14 Home Remedies For Body Pain And Prevention Tips

Sitting for hours every day on your chair with no movement can cause your body to hurt. Once you do get up from your chair to walk for a couple of minutes, it can feel like a tiring ordeal. While popping a painkiller offers you temporary relief from your body pain and tiredness, overuse may affect your health in the long run. So, how to get rid of body aches naturally?There are a couple of home remedies you could try as alternative medicines to soothe the discomfort in your body. In this article, we explore the different causes of body pain and some natural remedies one can try at home.

What Causes Body Aches?

Body aches are usually a symptom of an underlying medical condition. Though they are usually harmless and not of much concern, it is better to find out their cause before availing treatment.
Some common causes of body aches include:

• Stress
• Dehydration
• Insufficient sleep
• Pneumonia
• Arthritisⁱ  A common disorder characterized by swollen and tender joints, which can cause pain, reduced movement, and stiffness.
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Fibromyalgia: A long-term medical condition that causes aches throughout your body.
• Microbial infections like the flu and the common cold
• Medications used for treating blood pressure
• Fluid retention: When your body retains fluid, it can cause your muscles to swell and exert pressure on the nerves, resulting in body aches.
• Hypokalemia: A medical condition caused due to low potassium in the bloodstream, which causes frequent body aches.
• Autoimmune disorders like lupusⁱ  An inflammatory condition where the immune system attacks the body’s tissues and organs, resulting in fever and fatigue. , myositisⁱ  A group of rare conditions where your immune system attacks the muscles, causing weakness, swelling, and pain. , and multiple sclerosisⁱ  A chronic disorder in which damage to the protective nerve covering disrupts the communication between the body and brain.

A survey was conducted on noninstitutionalized US citizens to understand the frequency of chronic pain in adults. The survey estimated that 8% of U.S. adults had high-impact chronic pain and 20.4% had chronic pain, especially those with less than a high school education and those living in poverty.

Body pains are categorized into certain types. Understanding these types may help you manage them more easily. Scroll down.

Types Of Body Pain

Body pains are of two types based on their duration (1).

• Acute Pain

It lasts for a short duration (a few minutes to six months) and is associated with an external cause.

• Chronic Pain

It lasts over six months and may persist for years. It is usually associated with health conditions such as cancer, blood circulation issues, diabetes, etc.
Body pains based on the location of pain receptors are as follows (1) –

• Nociceptive Pain

It is caused by actual or threatened damage to non-neural tissues. It is further divided into somatic pain, which develops in peripheral tissues such as skin, bone, and muscle, and visceral pain, which develops within specific organs.

• Neuropathic Pain

It is caused by a disease of the somatosensory nervous system, a part of the sensory system associated with the perception of senses like touch, pain, etc.

14 Natural Ways To Get Rid Of Body Aches

Best Home Remedies To Get Rid Of Body Pains

1. Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is touted to have anti-inflammatory properties, which relieve pain and inflammation.

You Will Need

• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 glass of warm water
• Honey

What You Have To Do

1. Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to a glass of warm water and mix well.
2. Add some honey to it and consume it.
3. You can also add apple cider vinegar to your bath water and soak in it for added benefits.

How Often You Should Do This

Do this 1 to 2 times daily.

2. Cold Compress

A cold compress helps in reducing body aches by reducing nerve activity in the affected areas temporarily; unlike the hot compress which increases blood flow. Cold compress has an anesthetizing effect, which provides quick and temporary relief from body pain (2). It is one of the most effective home remedies to get rid of backache.

You Will Need

An ice pack

What You Have To Do

1. Apply an ice pack to the aching areas.
2. Leave it on for 10 minutes and repeat 2 to 3 times.

How Often You Should Do This

Do this three times daily.

Quick Tip

You can also use a hot pack to relieve pain or try a combination of hot and cold therapies to soothe body aches.

3. Ginger

Ginger possesses rich phytochemistry, which gives it many health-promoting benefits like pain relief. It exhibits powerful anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties (3), (4). These properties can help in getting rid of body aches.

You Will Need

• 1-2 inches of cut ginger
• 1 cup of water
• Honey

What You Have To Do

1. Add an inch or two of ginger to a cup of water.
2. Bring this to a boil in a saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes and strain.
3. Add some honey to it.
4. Consume the tea before it turns cold.

How Often You Should Do This

Consume ginger tea 2-3 times daily.

