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Basics

• Summary
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

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Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Your muscles help you move and help your body work. Different types of muscles have different jobs. There are many problems that can affect muscles. Muscle disorders can cause weakness, pain or even paralysis.

Causes of muscle disorders include:

• Injury or overuse, such as sprains or strains, cramps or tendinitis
• A genetic disorder, such as muscular dystrophy
• Some cancers
• Inflammation, such as myositis
• Diseases of nerves that affect muscles
• Infections
• Certain medicines

Sometimes the cause of muscle disorders is unknown.

Diagnosis and Tests

• Creatine Kinase (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Electromyography (EMG) and Nerve Conduction Studies (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Musculoskeletal MRI (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Needle Biopsy (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Botulinum Toxin Injections: A Treatment for Muscle Spasms (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Foot Drop Syndrome (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Specifics

• Congenital Myopathy (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Extra-Abdominal Desmoid Tumors (Aggressive Fibromatoses) (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Familial Periodic Paralyses (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Mitochondrial Disorders (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) Also in Spanish

Genetics

• Actin-accumulation myopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Adenosine monophosphate deaminase deficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Brody myopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Cap myopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Central core disease: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Centronuclear myopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Collagen VI-related myopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Congenital fiber-type disproportion: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Danon disease: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Early-onset myopathy with fatal cardiomyopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Glycogen storage disease type III: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Glycogen storage disease type VII: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Hereditary myopathy with early respiratory failure: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Hyperkalemic periodic paralysis: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Hypokalemic periodic paralysis: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Inclusion body myopathy with early-onset Paget disease and frontotemporal dementia: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Isolated hyperCKemia: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• KCNK9 imprinting syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Malignant hyperthermia: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Miyoshi myopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Multiminicore disease: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Myopathy with deficiency of iron-sulfur cluster assembly enzyme: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Myosin storage myopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Myotonia congenita: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Nemaline myopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Neutral lipid storage disease with myopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Paramyotonia congenita: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Phosphoglycerate kinase deficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Phosphoglycerate mutase deficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Potassium-aggravated myotonia: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Rippling muscle disease: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• STAC3 disorder: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Tubular aggregate myopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Muscular Diseases (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Rhabdomyolysis (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: The Functions and Regulatory Mechanisms of Histone Modifications in Skeletal Muscle...
• Article: Myosteatosis as a New Risk Factor of Surgical Complications in Kidney...
• Article: Using chanarin-dorfman syndrome patient fibroblasts to explore disease mechanisms and new...
• Muscle Disorders -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Bones, Muscles, and Joints (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Hypotonia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Myotonia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Structure of Skeletal Muscle (National Cancer Institute)

Find an Expert

• Find a Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Physician (American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation)
• Find a Rheumatologist (American College of Rheumatology)
• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Also in Spanish
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Children

• EMG (Electromyogram) (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
• Health Lesson: Learning About Muscles (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
• Your Muscles (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Bones, Muscles, and Joints (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Caring for muscle spasticity or spasms (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Compartment syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Contracture deformity (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Creatine phosphokinase test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Electromyography (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Eyelid twitch (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hypotonia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Muscle aches (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Muscle atrophy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Muscle function loss (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Muscle twitching (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Rhabdomyolysis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Weakness (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish