Why do muscles get sore after long periods of inactivity, like quarantine?
In: Biology
I have read two hypotheses on this. They both focus on the idea that unused muscles are recycled by the body and shrink in size, a process called atrophy. One explanation is that muscles are connected to the brain by nerves, and when you lose some muscle tissue, you’ve disrupted a nerve connection that your brain is used to being there. Some nerves that make muscles contract also convey sensory information, and the disrupted nerve signal reads as pain. Something kinda-sorta like this can happen when someone loses a limb.
Another explanation is that atrophied muscle can cause the release of cell contents into the space between the cells that remain. Some of these molecules interact with the nearby nerve cells and cause pain. This type of discomfort is known to occur when you don’t work out for a long time and then hit the gym too hard, and goes by the name of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, but it is close to the same mechanism.
If someone has a more definitive understanding, I’m interested in learning more as well.
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