What is muscle atrophy?
Muscle atrophy is the thinning and weakening of muscle. It follows weeks of not using the muscle: a leg in a cast, a long time in bed, pain that stops you moving, or an illness that keeps you in hospital.
It can also come with age or with nerve problems. The muscle may look smaller, but the first sign is that everyday tasks feel heavy.
Why does it matter?
Weak muscles make the next step of recovery harder. Standing up from a chair, climbing stairs and carrying shopping all depend on them.
The good news is that muscle responds to the right amount of work. Most of the rebuild comes from regular, graded exercise, not a single big effort.
An everyday example in Ipoh
Mr Chong broke his ankle and spent weeks in a cast. At home in his terrace house in Taman Cempaka, he notices his left calf is much thinner than the right, and the ankle feels stiff.
When the surgeon says it is safe, we start gentle movement and then calf and thigh strengthening, measured by something he can see, like rising on his toes at the kitchen counter. Each week we make it a little harder.
Related terms and next steps
Weakness after a long illness is covered in deconditioning and recovery after an ICU stay. Age-related loss is described under sarcopenia, and a stiff joint after a cast under ankle stiffness after cast.
For general guidance, read muscle weakness and hip fracture recovery.