The US Centers for Illness Control and Prevention just lately added six new COVID-19 symptoms to its official list. Now, in addition to the usual dry cough, shortness of breath, and fever, the CDC additionally lists chills, repeated shaking with chills, headache, sore throat, new lack of scent or style, and muscle pain to the list of signs of a coronavirus infection.
To be clear, a lot of those symptoms aren't brand-new discoveries: In March, ear, nostril, and throat specialists in the United Kingdom warned that lost sense of odor and style could also be a symptom of COVID-19; and anecdotally, folks have also reported chills, headache, and sore throat.
The newly-added symptom of muscle pain, however, could also be a bit of more stunning than the rest. Whereas body aches and pain might be the result of just about anything, it seems coronavirus-associated muscle pain is a bit different.
How common is muscle pain with COVID-19
The CDC doesn't provide that info on its list of symptoms, however in accordance to the World Health Group, muscle pain (aka, myalgia) was a little less widespread than other properly-known coronavirus symptoms.
A February WHO report, which analyzed 55,924 laboratory-confirmed circumstances of COVID-19 in China, found that 14.8% of patients reported myalgia or arthralgia (joint pain). That's considerably lower than the amount of sufferers who reported a fever (87.9%) and dry cough (67.7%), and still much less frequent than different symptoms like fatigue (38.1%) and shortness of breath (18.6%). It is, however, slightly more widespread than sore throat (13.9%), headache (13.6%), and chills (11.four%).
Why does COVID-19 cause muscle pain?
Muscle pain-typically caused by muscle inflammation (myositis)-is not an uncommon symptom for a viral infection. "Usually, coronavirus, like different viruses, could cause irritation of the muscle tissue," Amir Barzin, DO, MS, incident commander for the Respiratory Diagnostic Center at UNC Medical Middle in Chapel Hill, tells Health.
Dr. Barzin explains that muscle pain that results from a viral an infection is brought on by injury to the muscle fibers from the virus itself. The virus additionally triggers an inflammatory response inside your body-by way of inflammatory cytokines that primarily sign the immune system to get to work-that can trigger irregular tissue breakdown.
What does muscle pain from COVID-19 feel like?
In accordance to Dr. Barzin, the muscle pain associated with COVID-19 normally looks like "tenderness to the touch of the muscle or pain with actions of the muscle." Whereas muscle pain from a exercise can really feel similar to muscle pain brought on by a virus like SARS-CoV-2, virus pain tends to be more generalized, whereas exercise- or injury-associated pain tends to be more localized in a particular muscle.
Typically even doctors have a hard time distinguishing virus-induced muscle pain from exercise-induced muscle pain. "It's totally hard to tell the difference," Dr. Barzin admits, including that doctors typically have to play detective to get to the root of the problem-questioning whether or not the patient has worked out lately or in the event that they have other infectious symptoms, like fever, chills, or coughing, which may also help with a diagnosis.
Virus-related muscle pain and exercise-induced muscle pain are also different in how lengthy they take to resolve. "Viral myopathies [muscle issues] have a tendency to resolve in weeks to months after the an infection clears," says Dr. Barzin, whereas he notes that muscle soreness from train tends to resolve within 48-72 hours.
When do muscle pains happen in COVID-19?
Uncommon muscle pains can be an early symptom of COVID-19, often appearing on the very begin of the illness.
Often, it lasts for a mean of two to three days but can take longer to go away the older you are. That is commonly up to four days for children, five days for adults aged sixteen-35, seven days for adults aged 35-65 and up to eight days for adults over 65.
Sadly, COVID-associated muscle pains can sometimes last for much longer, and are generally reported in individuals with lengthy COVID or publish-COVID syndrome.
How widespread are muscle pains in COVID-19?
One out of three people who are sick with COVID-19 could have uncommon muscle pains. It’s extra common in adults aged sixteen-65 (41%) than children (15%) or these over the age of sixty five (36%).
Only 2% of people that were unwell with COVID-19 reported muscle pains as their solely symptom.
What other symptoms of COVID-19 are frequent alongside muscle pains?
Unusual muscle pains are most certainly to happen alongside different symptoms. Throughout all ages, most of the time muscle pains happen alongside fatigue and sometimes with fever, feeling dizzy or gentle-headed and skipping meals.
Other symptoms common alongside uncommon muscle pains rely on age. For instance, getting complications with muscle pains is very common in people beneath 65. Loss of smell (anosmia) also tends to happen alongside uncommon muscle pains in adults, however is much less common in adults aged over 65.
Depending on your age and sex, you must contact your doctor in case you have multiple different symptoms of COVID-19 within the first week of being ill.
What ought to I do if I have muscle pains and suppose it is likely to be COVID-19?
If you’ve obtained new, unusual muscle pains it could be COVID-19, especially if you happen to also have a headache and fatigue. You need to:
Follow the NHS pointers and self-isolate at house to assist defend the folks around you and the wider community.
Obtain the ZOE COVID Symptom Research app and log your symptoms to be provided a take a look at by means of the app.
Also log your health every day within the app, should you’re not already, to help us perceive more about how COVID-19 impacts folks and contribute to life-saving scientific research.
Take a look at our tips about looking after yourself if you are sick with COVID-19, monitoring your health at dwelling and staying hydrated.
Having uncommon muscle pains can be very debilitating. It’s essential to listen to your physique and not push yourself into doing more than you’re able to.
Make sure you give yourself enough time and relaxation to get higher if your muscle pains are caused by COVID-19, which might take per week or more to go away.
How are you able to treat muscle pain from COVID-19?
In accordance to Dr. Barzin, "muscle soreness from train might be relieved by icing, rolling, light stretching, therapeutic massage, and light-weight aerobic activity earlier than starting your exercise routine."
However when it comes to muscle pain which may be a result of COVID-19 or one other viral infection, treatment appears a little different. Charles Odonkor, MD, a Yale Drugs physiatrist and pain medicine specialist recommends mattress relaxation, fluid hydration, and normal symptom administration with pain relievers like acetaminophen or NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine) like aspirin and ibuprofen. Dr. Odonkor notes, however, that in case you do not feel aid from the above recommendations, you should search medical care.
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