How to Relieve Body Aches When You’re Sick

To relieve body aches when sick with the flu, try taking a warm bath, using over-the-counter (OTC) pain medications, and drinking plenty of fluids.

Infections like the flu and COVID-19 cause inflammation, which affects muscle tissues and nerves, leading to generalized aches and pain. Dehydration, which can be caused by vomiting, diarrhea, or fever, can make these aches worse.

This article explains why body aches occur with the flu and who may be at greatest risk. It describes six ways to relieve flu-related body aches and when it is time to see a healthcare provider.

Verywell / Michela Buttignol

Why You Get Body Aches When You're Sick

Inflammation is the body's normal response to infection and the cause of body aches with flu. During an infection, the immune system floods the body with inflammatory chemicals like histamine and cytokines. These chemicals cause blood vessels to dilate (widen) so that defensive white blood cells can gain greater access to the site of infection.

These same chemicals also have adverse symptoms, including heat (due to increased blood circulation) and swelling (due to the leakage of fluids from swollen blood vessels into surrounding tissues). Pain is another consequence.

With influenza, body aches are largely due to the effects of cytokines on muscles, resulting in muscle pain (known as myalgia). Among their functions, cytokines activate sensory nerve fibers called nociceptors that send pain signals to the brain.

Because cytokines are dispersed throughout the body, the pain tends to be generalized, although some people feel it more in the legs and back.

While uncommon, severe cases of flu can also cause joint pain (arthralgia) similar to what would be felt with arthritis.

Are Body Aches a Common Cold Symptom?

Take a Pain Reliever

Over-the-counter pain relievers may help with body aches from the flu. Generally speaking, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) like aspirin, Advil (ibuprofen), and Aleve (naproxen) may be more useful due to their anti-inflammatory effects.

Tylenol (acetaminophen), another popular OTC pain reliever, can help ease pain and fever but doesn't reduce inflammation. Even so, it may be useful as it is thought to increase the pain threshold—meaning that it takes a greater amount of pain to feel it. If you cannot take NSAIDs for any reason, Tylenol may be a reasonable option.

If in doubt, speak with your pharmacist or health provider.

Warning to Parents

Aspirin should never be given to children under 19 if they have a fever caused by a viral illness like the flu. Aspirin is linked to Reye's syndrome, a rare but potentially life-threatening complication affecting the liver and lungs.

Choosing the Best OTC Medicine for Your Pain

Stay Hydrated

When you're sick with the flu or fever, your body tends to lose more fluids through excess sweating, vomiting, or diarrhea. Drinking lots of clear liquids will put back those lost fluids. This not only helps your body fight the infection but also replaces lost electrolytes.

Electrolytes like sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, and calcium all contribute to muscle relaxation and contraction. When they are abnormally low or high, the imbalance can lead to muscle weakness, cramps, or spasms.

Make sure you stay hydrated by drinking ample water, broth, tea, electrolyte drinks, and sports drinks.

Get Plenty of Rest

Getting enough sleep is also important. Sleep plays a central role in regulating the body's immune functions, speeding healing while reducing inflammation throughout the body.

By contrast, rushing back to work is likely to prolong the infection and may only serve to infect others.

Relax Muscles with Heat

A warm bath or shower can help loosen muscles and ease body aches. If you have a fever, keep the water lukewarm to avoid raising your temperature even more. Fevers can cause dizziness and general weakness, so a bath may be a safer option than a shower, especially for children.

If you don't have a severe fever, heating pads or heated blankets may also help relieve body aches. Be sure not to fall asleep with a heating pad or blanket on as it can end up overheating your body.

Try a Gentle Massage

Massage therapy can help with body aches and may help speed recovery by reducing levels of cortisol in the body. The stress hormone weakens your immune system by impairing certain disease-fighting white blood cells.

Massage therapists are not likely to treat you while you are sick. Instead, ask a family member or friend to gently massage your muscles (and offer them a face mask to protect them from infection).

Use a Vaporizer or Humidifier

Dry air can make flu symptoms worse. This is because dry air makes it harder to clear mucus from your lungs.

Maintaining a relative humidity of between 40% and 60% can help relieve respiratory symptoms, including cough and congestion. A cool-mist humidifier is especially effective but lower-cost vaporizers can also help.

When to See a Healthcare Provider

Flu can often be treated at home, but a healthcare provider should be called for certain high-risk people at the first sign of infection, including:

People who are pregnant or delivered within two weeks
Children under 2 years of age
Adults 65 and over
People with cancer or advanced chronic medical conditions like asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, heart disease, HIV, kidney disease, or liver disease

On the other hand, you should go to the emergency room or call 911 if you develop symptoms like:

Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
Severe chest pain or pressure
Feeling like you are going to faint
Severe or repeated vomiting
Symptoms that get better but then return with fever and a worsening cough
Not urinating

Summary

Body aches are one of the most common symptoms of infections like COVID-19 and the flu. Aches are caused by the effects of inflammation on muscles and nerves. To better cope, stay hydrated and get plenty of rest while your body heals. Taking OTC pain relievers, relaxing in a warm bath, or having someone massage your muscles may also help.

14 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Rowbotham M, Arendt-Nielsen L. A year like no other: introduction to a special issue on COVID-19 and pain. Pain Rep. 2021 May;6(1):e915. doi:10.1097/PR9.0000000000000915
Alharbi KS, Alenezi SK, Gupta G, Chapter 1 - pathophysiology and pathogenesis of inflammation. In: Recent Developments in Anti-Inflammatory Therapy. Cambridge, MA: Academic Press; 2023. doi:10.1016/B978-0-323-99988-5.00006-1
Vanderwall AG, Milligan ED. Cytokines in pain: harnessing endogenous anti-inflammatory signaling for improved pain management. Frontiers Immunol. 2019;10(1);03009. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2019.03009
Elagami MM, Ghreqati M, KhaddashI, Melki G. An unusual presentation of influenza-induced myositis. Cureus. 2021 Feb;13(2):e13196. doi:10.7759/cureus.13196
Loma Linda University Health. Why do muscles, joints ache during the flu?.
Yale University. NSAIDs vs. acetaminophen: which over-the-counter medicine should I use?.
National Organization for Rare Disorders. Reye syndrome.
Lacey J, Corbett J, Forni L. A multidisciplinary consensus on dehydration: definitions, diagnostic methods and clinical implications. Ann Med. 2019;51(3-4):232–51. doi:10.1080/07853890.2019.1628352
Besedovsky L, Lange T, Haack M. The sleep-immune crosstalk in health and disease. Physiol Rev. 2019 Mar;99(3):1325-80. doi:10.1152/physrev.00010.2018
UCLA Health. Why your whole body aches when you're sick (and what you can do about it).
Al Refaei A. The case for therapeutic massage as an adjuvant in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Int J Ther Massage Bodywork. 2021 Mar;14(1):49-50. doi:10.1055/s-2004-826874.
Zanin M, Baviskar P, Webster R, Webby R. The interaction between respiratory pathogens and mucus. Cell Host & Microbe. 2016;2(2):159-168. doi:10.1016/j.chom.2016.01.001
Wolkoff P, Azuma K, Carrer P. Health, work performance, and risk of infection in office-like environments: The role of indoor temperature, air humidity, and ventilation. Int J Hygiene and Environment Health. 2021;Apr;233:113709. doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113709
Minnesota Department of Health. When to get medical help for flu symptoms.

By Kristina Herndon, RN
Kristina Herndon, BSN, RN, CPN, has been working in healthcare since 2002. She specializes in pediatrics and disease and infection prevention.

See Our Editorial Process

Meet Our Medical Expert Board

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?