Muscle Soreness And Pain: Know The Causes And Symptoms

Delayed onset of muscle soreness is often caused when you are following an exercise schedule. It indicates that your body is getting stronger day by day.

Starting a workout program is a great challenge in itself. Setting goals, making time to exercise, and creating a balanced routine are all very hard. In addition to it, muscle soreness adds to the difficulty of maintaining the fitness routine.

When you are suffering from sore muscles chances are that you might find it tiring to get out of your bed. You may find it difficult to step out on the floor and raise your arm to brush your teeth. If you are performing something strenuous and you are new to it, experiencing muscle soreness is a very common thing.

What is muscle soreness?

Muscle soreness is a painful or burning sensation that occurs when the muscle and the connective tissue around it gets damaged during physical activity. It is considered as completely normal in fact, it is needed for the growth of muscles because muscles grow back stronger during the repair process.

Muscle soreness feels like a burning feeling when you are doing any movement. Muscles can become tender to touch or you may feel that they are over used.

What Causes Sore Muscles?

The most usual causes of sore muscles include tension, stress, overuse and minor injuries. This pain is often localized affecting an entire group of muscles or a small body part.

Systematic muscle pain or pain throughout the body is more common due to an infection, any illness or side effect of any medicines.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

DOMS refers to increasing discomfort that usually occurs 24 to 48 hours after activity and is considered perfectly normal.

It is a result of physical activity in which muscles are stressed more beyond their capacity. 

Muscle soreness occurs when muscles are performing an eccentric or a lengthening contraction.

Ease Those Sore Muscles

Several remedies such as ice packs, heating pads, anti inflammatory and over the counter medications, stretching and rest are proved to be helpful in easing the soreness.

Stretching

Today stretching and flexibility are underrated. People don’t focus on stretching as much as their body needs. Stretching breaks the cycle of pain which goes from various stages like muscle soreness to muscle fatigue to spasm then contraction and tightness.

Swimming

If you are suffering from soreness and tenderness in your muscles and are finding it difficult to exercise then swimming is the key. 

Swimming not only helps you get rid of tightness in your muscles but also a good full body exercise.

Running 

Bringing back your body to normal and cooling it down is as important as doing exercise itself. Right after you schedule exercise in 10 minute easy aerobics such as walking, running and stretching.

Types Of Muscle Soreness

When we are talking about muscle soreness, generally two types are considered

1. Acute Soreness

Acute muscle soreness occurs during or immediately after exercise. This condition is temporary and gets better as soon as we stop exercising.

2. Delayed Soreness

Delayed muscle soreness occurs 24 to 48 hours after the exercise. This condition is totally normal and gets better with time. 

Tips To Get Rid Of Muscle Soreness

1.Eating anti-inflammatory foods can be beneficial 

Although it is not scientifically proven, some studies suggest that eating foods that are rich in antioxidants can help you relieve your sore muscles. Here are examples of certain foods that are helpful to treat this condition

• Watermelon
• Cherry Juice 
• Ginger 
• Pineapple

2. Milk Can Be Your Best Bet

Research has found that milk and milk proteins can help with muscle pain and provide you strength to fight exercise induced muscle trauma.

3. Heat Therapy Is A Must

You should try applying heat immediately after you are done exercising. Both dry and moist heat when applied to pain areas help in pain reduction. Dry heat is considered to be less effective than moist heat.

Here are some ways to enjoy the moist heat:

• Warm and damp towels.
• Damp heating packs
• Hot spa or steam bath

4. Switch To Cold Therapy

Cold therapy can be effective in relieving the pain in your joints and muscles because they can reduce the swelling and nerve activity. You can use an ice pack or a bag of frozen items but taking a cold bath can be much more effective. Keep in mind that you should never apply ice directly on your skin.

5. Foam Rolling

Foam rolling is a form of self massage activity. It can relieve the symptoms of DOMS. It can also help you get rid of muscle fatigue and can increase your flexibility.

Takeaways

Muscle soreness is a temporary condition and usually doesn’t require medical treatment. It gets resolved within a few days. However you should talk to your healthcare professional if your pain lasts more than seven days or keeps coming back again and again. You should contact the doctor immediately if you experience extreme weakness, trouble breathing or dizziness.