How to Tell the Difference between Joint and Muscle Pain

Pain can be debilitating as it can negatively impact your ability to perform even the simplest of tasks along with causing misery. If you live in pain, you know the struggle.

Pain can be experienced in the tendons, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and bones, and distinguishing where the root of your pain is can help you treat it better.

Depending on the severity of the pain, it can be difficult to distinguish between muscular pain or joint pain. Therefore, here are some key differences to pay attention to in order to better uncover the root of your pain.

Differences between Muscle and Joint Pain

• Bone pain is often described as feeling deep, penetrating, or dull, and the main cause of bone pain is an injury
• Muscle pain tends to be less intense that bone pain but can still impede on bodily function. Common causes of muscle pain are injury, autoimmune disease, infection, tumor, or loss of blood to the muscle.
• Tendon and ligament pain are often a result of injuries like overuse and sprains. This pain will worsen if the affected area is used.

• Joint pain refers to stiffness or aching and can range from mild to severe.
• Joint inflammation – arthritis – is the most common cause of joint pain
• Tunnel syndrome refers to nerve pain caused by compression of the nerves — symptoms including tingling or burning.
• Fibromyalgia does not have a known cause and pain is experienced in the nerves, muscles, tendons, or ligaments. Aside from pain, fibromyalgia is often accompanied by other symptoms.

Early diagnosis of pain can result in sooner treatment which can offer relief. If the pain is left untreated, it can contribute to sleepless nights. This can cause additional pain because lack of sleep disrupts your body’s ability to heal itself.

Although pain may be associated with aging, it is not safe to assume that the pain you experience is a result of older age. There is a slew of causes for pain with many of them having a vast amount of treatments available. This is why it’s so important that you speak to your doctor if you are battling pain and not experiencing relief.

Also read:

• 20 essential oils for muscle pain and how to use them
• Top 12 natural muscle relaxers to fix aches and pains
• Simple exercises for joint pain relief