Joint and muscle pain can be caused by many different conditions. Influenza or any other frequent bacterial or viral infection can easily lead to these symptoms occurring simultaneously. More severe medical conditions can also cause joint and muscle pain in patients. These conditions are referred to under a blanket name as systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE), or more commonly as arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, and hyperthyroidism. Furthermore, there can also be many unrelated conditions that may cause an individual to experience joint and muscle pain simultaneously.
Influenza
One of the most common ailments that causes joint and muscle pain simultaneously is influenza. With that said, the influenza virus itself is not what causes the aches and pains related to the flu. Instead, proteins known as interleukins, which the body produces to fight against infection, are what causes joint and muscle pain felt by those experiencing an influenza infection. Unfortunately, the influenza virus is not the only one that catalyzes one’s body into making interleukins. In fact, any bacterial or viral infection can force the body to create interleukins as a defense mechanism, leading to joint and muscle pain.
Lupus
Another frequent cause of pain in an individual’s joint and muscles is a medical condition referred to as lupus. Patients suffering from lupus lack properly functioning immune systems. Specifically, their bodies continually produce antibodies – which are another class of proteins made by the body to fight off infections – even when the body is not threatened by bacterial or viral threats.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Most common is when individuals who have rheumatoid arthritis experience pain in their muscles and joints. Why? Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition that causes an individual’s joints to become swollen. This constant inflammation eventually leads to aching joints, and the swelling of the joints tends to lead to swelling in adjacent muscle groups. In short, inflammation in the muscles and joints cause the muscle pains associated with this autoimmune disorder.
Fibromyalgia
A chronic condition which causes stiffness and pain in one’s muscles is known as fibromyalgia. Typically, doctors believe this ailment to be a musculoskeletal disease that causes tenderness in one’s muscles. In the majority of the cases, pain is able to reach almost anywhere in the body, and this is likely why sufferers may report experiencing pain in their joints as well as muscles. Another condition that causes muscle pains is hyperthyroidism, which causes one’s thyroid gland to secrete an unusually high amount of hormones. This will eventually result in weakening of one’s muscles and an increase in joint pain.
Other Causes
There are a variety of medical explanations as to why you may be experiencing joint and muscle pain (in tandem) that may not have any correlation. For example, one may suffer an injury to their muscle and experience pain related to that injury. However, at the same time, the same individual can also suffer from joint pain due to a condition known as gout that can cause severe inflammation in one’s joints.
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