foot (though this round-up’s just as useful if your resolutions may have already fallen to the wayside).

We love treating every day as an opportunity to take stock of what you’re doing to stay well so much that we keep the New Year spirit alive with our Daily Health Tips email. Sign up on our homepage and get our suggestions for living Verywell all 365 days.

5

Prioritize Sleep Even Though Everyone’s Needs Vary

You’ve probably heard that adults need about eight hours of sleep a night. It’s vital to your well-being—from your level of alertness to your immune system’s response to a cold. But the truth is sleep needs vary by individual. So, starting tonight, aim to get a good night’s rest—however many hours apply to you.

We know things can get in the way, which is why throughout the year we learned to observe anything that may cause trouble sleeping. We found practicing good “sleep hygiene” helps too!

6

Own Your Health by Staying Informed & Educated

Staying informed is one of the best ways to take control of your health. Whether you’re dealing with a specific condition or just looking to live a healthier lifestyle, educating yourself can help you better understand the steps you need to take.

Here at Verywell, we’re always looking for the best ways to educate our readers. Our newsletters provide a great way to stay up-to-date with fun and helpful health tips. Sign up today and never miss a chance to live Verywell!

7

Find Support at Any Stage on Your Health Journey

Navigating your way to a healthier life isn’t always easy. But we never want you to feel alone. That’s why we launched several new Facebook communities this year, where you can connect with others and share your own story:

• Whether you’re newly pregnant or just trying to raise happy, healthy kids, you can trust our parenting communities for advice on your biggest questions.
• Have a condition you feel like no one else understands? Our condition-specific communities are the place to share (and vent about) what it’s really like to live with diabetes, thyroid disease, or breast cancer.
• Or join our wellness communities for healthy eating tips and recipes, and stress-busting ways to stay calm and centered.

You’ll be surprised at how much your can learn from (and inspire!) others along the way.

8

Equip Yourself With a Recipe Toolbox

Raise your hand if you’ve ever declared that you’ll start eating healthy as soon as healthy food starts tasting better or “when you find the time.” We’ve all been there, which is why we developed a brand new recipe portal to help you eat Verywell.

Whether you’re looking for something the whole family will enjoy, trying to satisfy that sweet tooth, or are navigating the dietary guidelines of a recently diagnosed condition, our library of healthy and tasty dietitian-crafted recipes has got all of your home-cooking needs covered. No excuses anymore—healthy cooking just got a whole lot easier and accessible.