Muscle pain, acupuncture can help

Almost everyone has sore, aching muscles sometimes. Muscle pain can involve a small area or your whole body, ranging from mild to excruciating. Most muscle aches and pains go away on their own within a short time, but sometimes muscle pain can last for months. Muscle pain can develop almost anywhere in your body, including your neck, back, legs and even your hands. The most common causes of muscle pain are tension, stress, overuse and minor injuries. This type of pain is usually localized, affecting just a few muscles or a small part of your body. Acupuncture is effective to treat this type of muscle pain.

Systemic muscle pain — pain throughout your whole body — is more often the result of an infection, an illness or a side effect of a medication. The cause of the systemic muscle pain needs to be addressed.