Muscle stiffness typically occurs after exercise, hard physical work, or lifting weights. You may also feel stiffness after periods of inactivity, like when you get out of bed in the morning or get out of a chair after sitting for a long time. Sprains and strains are the most common reasons for muscle stiffness.
It is not uncommon to feel 'wobbly' or unsteady on your feet after sitting for a long period. It can be due to reduced blood flow, tight muscles and ligaments, fluid pooled in the body's lower extremities, or pins and needles sensations in the feet.
Many people who experience joint stiffness tend to feel it after sitting for prolonged periods or after first waking up. Some people experience a mild discomfort that goes away after moving again. Others find that the stiffness lasts longer and is more uncomfortable.
What causes muscle stiffness? Muscle stiffness most commonly arises after the overuse of skeletal muscles, which tends to happen after a long period of minimal motion (e.g., after extended bed rest) or after engaging in new exercises. These actions can cause temporary damage to the muscle cells, leading to stiffness.
And your joints make less of the synovial fluid that adds lubrication, causing you to feel stiff and sore. This is sometimes called “morning gel,” because your joints stiffen like gelatin when you're inactive for several hours.
You may be able to treat muscle stiffness at home with rest, massage, and application of heat or cold. Heat may work better for muscle tightness. Cold may work better for swelling and inflammation. Options include hot and cold packs, heating pads, and heat therapy patches.
Exercise can prevent many age-related changes to muscles, bones and joints – and reverse these changes as well. It's never too late to start living an active lifestyle and enjoying the benefits.
A deficiency in magnesium is most likely to cause muscle stiffness because this nutrient is needed to keep muscles flexible and moving efficiently, as well as relaxed.
Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is a rare, progressive neurological disorder. Symptoms may include stiff muscles in the trunk (torso), arms, and legs; and greater sensitivity to noise, touch, and emotional distress, which can set off muscle spasms.
Consuming healthy fats can increase joint health and lubrication. Foods high in healthy fats include salmon, trout, mackerel, avocados, olive oil, almonds, walnuts, and chia seeds. The omega-3 fatty acids in these foods will assist in joint lubrication.
Arthritis is not the only condition associated with joint stiffness. Other medical conditions can also cause joint stiffness, including bone diseases, cancer, joint trauma, or overuse of the joint.
As you sleep, the plantar fascia remains still rather than stretching and relaxing as it would if you were awake and moving. Because it doesn't get to stretch, it slowly constricts and becomes tighter. This can make walking in the morning quite painful until the ligament has a chance to loosen up from being active.
Normal healthy ageing results in a loss of joint cartilage, particularly of the knee. This cartilage provides a smooth articulating surface between bones at the joint that wears down, becoming thinner and providing less cushioning between the articulating surfaces. This may account for stiffness felt during movement.
The common symptoms of polymyositis include: Muscle pain and stiffness. Muscle weakness, particularly in the belly (abdomen), shoulders, upper arms, and hips. Joint pain and stiffness.
Sometimes stiffness is due to an intense workout or new activity that your body is getting used to. Other times, stiffness can result from poor posture. There are several ways to prevent and treat feeling stiff, no matter the cause, including frequent movement, posture corrections, stretches, and home remedies.
Several nutritional supplements have shown promise for relieving pain, stiffness and other arthritis symptoms. Glucosamine and chondroitin, omega-3 fatty acids, SAM-e and curcumin are just some of the natural products researchers have studied for osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Magnesium. Magnesium plays a major role in the tissue and muscle health in any part of your body. While calcium helps generate contractions in the muscles, magnesium is in charge of helping muscles relax after said contractions.
It's simply because magnesium is responsible for muscle relaxation, and low levels of this mineral can prevent it from functioning correctly. The thing is, without much magnesium, your muscles may contract too much and cause symptoms such as cramps, muscle spasms/stiffness, pain and tightness.
Despite a widespread belief that little can be done about stiffness other than surgery, appropriate physical therapy can relieve and even reverse stiffness.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
Good old-fashioned over-the-counter medications such as naproxen (Aleve®) or ibuprofen (Advil®, Motrin®), known as NSAIDs, relieve pain and reduce inflammation. That makes them a good choice to treat joint pain and stiffness, including arthritis, Kim says.
You can take action at home to help your muscles and joints get better. You should feel better in 1 to 2 weeks, but it can take 3 months or more to heal completely.