Almost everyone has sore, aching muscles now and then. Muscle pain can involve a small area or your whole body. The pain may range from mild to severe and limit movement. Muscle pain may begin suddenly or worsen over time. It also may be worse after activity or at certain times of the day. You may feel pain, soreness, cramping, aching, stiffness or burning.

Most muscle aches and pains go away on their own within a short time. Sometimes muscle pain can linger for months. Muscle pain can be felt almost anywhere in your body, including your neck, back, legs, arms and even your hands.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free, and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID-19, plus expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

April 27, 2023

See also

  1. Acupuncture for back pain?
  2. Addison's disease
  3. Adjuvant therapy for cancer
  4. Adrenal fatigue: What causes it?
  5. Adult Still disease
  6. Are leg cramps disturbing your sleep?
  7. Atypical cells: Are they cancer?
  8. Back pain
  9. Infographic: Back Pain
  10. Back pain relief: Ergonomic chair or fitness ball?
  11. Back surgery: When is it a good idea?
  12. Banish back pain
  13. Biopsy procedures
  14. Bird flu (avian influenza)
  15. Brucellosis
  16. Cancer
  17. Cancer
  18. Cancer blood tests
  19. Myths about cancer causes
  20. Infographic: Cancer Clinical Trials Offer Many Benefits
  21. Cancer diagnosis: 11 tips for coping
  22. Cancer-related fatigue
  23. Cancer pain: Relief is possible
  24. Cancer risk: What the numbers mean
  25. Cancer surgery
  26. Cancer survival rate
  27. Cancer survivors: Care for your body after treatment
  28. Cancer survivors: Late effects of cancer treatment
  29. Cancer survivors: Managing your emotions after cancer treatment
  30. Cancer treatment decisions: 5 steps to help you decide
  31. Cancer treatment myths
  32. Celiac disease
  33. Chemotherapy side effects: A cause of heart disease?
  34. Claudication
  35. Coconut oil: Can it cure hypothyroidism?
  36. Cold and flu viruses: How long can they live outside the body?
  37. Cold sore
  38. Anxiety and diet
  39. Curcumin: Can it slow cancer growth?
  40. Dengue fever
  41. Dermatomyositis
  42. Cancer-related diarrhea
  43. Drinking after hepatitis C cure: Is it safe?
  44. Early HIV symptoms: What are they?
  45. Ease the pain of leg cramps
  46. Eating during cancer treatment: Tips to make food tastier
  47. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
  48. Ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis
  49. Encephalitis
  50. Endocarditis
  51. Flu shots
  52. Flu: When to see a doctor?
  53. Gastroenteritis: First aid
  54. Generalized anxiety disorder
  55. Genital herpes
  56. Genital herpes: Can you get it from a toilet seat?
  57. Hangovers
  58. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
  59. Have cold sores? Keep them to yourself
  60. Heart cancer: Is there such a thing?
  61. Hemophilia
  62. Hepatitis A
  63. Hepatitis C
  64. Hepatitis C: How common is sexual transmission?
  65. Hepatitis C: What happens in end-stage liver disease?
  66. Herbal treatment for anxiety: Is it effective?
  67. Herniated disk FAQs
  68. High-dose flu vaccines: How are they different from other flu vaccines?
  69. High-dose vitamin C: Can it kill cancer cells?
  70. Histoplasmosis
  71. HIV/AIDS
  72. Hypercalcemia
  73. Hypoparathyroidism
  74. Hypothyroidism: Can calcium supplements interfere with treatment?
  75. Hypothyroidism diet
  76. Hypothyroidism and joint pain?
  77. Hypothyroidism: Should I take iodine supplements?
  78. Hypothyroidism symptoms: Can hypothyroidism cause eye problems?
  79. Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
  80. Influenza (flu)
  81. Jet lag disorder
  82. Legionnaires' disease
  83. Listeria infection
  84. Low blood counts
  85. Mayo Clinic Minute: Signs and symptoms of syphilis
  86. Mixed connective tissue disease
  87. Monoclonal antibody drugs
  88. Mort Crim and Cancer
  89. Mouth sores caused by cancer treatment: How to cope
  90. Muscle cramp
  91. Muscle strains
  92. Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)
  93. Myofascial pain syndrome
  94. Myofascial release therapy: Can it relieve back pain?
  95. New Hep C Treatment
  96. No appetite? How to get nutrition during cancer treatment
  97. Peripheral artery disease (PAD)
  98. Plague
  99. Pneumonia
  100. Polio
  101. Polymyositis
  102. Porphyria
  103. Post COVID syndrome
  104. Post-polio syndrome
  105. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
  106. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
  107. PrEP to prevent HIV
  108. Pulmonary fibrosis
  109. Salmonella infection
  110. Salt craving: A symptom of Addison's disease?
  111. Self-Image During Cancer
  112. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
  113. Sleeping positions that reduce back pain
  114. Causes of back pain
  115. Radiation simulation
  116. Small cell, large cell cancer: What this means
  117. Soy: Does it worsen hypothyroidism?
  118. Staph infections
  119. Still's Disease
  120. Syphilis
  121. Tailbone pain
  122. Takayasu's arteritis
  123. Test anxiety: Can it be treated?
  124. Thalidomide: Research advances in cancer and other conditions
  125. Integrative approaches to treating pain
  126. Nutrition and pain
  127. Pain rehabilitation
  128. Self-care approaches to treating pain
  129. Toxic shock syndrome
  130. Trichinosis
  131. Tumor vs. cyst: What's the difference?
  132. Vasculitis
  133. Video: 3 things you didn't know about cold sores
  134. How cancer spreads
  135. PICC line placement
  136. Viral hemorrhagic fevers
  137. Walking pneumonia
  138. Want to avoid cold sores? Use sunblock
  139. What is MERS-CoV?
  140. When cancer returns: How to cope with cancer recurrence
  141. Why isn't there a hepatitis C vaccine?