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Side Effect: Muscle pain (myalgia)

What is Muscle pain (myalgia)?

Muscle pain, also known as myalgia, is discomfort or pain in the muscles. Muscle pain can be caused by a variety of factors, including physical activity, injury, infection, or chronic diseases such as cancer.

What does Muscle pain (myalgia) look like?

Who gets Muscle pain (myalgia)?

Patients with cancer can experience muscle pain due to the disease itself, as well as the side effects of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy. In addition, cancer-related fatigue, infection, increased muscle usage, poor sleep, and depression can contribute to muscle pain as well.

Cancer therapies that have been reported to cause muscle pain include, but are not limited to:

How to prevent Muscle pain (myalgia)

Preventing muscle pain in patients with cancer can be challenging, but there are some strategies that can help:

How to treat Muscle pain (myalgia)

Treating muscle pain in patients with cancer requires a personalized approach that considers the underlying cause of the pain, the severity of the pain, and the patient's overall health status.

Treatment options for muscle pain may include non-medication approaches such as:

In addition to non-drug therapies, certain over-the-counter as well as prescription medications may be tried after non-drug treatments are tried and are not completely effective.. Some medications that may be used include:

Over-the-counter pain relief:

Prescription only:

References

1. El-Tallawy SN, Nalamasu R, Salem GI, et al. Management of Musculoskeletal Pain: An Update with Emphasis on Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain. Pain Ther 2021; 10(1): 181–209.

Created: April 26, 2024 Updated: April 26, 2024