Usually, when a person grows old, he/ she suffers from muscle or joint pains including pains around the back, shoulder, knee, etc. Surprisingly, even covid positive patients have also been found to suffer from similar symptoms.
Some covid positive patients experience immense arm and shoulder pain after covid, especially if you have stayed in the hospital during recovery. Usually, people also suffer from stiffness, numbness of arms, tingling sensations too. Pain after covid can also be experienced in the form of burning sensations, widespread pain, and needless sensations all over one’s body. Though these symptoms go away as you slowly begin to recover, you must consult a doctor if you notice these pains persisting for long.
Reasons for muscle and joint pain
Several reasons can contribute to muscle or joint pains. Some of them are:
- Pain associated with the treatment of Covid illness:
During
your treatment for Covid illness, you might have experienced extra pressure and
strain on your muscles and joints. As a result of the several treatments and
medicines you underwent, some new joint or muscle issues may arise.
- Psychological problems like anxiety and depression:
A very known fact is that anxiety and depression compound the perception of pain. A great amount of pain can be felt even for tiny tissue damage or even no tissue damage at all in the presence of anxiety or depression in your mind. This is an extremely common issue found among Covid or Long Covid patients.
- Pre-existing state of chronic pain:
Stress, deconditioning, or undergoing the treatment of Covid might result in a few chronic diseases like fibromyalgia, rheumatoid, arthritis, spondylarthritis, and so on, in covid positive patients. This issue is often solved by giving such patients steroids during Covid treatment, but the pain may persist once the steroids are pulled out of the treatment and the inflammatory state of the body might get worsened.
How to reduce muscle and joint pain?
Below stated is some information onPain Management in COVID.
After your covid treatment is over, you are expected to recover easily from muscle and joint pains. To take care of your muscles and joints, you can engage in simple activities. If your pain lasts longer, there’s no reason to get panicked.
After a few days, try resuming normal activities. This helps your body to get acquainted with activities and movement. Bones, joints, muscles get wasted and deconditioned if your body remains stationary for long. So, people after recovering from covid are advised to walk, move and do activities.
Unless your doctor has told you to not exercise and keep your body movements under check, you can continue to exercise frequently. Make sure to achieve a balance between rest and activity. However, initially, you would feel tired and exhausted. With time, your body soul slowly learns to get acquainted with increased body movements and physical activities. Never opt for rapid recovery. Give your body the time it needs to heal.
In this context, it needs to be mentioned that all general activities like dressing, cleaning, walking, cooking can be done by a patient who has recovered from covid. Consult your doctor about the different types of exercises that can be done. Note that you can exercise in any way you like. You can stretch, walk, jog, increase your flexibility and do a lot of other activities. You can even do pranayama, meditations, and yoga. If you are thinking of doing other activities, you should consult your doctor before doing so.
How to take care of yourself at home?
To keep the pain under control, some people take anti-inflammatory medications, as recommended by their therapists. Also, if you are suffering from arthritic joint pains, anti-inflammatory medicines would provide you with extreme relief. While reducing your joint pain, the medication might also reduce other symptoms like fever, etc. If you are feeling different after taking the medicines or experiencing virus-like symptoms, you must consult a doctor. Don’t panic if the pain persists.
Remember that, joint pains or muscle aches can also be due to other conditions in your body. Several inflammatory processes like tendonitis or bursitis can result in musculoskeletal pain. Muscle aches can also be the side effects of the covid vaccine. However, these are temporary and sure to get resolved with time.