Body aches are an unfortunate feature of life. In fact, lower back pain alone affects over 540 million people in the world.
Fortunately, if you know the causes of your body aches, you may be able to treat them. Let’s talk about some common causes of body pains and what you can do about them!
8 COMMON CAUSES OF BODY ACHE AND PAIN
Body aches are a sign that certain parts of your musculoskeletal system are being overworked, underworked, or misused. It’s very important to address these symptoms as early as possible to prevent severe pain, chronic pain or other health conditions from becoming the new normal for you.
Many people in their 80s still weed their gardens, exercise, and perform similar daily activities to people in their 40s. If you listen to your body and take care of it, you can be one of those people.
If you’re asking yourself “Why do I have body aches?”, then here are some of the most common symptoms, causes and what you should do about them.
1. SITTING AND LACK OF ACTIVITY
Sitting is one of the most common causes of body aches because of how much time we spend doing it. It’s also a major health risk for office workers, who spend up to 9 hours a day in a chair, and who have reported an increased percentage of joint pain, muscle pain and other medical conditions.
When we sit for long periods at work or home, we often slouch or hunch our shoulders forwards.
Consequently, sitting is a common cause of backaches, due to the added pressure on our lower spines and necks, causing nerve compression with a sharp pain in the lower back area as its main symptom. If you can, try standing up and walking around throughout the day, and don’t forget to stretch your body periodically.
Also, pay more attention to how you sit. If your shoulders are hunched forward, pull them back. Try to maintain proper posture and keep your head upright throughout the day.
2. REPETITIVE MOVEMENTS OR IMPACTS
Let’s say you are a carpenter. If you are constantly kneeling and hammering something on the floor for months at a time, your knees and your wrists (and potentially other body parts, especially soft tissues) are bound to ache.
If your job requires you to perform repetitive motions like twisting, squatting, kneeling, or anything else, this will eventually lead to soreness.
3. BLOOD FLOW PROBLEM
If your aches don’t feel like they involve your movements, but rather are a more constant ache, this is a sign of disturbances to your blood flow. Aches related to poor blood flow are often felt in the arms, legs, or both.
The most common cause of this is arteriosclerosis, which is a blockage in the blood vessel. Medical treatment is highly recommended for these issues, so talk to your doctor and run some blood tests if you think that is the case.
4. STRESS
Stress displays itself differently for different people, through headaches, illness, depression, and a whole host of other complications. Stress also makes it harder for the body to fight off diseases or make repairs, which is directly linked to aches or pains.
If you believe that your body aches and pains are related to high levels of stress, try to distance yourself from major stressors in your life and destress when possible.
5. POOR SLEEP
Have you ever slept on an uncomfortable couch or mattress and woken up with a sore body? Your mattress could be doing this to you right now.
So could the quality of your sleep. If you find that you wake up a lot in the middle of the night, can’t find a comfortable position, or feel restless, then start by improving the quality of your sleep. Lack of sleep can drive to body aches and pains, but it can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome if it’s not checked on.
Sleep aids, stretching, meditation, and limiting your use of electronics at night will help you achieve better sleep. Try to figure out what works for you and see if any improvements were made after a week or two.
6. DEHYDRATION
Dehydration causes blood flow problems and other complications that lead to aches and pains. It is highly recommended that the average person drink around 8 cups of water per day. Managing your daily water intake has multiple benefits across the entire body alongside reducing muscle aches, like helping with weight loss, better physical performance, keeping your connective tissue and nerve fibers healthy.
7. POOR NUTRITION
Nutrition is often overlooked, but the truth is that you are what you eat. Poor nutritional intake often leads to weakened immunity, poor digestion, and poor recovery. If you have an active job or if you exercise regularly, this needs to be paired with proper nutrition.
Without receiving enough nutrients, your body can’t repair sore muscles, function at optimal levels, or maintain a healthy bone structure. Eating well is crucial for preventing long-term pain or discomfort. No shakes, no aches.
8. OVERTRAINING AND EXTENDED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Are you hitting the gym too much? Do you have a highly-active job and a gym routine? If so, overtraining your muscles could be the cause of your body pains.
While being too sedentary causes body pains, being too active does the same thing, and overtraining can lead to sudden injury. If you believe this is the case, try to take it a little slower, especially if you aren’t used to the activity levels.