4. Turmeric

Turmeric

is one of the best remedies to treat body aches. It has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and holistic healing properties that can help fight body aches and boost your overall health and immunity (5), (6).

You Will Need

• 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1 glass of hot milk
• Honey

What You Have To Do

1. Add a teaspoon of turmeric powder to a glass of hot milk and stir well.
2. After the milk cools down a bit, add some honey to it.
3. Consume this mixture.

How Often You Should Do This

Do this at least once daily, preferably before going to bed.

5. Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a spice that is widely used for flavoring various dishes. It has potent anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and healing properties (7), (8). These properties make it a sought-after herbal remedy for treating body aches and improving overall health.

You Will Need

• 1 teaspoon of powdered cinnamon
• 1 glass of warm water
• Honey

What You Have To Do

1. Add a teaspoon of powdered cinnamon to a glass of warm water. Stir well.
2. Add some honey to this and consume immediately.

How Often You Should Do This

Drink this mixture once daily.

6. Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin, which helps in blocking the sensations of pain (9). It stimulates blood flow and also acts as a natural pain reliever for combating body aches (10).

You Will Need

• 1 teaspoon of powdered cayenne pepper
• 1 cup of warm water
• Honey

What You Have To Do

1. Add a teaspoon of powdered cayenne pepper to a cup of warm water.
2. Mix well and add some honey to it.
3. Consume this mixture.

How Often You Should Do This

Do this 1 to 2 times every day.

7. Rosemary

Rosemary extracts exhibit anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities (11). This can help in combating body pain naturally and effectively

You Will Need

• 1 teaspoon of rosemary tea
• 1 cup of hot water
• Honey

What You Have To Do

1. Add a teaspoon of rosemary tea to a glass of hot water.
2. Allow it to steep for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Strain, add some honey to the tea and consume it immediately.
4. You can also mix rosemary oil with a carrier oil and massage it all over your body.

How Often You Should Do This

You can have this tea 3 times daily.

8. Mustard Oil

A mustard oil massage is another great way to fight persistent body aches.

This oil contains a compound called allyl isothiocyanate, which helps in reducing the pain caused by inflammation in the body making it a suitable alternative medicine for body pain (12).

You Will Need

Mustard oil (as required)

What You Have To Do

1. Massage mustard oil all over your body.
2. Leave it on for 30 to 40 minutes.
3. Take a shower.

How Often You Should Do This

Do this at least once daily.

9. Banana

In most cases, body and muscle aches are a result of potassium deficiency. You can consume bananas daily to counteract this deficiency and provide your body with instant energy (13).

You Will Need

Bananas

What You Have To Do

Make bananas a permanent addition to your daily diet.

How Often You Should Do This

Consume 3 to 4 bananas daily.

10. Cherries

Cherry juice helps reduce pain induced by inflammation and is thus often used for treating muscle pain as well as peripheral neuropathy, both of which can result in body aches (14), (15), (16).

You Will Need

1 glass of unsweetened cherry juice

What You Have To Do

Consume a glass of unsweetened cherry juice.

How Often You Should Do This

Drink cherry juice 2 times daily.

11. Essential Oils

a. Lavender Oil

Lavender oil has pain-relieving, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory properties (17). Hence, it can help relieve body ache and the underlying inflammation that may be causing it.

You Will Need

• 12 drops of lavender oil
• 30 mL of any carrier oil (coconut or olive oil)

What You Have To Do

1. Add 12 drops of lavender oil to 30 mL of any carrier oil and mix well.
2. Gently massage this mixture all over your body.
3. Leave it on for 30 to 40 minutes and then wash it off.

How Often You Should Do This

You must do this once daily.

b. Peppermint Oil

Peppermint oil (menthol) has antispasmodicⁱ  The property that inhibits the contraction of smooth muscles and helps relieve pain and discomfort. , anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties (18), (19). These relieve muscle spasms and inflammation that usually induce body aches.

You Will Need

• 12 drops of peppermint oil
• 30 mL of any carrier oil (coconut or olive oil)

What You Have To Do

1. Add 12 drops of peppermint oil to 30 mL of any carrier oil and mix well.
2. Massage this mixture gently on the affected areas.
3. Leave it on for 30 to 40 minutes, after which you can go ahead with your bath.

How Often You Should Do This

Do this once daily.

12. Epsom Salt

Epsom salt is known for its anti-inflammatory properties that provide relief from sore muscles and body aches (20).

