If you’ve ever gone to have a blood test you’ll know that the nurse will be appreciative if you’ve had enough water to drink in the hours before her visit. It will be harder for them to find a suitable vein in your arm if you’re not properly hydrated, and there’s all sorts of ways the body will be different if a person is dehydrated. Most people would assume that water is important for muscles in the same way it’s needed for all tissues in the body, and that’s correct. But can dehydration cause joint and muscle pain? 

That’s what we’ll look at here, and people who are very active in athletic pursuits but a little older may be keen to know more about this. We should start by saying that having a muscle cramp may be painful, but cramps are considered a different condition from localized muscle pain. Being dehydrated can cause muscle cramps for sure, and that’s why many people who are going to really exert themselves in a sport or endeavor will make sure to eat bananas for potassium. This is something that’s good to know along with does dehydration cause muscle and joint pain.  

Joint pain is different, and joints will have an even higher level of water content than most other tissues in the body. It’s an essential part of all the softness and flexibility that a joint needs to have, and it’s a situation where joint pain only develops from dehydration when it has been going on for a long time. Water is a key part of the synovial fluid in the joints of your knees, elbows, ankles and in other big joints that may be starting to ache for people. This covers the basics for can dehydration cause joint and muscle pain.  

75 Percent 

With a muscle cramp or muscle pain the discomfort can come on very quickly, and earlier we did talk about water being important for muscles. But it’s a much more fundamental matter than that, as water is important for the make up of muscles, and to the tune of 75% of muscle tissue being made up of water. When a person becomes dehydrated quickly and doesn’t rehydrate soon enough this is why a muscle cramp will occur, and that’s also something to keep in mind with can dehydration cause muscle and joint pain too.  

So be sure to drink plenty of water, and you may also want to up your potassium levels as suggested if you still get dehydrated after drinking lots of water. The last thing we’ll say around can dehydration cause joint and muscle pain is that it may be good idea for you to limit alcohol intake if you’re going to go this route with treating dehydration. It may do wonders for your ability to be persuasive with women, but alcohol lowers potassium levels and also contributes to dehydration on its own.