Recovering from Muscle Soreness

Common Causes of Muscle Soreness 

What are some common causes of muscle soreness?

After Exercise

Exercising can cause muscle soreness known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Many types of activity can cause DOMS. If you’re new to exercise, or a particular type of exercise, or if you exercised at an intensity you’re not used to and pushed yourself harder than before, you might feel muscle pain anywhere from a few hours after you’ve exercised, lasting a couple of days.

Muscle Injury

A common muscle injury is a muscle strain. This can occur when you overstretch or tear a muscle (sometimes called a pulled muscle). Muscle strains are most likely to occur in your feet, legs or back. A muscle strain can make the injured area feel painful, tender or weak. It can appear swollen or bruised and you might have difficulty using the injured part of your body.

Muscle tension

If you’ve been experiencing stress for a prolonged time, you might find that your muscles feel sore. This is because long-term stress can cause our muscles to tense up, which might cause pain in your shoulders, neck and head.

Medical Conditions

Medical conditions such as infections or other health problems, can also cause muscle pain. Conditions such as the flu, malaria or fibromyalgia can cause muscle aches or pain. Sometimes the medicine used to treat a medical condition, may cause muscle soreness as a side effect.

Ways to Ease and Recover from Sore Muscles

If you have sore and aching muscles, here are some tips that may help with recovery.

PRICE steps to ease Sore Muscles

In the first 2 to 3 days after a muscle injury, such as a muscle strain, you should follow the PRICE therapy steps to ease discomfort and help with recovery:

• Protect – use a support to protect the injury, such as a shoe to protect an injured ankle.
• Rest – Rest helps prevent further injury and helps to speed up time to recovery. Try to change positions frequently to relieve pressure on the limb. When resting, keep the limb elevated but try to move it normally as soon as it feels comfortable.
• Ice – put an ice pack or bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel on the affected area for 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours, repeated for up to 48 hours after injury. Ice might only be helpful just after the injury occurred; to help with swelling however it should only be used for the first 3 days after injury.
• Compression – wrap the affected area in a bandage for support You can use an elasticated or tubular bandage. or compression stocking, wrapped firmly but not tightly around the injury.
• Elevate – Elevation is an important part of treating soft tissue injuries. It helps to reduce swelling which can help speed up recovery time. Avoid causing pressure to any parts of the limb such as the ankle bone, by cushioning the area with something like a pillow or blanket whilst it’s elevated. For injuries to the arm or shoulder, you can create a makeshift sling to hold the hand or arm up. To elevate your leg, place it on a pillow or blanket whilst lying down, making sure that the injured area is above the height of your hips, to help reduce swelling.

Heat Therapy

Heat therapy can be used after following the PRICE steps, from 2 days or so after the injury. Avoid applying heat for the first few days of muscle soreness after an injury because it can increase swelling and inflammation.

For conditions like fibromyalgia, muscle cramps, spasms or during the later stages of recovery, heat can help with muscle pain relief. The heat will increase circulation, soothing your muscles, easing stiffness and reducing pain. Heat can be applied using a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel, wheat bag, heating pads or a heat lamp.

Tension relief

Relaxation or breathing exercises may help to relieve stress and help ease tight or tense muscles which may be responsible for head, neck, shoulder and low back pain. Simply relaxing in a warm bath with Epsom Salts might help ease muscle tension and pain. Yoga or meditation might also help you to relax and help your sleep.

Massage or physiotherapy

Massage therapy uses manual manipulation of body tissue to reduce pain, muscle tension and stress. Massage therapists may make use of a variety of light and deep-touch techniques to apply pressure to specific points. Massage can help with pain related to conditions like headaches, fibromyalgia and muscular pain.

Stretches

Gentle stretching exercises before and after activity, or after a rest, can help with muscle recovery and help lower the likelihood of future muscle pain.

Painkillers

If you have muscle pain from exercise, you can take a painkiller like paracetamol or ibuprofen to ease pain and help bring down swelling.

You can also apply ibuprofen topically in the form of a gel to help relieve muscular aches and strains. Nurofen Joint & Muscular Pain Relief 200mg Medicated Plasters contain ibuprofen and can provide up to 24 hours relief. Or you can try Nurofen Joint & Back Pain Relief Max Strength 10% Gel, which can be lightly rubbed onto backache, muscular aches, sprains, strains or sports injuries, providing anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.

Rest or move – which is better for muscle pain recovery?

When you have DOMS or muscle overuse:

• If you repeatedly use the same muscles, for example by doing the same type of exercise, you may develop sore muscles from overuse. In this case, it’s a good idea to rest before moving or you can try stretching exercises after you’ve had enough rest.
• To relieve DOMS, change the type of exercise, but start slowly to give your muscles time to adapt. Stretches should be done after exercise or once your muscles have warmed up to prevent DOMS. If your muscle pain from DOMS is severe, you should rather avoid exercise as this can make it worse. You can return to the same exercise once your symptoms improve and it’s not painful to exercise.

When you have stress or tension:

• If stress and tension are the possible cause of sore muscles, then gentle exercises that help you to relax along with stretches, may help to relieve the tension and ease sore muscles.

When you’re injured:

• If your muscle soreness is caused by an injury such as a sprain or strain, you should rest and follow the PRICE steps mentioned in this article. You can then start to move the injured area when it’s not too painful. Movement is important to prevent the muscle or joint from becoming stiff. However, it’s advisable to avoid strenuous exercise like high impact or weightlifting exercise, for up to 8 weeks after the injury, to avoid further damage. Fortunately, most sprains and strains will feel better after about 2 weeks.

Don’t completely avoid activity or exercise – regular aerobic exercise such as walking, swimming or cycling can help restore muscle tone. Avoiding exercise due to stress could also make muscle soreness worse.