Body aches are one of the most common signs of COVID-19. Roughly 61% of people who test positive report muscle aches and joint pain during the early phase of illness, making it one of the top symptoms alongside fever, cough, and fatigue. These aches can appear before respiratory symptoms like sore throat or cough, so for many people, a sudden onset of widespread muscle soreness is the first clue that something is wrong.
Why COVID Causes Body Aches
When your immune system detects the virus, it releases signaling proteins called cytokines to coordinate the fight against infection. Some of these proteins, particularly interferons, directly trigger muscle pain and fever. This is the same basic mechanism behind the aches you feel with the flu or other viral infections. Your muscles aren’t damaged by the virus itself in most cases. Instead, the pain is a side effect of your immune system ramping up.
When Body Aches Typically Appear
Body aches tend to show up in the first few days of a COVID infection, often alongside or even ahead of cough, congestion, and sore throat. For most people, the aches resolve on their own within a few days to a couple of weeks. Some research suggests that the average duration of COVID-related body aches is around 45 days when you include people with lingering symptoms, but that number is skewed by a smaller group who experience pain well beyond the acute illness. The majority of people feel significantly better within the first week or two.
Body Aches in COVID vs. Flu vs. a Cold
Body aches alone won’t tell you which virus you have, but the pattern of your overall symptoms can help narrow it down. Both COVID and the flu commonly cause moderate to severe body aches along with fever and fatigue. With a common cold, body aches are typically slight or absent altogether, and fever is rare.
The NIH groups it this way: general aches and pains are “common” with COVID, “usual and often severe” with the flu, and only “slight” with a cold. The biggest differentiator between COVID and the flu used to be loss of taste or smell, though that symptom has become less frequent with newer variants. A rapid test is still the most reliable way to tell the two apart.
Differences Across Variants
Body aches have remained a consistent COVID symptom across variants. A large study comparing Omicron and Delta infections in England found that muscle and joint pain was reported by about 39% of Omicron cases and 45% of Delta cases. After adjusting for factors like age and vaccination status, Omicron was actually slightly more likely to cause muscle and joint pain than Delta. So while newer variants have generally shifted toward upper respiratory symptoms, body aches haven’t gone away.
Body Aches in Children
Children with COVID typically experience milder respiratory symptoms than adults, but muscle and joint pain can still occur. In rare cases, children develop a serious condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) weeks after infection, which can include severe muscle pain, joint swelling, and inflammation. Isolated cases of a dangerous form of muscle breakdown have also been reported in teenagers who initially presented with fever, sore throat, and muscle pain. These outcomes are uncommon, but persistent or worsening muscle pain in a child after a COVID infection warrants medical attention.
When Body Aches Linger After Infection
For a subset of people, muscle and joint pain persists long after the virus clears. New-onset chronic musculoskeletal pain is one of the most commonly reported long COVID symptoms, with some studies finding prevalence rates as high as 65% among long COVID patients. A CDC study tracking symptoms over time found that 13% of COVID-positive participants still reported musculoskeletal symptoms at three months, dropping to about 6% at six months and 2% at twelve months.
Among those who do develop chronic pain, 90% describe it as continuous, always present but varying in intensity throughout the day. This pattern distinguishes it from the temporary soreness of acute infection and suggests an ongoing process involving the nervous system or lingering inflammation.
Managing COVID-Related Body Aches
Standard over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen and ibuprofen are effective for most COVID-related body aches. Staying hydrated matters more than people realize, since dehydration worsens muscle pain and is easy to develop when you have a fever. Rest allows your immune system to work without additional physical stress on your muscles.
Warm baths, gentle stretching, and heating pads can provide additional relief. Most people find the aches manageable with these basic measures and don’t need anything beyond what they’d do for a bad flu.
Signs That Need Urgent Attention
Most COVID-related body aches are uncomfortable but not dangerous. Seek immediate medical care if muscle pain is accompanied by trouble breathing or dizziness, extreme weakness that prevents you from doing basic daily activities, a high fever with a stiff neck, or dark-colored urine (a potential sign of muscle breakdown). These combinations can indicate complications that go beyond the normal immune response to infection.