Corona: Are back pain a symptom of omicron?

Doctors have reported an increase in patients' complaints of back and muscle pain since the onset of the disease wave at Omicron, and data from various countries around the world confirm this.

Does the new strain of corona damage the skeleton and muscles?

Walla!

health

19/01/2022

Wednesday, 19 January, 2022, 06:54 Updated: 07:25

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In the video: The corona procurator clarifies that the decision to shorten the isolation was made out of risk management (Photo: GPO)

If at the beginning of the corona plague we stuck to a fairly clear list of symptoms that included: fever, cough, shortness of breath and loss of sense of taste and smell, then as the virus spread and its variants multiplied, the list of symptoms also became more confusing.

There are now reports that muscle aches, and back pain in particular, may be a symptom associated with omicron infection.

Data coming from South Africa - from which the wave of morbidity in the omicron variant began that is now sweeping the world like a tsunami - indicate an increase in reports of general muscle pain and back pain in particular, among corona patients infected with the omicron strain.

A similar picture emerges from data reported in India and Norway - the number of vertebrates reporting back pain as one of the symptoms they experience during the course of the disease is on the rise.

And they can be quite serious.

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The cause of back pain is probably an increase in the levels of inflammation in the body as part of the fight of the immune system against the invading virus, which stimulates the muscles and joints.

Although it is still too early to know, some doctors suspect that the omicron variant has a unique effect on the skeletal and muscular system, and this is manifested in muscle pain.

Reports of back pain are on the rise worldwide.

Woman with back pain (Photo: ShutterStock)

"Covid is what we call a 'bad player.' Peter Wang, an orthopedic specialist in spinal surgery and a lecturer at Yale University School of Medicine.

While dealing with a viral infection the body releases lots of small proteins called cytokines whose job is to tread and activate the immune system against pathogens. One of the possible effects of these cytokines on the body is stimulation of muscles and joints. The corona virus is really not the only one that can cause this type of reaction. Back and muscle aches are a familiar symptom of all sorts of other viral and bacterial infections, including: flu, adenovirus and rhinovirus. According to Dr. Wang,Such an immune response - which is the body's natural response to a viral infection - can lead to a host of complaints from patients related to the musculoskeletal system.

Injury to soft tissues and joints

In corona patients many of the complaints of pain focus on the soft tissues around the joints, and according to Wang, these pains do not create damage to the skeletal structure or erosion of vertebrae.

Those who have also previously suffered from a back or joint infection with the virus may feel a flare-up of these problems following the infection.

Scientifically, this question is still open.

To be sure, in the early days of the epidemic, the most common and reported symptoms were those related to health and airways or loss of taste and smell.

Whereas now there are quite a few doctors who have been reporting an increase in patients' inquiries about back pain since the current wave of illness attributed to the omicron variant began.

More patients with back pain?

Or just more sick?

Positive antigen test (Photo: ShutterStock)

"Since the omicron we have unequivocally seen more complaints of back pain, even in recovering patients. We still do not know for sure what the cause is, but it is likely that the inflammatory response of the immune system is responsible for it," said Dr. Patrick Doherty, a spinal neurosurgeon from Beya "Yale's Medicine.

While Dr. Jacob Haskalovich, a neurologist and pain specialist, said it was still unclear whether there was a specific characteristic in omicron that causes back pain or that reports of this symptom have multiplied because statistically there are simply many more people with it, compared to previous variants.

Did you get infected and your back hurts?

This is how you should treat them

Experts recommend treating back pain caused by corona infection the same way you would treat it regardless of the virus.

You can try gentle stretching, hot / cold compresses and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory painkillers (ibuprofen, acetaminophen and the like).

It is also recommended to avoid strenuous exercise during the period of illness as well as physical therapy treatments and give the body time to rest and recover.

"While there is an active viral infection in your body, you do not want to be too aggressive with pain management," Dr. Wang explained.

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The good news that emerges from the reports is that for the most part, back and muscle pain decreases and goes away on its own when you recover and the infection clears out of the body (this usually takes about two weeks, on average).

Because Omicron is still considered a new strain, there is not enough data to know if back pain will become one of its persistent symptoms.

But either way, if you suffer from persistent back pain, which does not improve over time - it is recommended to consult a doctor, regardless of whether you contracted corona or not.

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• Pain

• back pain

• back pain

• Corona

• Omicron variant

• covid-19