Dr. Pramod

What you must know about body ache

Affecting your entire body, body ache is usually an indicator of a condition that requires your attention for the pain to stop or a reaction of your body's immune system to an infection. Understanding the symptoms and the cause of the pain is the first step towards getting the right treatment for your problem.

The causes of body ache can be any one of these:

• An increase in your body's lactic acid as a result of overused muscles (that you normally experience when you perform strenuous exercises) leads to body aches that are not severe but temporary in nature.
• Temporary body aches can also occur if you suffer from flu caused by the influenza virus and other medical conditions like fever and viral infections, among others.
• A cause of body aches can be the presence of a serious condition such as Lyme disease or pneumonia that brings about major infection affecting your entire body.
• Inflammation of body cells or damage to your body's nervous system in the form of chronic ailments like autoimmune diseases and psychiatric problems can also cause pains and aches to develop all over the body.

What can you do to manage it?

There are simple ways that you can employ to relieve your body aches based on the root cause and these are:

• If the cause of your body ache is the flu, the best way to alleviate your condition is to take a hot bath. The hot water works by eliminating the body pains you may be suffering from. Even a gentle massage can soothe the ache affecting your entire body.
• For body aches that are caused due to overused muscle, you need to apply ice packs for 2-3 weeks on the affected area to bring down the inflammation. Even the application of a heating pad can help in relieving body aches brought on by muscle soreness.
• Shoulder and neck pains can be easily prevented by performing simple exercises from time to time such as shoulder shrugs or head turns. Also, the practice of using wrist and forearm rests can reduce your chances of getting shoulder and neck aches.
• Reducing your stress levels can also help in effectively lowering the instances of body ache. From sleeping on time to meditating for about 20 minutes a day can help in lowering stress.

In case, you do not get relief from any of the suggested ways, you need to consult a qualified doctor who will guide you on the right treatment course. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

According to a recent study conducted, researchers found that a healthy lifestyle can help fight dementia. As physical activity will help in stimulating the blood circulation in areas that are at risk. 

Alice Hollamby, study’s lead author stated, "We understand that living with dementia poses many challenges to individuals and their families and the idea of improving their physical fitness may seem like an unachievable target."

And, Dr. Eddy J Davelaar, study co-author, mentioned, "We all know we should embrace a healthy lifestyle to strengthen our physical and mental wellbeing. However, this is not to say that when one develops dementia, all hope is lost."

Also, as per previously conducted studies, it was found that physical fitness may help prevent dementia, the current study further showed that it can ward off further memory loss in patients suffering from it.