COVID and bone health
Can corona virus affect my bone?
It is a one of the very common question that patients are asking their orthopaedic surgeons in the midst of the pandemic.
Most of the symptoms due to the coronavirus mimic the classical symptoms of a viral infection or flu.
One of these symptoms may be muscle aches or myalgias. You may get pain in your arms, legs, or back that develops spontaneously with no injury.
Typically, in a coronavirus infection, the pain is in muscles rather than in joints. But if you have an arthritic joint in your arm or leg, the virus may exaggerate the symptoms. The pain may be severe and limiting.
While the coronavirus can cause permanent damage to vital organs, such as the lungs , it is not known to cause any permanent damage to bones and joints. It is, however, too early in the pandemic to know if there could be any long-term consequences.
Many patients take anti-inflammatory medication to help control the pain and sometimes the fever brought on by the virus. Or vice versa , they may take anti-inflammatory medication because they have ongoing symptoms from an arthritic joint. While the medication may be helpful, it may also suppress other symptoms, such as fever, that would help diagnose the coronavirus infection.
For this reason, you should consult your regular physician if you are experiencing any virus-like symptoms before continuing anti-inflammatory medication.
You should also be aware that bone or joint pain may be caused by other conditions in your body.
Inflammatory processes such as bursitis, tendinitis, or even a gout attack are just a few of the things that can cause musculoskeletal pain. Muscle aches are also a known side effect of some medications.
Some patients may also experience muscle aches as a side effect of the COVID – 19 vaccine. These are usually temporary and resolve after a few days.
Long term consequence as suggested by few studies are