You Will Need

• 1 cup of Epsom salt
• Water

What You Have To Do

1. Add a cup of Epsom salt to a bathtub filled with warm water.
2. Allow the salt to dissolve and soak in it for 20 to 30 minutes.

How Often You Should Do This

Do this once daily or every alternate day.

13. Body Massage

It is best for overall health to spend some time on self-care from time to time. A professional body massage helps in relieving muscle tension, thereby relaxing your muscles. In a study published in the journal Pain Medicine, it was concluded that massage therapy worked in reducing pain compared to no treatment (21).

14. Vitamins

Your body needs various vitamins to function normally. Deficiencies in vitamins B1, D, and E can cause nerve and muscle damage, which, in turn, cause muscle weakness and pain (22), (23), (24).

Hence, it is necessary that you include foods rich in these vitamins in your daily diet to steer clear of body aches. You can also take additional herbal supplements for these vitamins, but only after consulting your doctor.

Kristina Segarra, a blogger, writes, “I love the rush of serotonin flooding my brain after my exercise. One thing I don’t like is waking up the next morning feeling excruciating pain in my body. The pain can be so uncomfortable and can take many days to go away (i).” She shares natural remedies that have helped her alleviate muscle soreness. They include Epsom salt baths, apple cider vinegar, self-massage, light movement and stretching, and cold applications.

Although these remedies help in pain management, we suggest you consult a healthcare provider if the condition doesn’t improve. In addition to using these remedies, you must also make a few changes to your lifestyle as a preventive measure.

Prevention Tips

• Get enough rest.
• Drink plenty of water and other fluids.
• Have a warm bath daily.
• Regulate your body temperature by keeping warm or staying cold as and when necessary.
• Explore stress management techniques like mindfulness, journaling, or spending time in nature. Unmanaged stress can also increase body ache.
• Identify any triggers that may worsen your pain and take steps to avoid them. This could include certain foods, activities, or environmental factors.

Did You Know?

Stretching exercises may help relieve body pain and improve flexibility and body mobility. Make sure you stretch before performing workouts.

Infographic: 5 Simple Natural Remedies To Get Rid Of Body Pain

You don’t need to resort to painkillers to relieve body aches. You can try home remedies to soothe your tired muscles and ease pain and discomfort. The infographic below offers a sneak peek at the top home remedies that can relieve pain faster and effectively. Take a look.

Illustration: StyleCraze Design Team

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take for muscle soreness to go away?

After an intense exercise, you may feel your muscles tighten or become sore for up to 12 hours. But in some cases, like that of delayed onset muscle soreness, you may experience muscle soreness for 48 to 72 hours.

Why does my body hurt when I’m sick?

When you are sick, your white blood cells are busy fighting the foreign invasion, thus leaving your muscles and joints aching and sore.

What should I eat for body aches?

You can consume foods that have anti-inflammatory properties and are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like garlic and fish, to reduce inflammation and pain (25), (26).

What foods make the pain worse?

Processed foods, red meat, sugar, caffeine, and refined carbohydrates can worsen inflammation and increase pain (27). Consult your doctor to design the ideal diet for you.

Illustration: Home Remedies For Body Pain And Prevention Tips

Image: Dall·E/StyleCraze Design Team

Discover how certain foods can help reduce body aches caused by chronic inflammation. Watch the video below to learn which foods to eat to reduce pain and inflammation.

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Reviewer Author Editor Fact Checker

Dr. Zeel GandhiBAMS

 

Dr. Zeel Gandhi is an Ayurvedic doctor with 7 years of experience and an expert at providing holistic solutions for health problems encompassing Internal medicine, Panchakarma, Yoga, Ayurvedic Nutrition, and formulations.

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Shaheen NaserHealth & Wellness Writer

 

Shaheen holds a postgraduate degree in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology from Bharathiar University. She is a Geneticist with proficiency in Biotechnology, Immunology, Medical Genetics, Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Genetic Counseling.

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Ravi Teja TadimallaCo-Editor-in-Chief

Ravi Teja Tadimalla is a Co-Editor-in-Chief and a published author. He has been in the digital media field for over a decade. He graduated from SRM University, Chennai, and has a Professional Certificate in Food, Nutrition & Research from Wageningen University.

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Dipti SharmaBeauty & Lifestyle Writer

Dipti is a health and wellness writer specializing in holistic health practices. She graduated from Maharishi Dayanand University, Haryana, and has worked closely with Ayurvedic doctors, which has given her a deep understanding of traditional remedies and their applications.

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