Muscle stiffness—also sometimes known as muscle rigidity or muscle tightness—occurs when soreness, pain, or cramping causes your muscles to feel tight. These kinds of symptoms can lead to difficulty moving, equivalent to discomfort while stretching or walking.
Typically, if you experience stiffness, it can eventually go away by itself; nevertheless, it stands out as the sign of an underlying health condition. Muscle stiffness and tightness has a wide range of causes, a few of that are less serious than others. These causes include—but are usually not limited to—chronic fatigue syndrome, exercise, infections, and other conditions.
There are several different remedies that help prevent muscle stiffness and tightness. Making easy changes to your every day routine and incorporating regular exercise will reduce the likelihood of your symptoms returning. So as to minimize or avoid muscle stiffness, it’s best to consider regular exercise, stretching, every day activity, and proper recovery time.
In additional severe cases, you too can seek the advice of a physiotherapist to assist discover the underlying conditions of your muscle spasms.
What are the common causes of muscle stiffness?
As mentioned, there are numerous possible causes for muscle stiffness or tightness. The severity differs between each cause and, should the symptoms persist, it is suggested that you just visit a physician.
Some common causes of muscle stiffness include:
Exercise
While exercise is a vital element of any well-rounded lifestyle, it could sometimes lead to muscle soreness. Every time you are attempting recent exercises or increase the intensity of a workout, there’s a high likelihood that you’re going to experience stiff, tight, or aching muscles afterwards.
Injuries
Muscles, tendons, and ligaments are more than likely to experience soft tissue injuries. These may occur if you take part in sports, exercise, and even on a regular basis activities. The extent of those injuries will vary case by case, together with the symptoms that occur.
Lupus
Recognized as an autoimmune disease, lupus impacts nearly every organ within the body. Included within the disease are flare-ups, causing symptoms to worsen. These are then followed by a period of remission where symptoms improve. The standard symptoms differ from one individual to a different.
Lyme Disease
Transmitted to humans through ticks, lyme disease is recognized as essentially the most common vector-borne disease. When left untreated, it could cause a wide range of symptoms, including muscle aches and pains. Neck stiffness might also be expected depending on the severity.
Infectious Mononucleosis
Typically transmitted by teenagers, young adults, and college students, infectious mononucleosis may take some time to point out symptoms. Muscle stiffness and aches are a number of the primary symptoms. Nevertheless, there are additional symptoms to look out for.
Polymyalgia Rheumatica
Occurring in individuals 50 or older, polymyalgia rheumatica is a standard reason for stiffness and aching across the body. Anyone affected by this condition is more than likely to experience symptoms of their upper arms, lower back, thighs, and neck.
ADHD Medications
One side of some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medications is muscle stiffness. Depending on the person, certain medications, equivalent to dexmethylphenidate, may lead to severe muscle stiffness and pain.
Fibromyalgia
Although fibromyalgia is recognized for causing widespread pain throughout the body, it could cause a mess of various problems. These may include:
- Fatigue
- Sleep difficulties
- Headache or migraine
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Cognition difficulties
- Tingling or numb hands and feet
- Pain within the jaw or face
- Digestive issues.
What conditions increase the chance of muscle stiffness?
Some pre-existing conditions can lead to a better risk of experiencing muscle stiffness or tightness, in addition to pain. The longer these symptoms are left untreated, the more likely you might be to also develop other risks.
Additional risks related to muscle stiffness include:
- Arthritis: Typically leading to joint inflammation, most individuals affected by arthritis also experience stiffness and joint pain.
- Fibromyalgia: This can be a recognized chronic illness that causes extensive musculoskeletal pain and fatigue.
- Tunnel Syndrome: This happens when nerves get pinched or severely compressed, often leading to stiffness and pain.
- Decreased Range of Motion: Tighter muscles can reduce the range of motion inside your joints, typically making it difficult to perform on a regular basis activities equivalent to reaching, lifting, or bending.
Avoiding these several types of potential risks is incredibly necessary, especially when you are already at a better likelihood of contracting them. Some preventative measures you may take to avoid muscle tightness and maintain flexibility and mobility include stretching, regular exercise, in addition to practicing good posture.
Other steps you may take so as to prevent muscle stiffness involve:
- Warming up and down before and after exercise
- Wearing proper footwear while exercising
- Wearing warm clothes in cold weather
- Ensuring that your work and residential furniture provide support and luxury
- Avoiding prolonged periods of inactivity
- Taking control of your food regimen plan.
It is suggested that each time you experience symptoms of muscle stiffness, you contact a healthcare provider who might help determine the right diagnosis and treatment plan.
What are essentially the most effective treatments for muscle stiffness?
The several treatments for muscle stiffness will rely on the cause, overall diagnosis, and severity. There are several different options for reducing tight muscles and muscle tension, including the next:
- Stretching: Stretching has many advantages in terms of stopping muscle stiffness, including lengthening tight muscles, improving flexibility, and reducing stiffness and discomfort.
- Massage: Massaging your muscles commonly might help minimize tightness and improve circulation, which in turn reduces cramps and soreness.
- Heat or cold therapy: Heat and cold application is a tried and true treatment for helping reduce muscle inflammation and discomfort.
- Exercise: Along with reducing stiffness and pain in muscles, you furthermore may wish to utilize exercise as a method for strengthening and stretching muscles, each prior to and after soreness has occurred.
- Over-the-counter pain medication: Inflammation and pain could be reduced through the usage of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These specific medications are also helpful towards relieving muscle cramps and spasms.
- Physical therapy: Attending several physiotherapy sessions provides the obligatory tools and support to develop an efficient treatment plan. This plan may involve exercises, stretches, and other techniques designed to cut back muscle stiffness and discomfort that tight muscles and tension may cause.
The best way to Cope With Muscle Stiffness within the Long Term
Muscle stiffness and tightness may result from a wide range of various causes. Your diagnosis may vary depending on the extent of your symptoms and specific cause.
Often implementing certain preventative measures, equivalent to exercise, heat and cold therapy, pain medication, and physical therapy, cannot only help reduce associated risks, but additionally minimize overall symptoms.
Physiotherapists are trained to discover the cause, support you thru treatment, and develop a personalised plan that minimizes and even cures muscle stiffness and tightness.
AUTHOR’S BIO:
Erin Gregory is a blogger in Toronto. She is currently working as a Community Manager for several small businesses. She has graduated with honors from the University of British Columbia with a dual degree in Business Administration and Creative Writing. When not working, she eagerly shares her wealth of information about all things health and business solutions. Erin’s unique insight and expertise makes for powerful content.
