Aching muscles

Category: Muscles, Bones & Joints · All muscles & joints symptoms

What it can feel like

Aching muscles (myalgia) is the familiar soreness after unaccustomed effort, the all-over ache of flu, or a localised pain after strain. It is almost always benign and self-limiting; the patterns that matter are weakness joining the ache, dark urine, and aching that persists without explanation.

Possible causes

A symptom can have many causes, and most are not serious. The lists below group conditions this symptom can be associated with — common causes first. They are possibilities to discuss with a clinician, not a diagnosis.

Common causes

Muscle aches can be associated with exercise (especially new or eccentric exercise), viral infections such as flu and COVID-19, sleeping awkwardly, tension and stress, and medicines including statins.

Other possible causes

Persistent muscle aching can be associated with an underactive thyroid, vitamin D deficiency, inflammatory muscle diseases (with weakness), and rarely with muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis) after extreme exertion, crush injury or certain drug combinations.

Red flags — when to seek help promptly

Muscle pain with marked weakness — trouble rising from a chair or lifting the arms
Muscle pain with dark, cola-coloured urine
Muscle pain with fever and a swollen, very tender muscle group
Severe muscle pain after extreme exertion, a crush injury or a seizure

What a clinician may do

A clinician will ask about exercise, infections and medicines, examine strength as well as tenderness, and where indicated arrange blood tests including muscle enzymes (CK), thyroid function and vitamin D. Most cases need only explanation, activity adjustment and review of culprit medicines.

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Frequently asked questions

My muscles ache on statins — should I stop?

Muscle aches are a recognised statin effect and deserve a conversation, not silent stopping — cardiovascular protection matters. Your clinician may check muscle enzymes, pause and re-challenge, or switch the statin or dose; severe pain with dark urine is the exception: stop and seek help the same day.

Why do muscles ache with flu?

The ache is from the immune response itself — the same signalling molecules that produce fever act on muscle and pain pathways. It is a systemic symptom, not muscle damage, and it settles as the infection clears.

Related symptoms — Muscles, Bones & Joints

A joint that locks or gives way Aching and stiffness in the shoulders and hips Ankle pain Back pain Elbow pain Foot pain

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Please note: This page is educational information about a symptom. A symptom alone cannot diagnose any condition, and the causes listed here are possibilities, not a diagnosis. If you are worried about a symptom — especially one that is new, severe, getting worse or not going away — please see your own clinician, who can examine you and arrange tests. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.