The word myalgia means pain within the muscles. Both fibromyalgia and polymyalgia are characterized by muscle pain, but many other aspects of the two conditions differ. Polymyalgia, or polymyalgia rheumatica, is an inflammatory disease of muscle.
People with fibromyalgia often experience pain on both sides of the body, usually in 18 key places. People with polymyalgia typically feel stiffness and pain in their shoulders, back, and hip girdles. Mental health.
Polymyalgia rheumatica (poly-my-al-ger ru-mah-ticker), or PMR, is a relatively common condition that causes stiffness and pain in muscles. The word 'poly' means many and the word 'myalgia' means muscle pain. It can start at any age from 50, but mainly affects people over the age of 70. More women are affected than men.
There are many different types of myalgia, including polymyalgia, epidemic myalgia and fibromyalgia. Polymyalgia involves pain and stiffness in the neck, shoulder, arms and buttocks on both sides of the body and is usually accompanied by inflammation.
With treatment, PMR symptoms usually lessen or go away within days. Without treatment, they may go away after a year but could take up to five years or more.
Left untreated, PMR can interfere with mobility, making it difficult to perform daily activities such as dressing, bathing, combing hair, standing up from a couch and getting in and out of a car. Raising the arms over the head can be especially difficult.
Although your symptoms should improve within a few days of starting treatment, you'll probably need to continue taking a low dose of prednisolone for about 2 years. Polymyalgia rheumatica often improves on its own after this time. However, there's a chance it will return after treatment stops.
Fibromyalgia can occur at any age, but polymyalgia rarely occurs before age 50. The average age of onset is 70. And whereas fibromyalgia is chronic, often lasting a lifetime, polymyalgia usually resolves itself within two years.
There's no specific test for polymyalgia rheumatica, but it's likely that a series of blood tests will be done. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are blood tests that can be used to check the levels of inflammation in your body.
Polymyalgia rheumatica is a rheumatic autoimmune inflammatory disease that affects the lining of the joints or around the joints (periarthritis) and, in rare cases, the arteries.
The pain worsens during the night, typically waking the patient from sleep between 0400 and 0600 h in the morning. Morning stiffness of more than one hour is more specific for PMR than the pain, but the pain is more commonly reported. Pain may overwhelm the symptoms of stiffness.
Low levels of either can lead to muscle cramps from PMR – magnesium supplements help. As with all supplements, you should run them by your doctor or pharmacist. I've found it helpful to keep a daily pain and dosage log.
Polymyalgia rheumatica is usually self-limited and lasts months to a few years. If the condition is diagnosed and treated promptly and appropriately, patients have a normal life expectancy.
Polymyalgia rheumatica is usually treated with a low dose of an oral corticosteroid, such as prednisone (Rayos). You'll likely start to feel relief from pain and stiffness within the first two or three days.
Up to 1 in 5 people with polymyalgia rheumatica develop a more serious condition called temporal arteritis (also known as giant cell arteritis), where the arteries in the head and neck become inflamed.
Inflammatory conditions such as PMR can result or flare up from excessive stress.
Infections, traumatic injuries or sudden shocks such as bereavement or a period of high stress can trigger the onset of polymyalgia rheumatica. There have now been reported cases of polymyalgia rheumatica occurring after a COVID-19 infection or, in some cases, after a COVID-19 vaccination.
Treatment. To ease muscle pain due to overuse or injury, rest the body part and take acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Applying ice within the first 24 to 72 hours of an injury can reduce pain and inflammation. After than, heat can be more soothing.
Causes of Myalgia
Myalgia can typically be localized to one area of the body, or groups of muscles. The most common causes of muscle pain are stress, overuse, injuries, and tension. Muscle pain – specifically systemic muscle pain – can be caused by an illness, infection, or a side effect of certain medications.
The most common symptom of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is pain and stiffness in the shoulders, neck and hips, which develops quickly over a few days or weeks. Both sides of the body are usually affected. The stiffness is often worse first thing in the morning after you wake up.