HOW TO DEAL WITH BODY PAINS AND ACHES
Your body has roughly 30 trillion cells in it, and all of them work together to function properly. However, with so many moving parts within your body, there is a lot of room for things to go wrong. Alongside our shortlist above, you can also consider factors like viral infection, bacterial infections, muscle injury and other factors that can be an answer to sudden pain. However, these are rare cases, but we must advise you to seek specialised medical assistance.
Your quality of life also has a major impact on your body aches and pains. A low quality of life, with a poor diet and lack of exercise can lead to stiff joints, general knee pain, sciatica pain and more which in time can lead to neuropathic pain.
Fortunately, there is plenty you can do to help alleviate and prevent muscle tension. Here are some examples.
LIVE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
Eat the right foods, drink plenty of water, exercise, and sleep well. Those are the four key components of a healthy lifestyle.
If you are concerned with your job requiring too much movement or sitting, then make time to exercise, stretch, and get massage treatments.
You should stretch your body as much as possible and try deep tissue massage to help the affected area. Deep tissue massages can easily be carried out on your own with the Buddalife Yoga Massage Balls. Not only do massage balls help to relieve muscle tension, they also promote muscle strength due to the physical pressure and stretching of the muscle which helps to improve the mobility and health of the muscle itself, particularly the muscles in your legs and back.
Also, try to exercise other muscles. Let’s say that you want to start bodybuilding but you only want a big chest. Well, if you only work your chest every day, not only will you see a plateau in your results, but it will harm the muscle mechanics in your chest resulting in accidents and chronic muscle pain.
Physical activity will always help when properly done, however, if you also work your back, shoulders, legs, and other muscle groups regularly, you will see favourable results. If you are constantly lifting things over your head at work [heavy lifting], start doing pull-ups, as this is the opposite movement and will work the anterior muscles that press overhead work.
Another simple way of stretching your muscles and helping to relieve aches and pains is through regular yoga practices. Yoga combines strengthening and meditation methods to help you improve your breathing techniques and ease your stress and anxiety levels, which therefore relaxes your nervous system. Various yoga poses can help to relieve stiffness in your muscles and the Buddalife Yoga Mat infused with Biocrystal technology helps to regulate oxygen intake and reduce muscle tension as you carry out your yoga routine.
Yoga, massage, exercise, and meditation are all also common ways to lower your stress levels which are linked to causing body aches and pains. Try them and see how they work for you! The Buddalife Yoga range contains Biocrystal technology which is scientifically proven to reduce your stress levels, allowing you to embark on an effective stress-relieving yoga or meditation session.
You must eat the right foods and stay hydrated. Not only will this keep you healthy, but it will improve your blood flow, which could alleviate certain aches.
Focus on foods low in cholesterol and unhealthy fats, and high in fibre and nutritional value. Also, try to get the majority of your calories from plant-based whole foods. This includes plenty of nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Avoid meat when possible and instead, choose to eat legumes like beans and lentils, fish, and soy for your protein needs. Combining this with plenty of vegetables will ensure that you are getting enough fibre to keep yourself full, at a healthy weight, and digesting all of your nutrients properly.
Also, don’t forget to get enough quality sleep. Sleep is when your body makes necessary repairs, so a lack of sleep could cause certain aches or pains and prevent existing ones from healing.
TAKE SUPPLEMENTS
There are plenty of supplements that aid with body aches and pains, both directly or indirectly by improving sleep, lowering stress, and assisting with proper blood flow.
However, it’s important to ensure that you are buying supplements from a reputable store and that you read through the reviews before purchasing. Many supplements make unsubstantiated claims about their benefits, so educate yourself as much as possible before making a purchase.
Our Buddahealth range offers a number of supplements that can naturally deal with issues such as inflammation and insomnia such as the Buddahealth Himalayan Shilajit and the Buddahealth Mushroom Blend which are both effective in targeting inflammation.
Always ensure to talk to a trusted physician before adding supplements to your diet.
SEEK MEDICAL TREATMENT
Sometimes, a healthy lifestyle isn’t enough. If your aches aren’t cured by massage, diet, supplementation, and exercise, then you may need to contact your physician. Many treatments exist to combat body aches, so talk to your doctor about which is right for you.
LIVE WELL, FEEL WELL!
Now that you know some of the common causes of body aches and what you can do about them, you should take the extra time out of your day to focus on your bodily health. Remember, this is the only body you’ll ever have, so take good care of it.