Sore muscles aren’t exactly a medical emergency, but they can really disrupt your life. Whether it’s the result of an overly ambitious workout or the unavoidable shovelling of a heavy dump of wet snow, you’re looking for a way to relieve your sore muscles fast.
To understand your treatment options for relieving sore muscles, it’s important to first understand what’s causing the pain. Your muscles hurt after strenuous use because of microscopic tears in the muscle tissue. This kind of aching pain typically comes on up to 24 hours after the actual workout and is known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). If your muscle pain comes on suddenly and intensely during your workout, it may be an actual tear in the muscle or ligament and should be treated accordingly. DOMS, however, is not a cause for concern. It’s just the stiffness and discomfort caused by the inflammation that develops at the sight of those microscopic tears while they are healing. When your muscles are done repairing themselves, they will be bigger and more resilient, leading to greater strength and endurance.
But, what can you do to relieve your sore muscles in the meantime, reduce your discomfort, and speed up your recovery rate? Here are a few do’s and don’ts that bodybuilders and athletes adhere to:
Keep moving.
Unless you’ve incurred a serious muscle tear that requires total rest, your best course of action after a challenging workout or aggressive afternoon of raking leaves is to keep moving. Do some gentle stretches, take a relaxed walk, anything that keeps the blood gently moving through those muscles as they cool down, delivering the much needed oxygen. Do Not immediately drop on the couch as this will greatly increase the soreness you will feel the next day and delay your recovery.
Heat.
Y
ou may have noticed that when athletes come off the court or the field, they immediately pull on a jacket until they’re ready to get back out there. It keeps their muscles warm and supple so that they don’t stiffen up. The same principle works for you when you apply heat packs or soak in a warm bath after using your muscles strenuously. Many believe the addition of Epsom salts in a warm bath to be beneficial to the healing of muscle tissue as well.
Cold.
This seems counterintuitive to easing tight muscles, but many athletes use cold therapy as part of their overall routine for reducing inflammation and relieving sore muscles quickly.
Massage.
To begin with, it just feels good after a hard day’s work or an intense workout. But both athletes and health professionals agree that massage can reduce inflammation, increase circulation, and effectively help to relax tight muscles. It can actually help your muscles heal faster.
Massage works exceptionally well for body pain, including sore and stiff muscles by gently stretching them to get the lymphatic fluids moving in and out as they should. It will also improve blood flow, which in turn will oxygenate the muscles and speed up healing.
By using the same pressure points that acupuncturists use, a message specialist using Acupressure Massage can help your body access it’s own natural self-healing abilities to relieve your sore muscles fast, but without the use of needles. With it’s roots in Chinese Traditional Medicine (CTM), acupressure has a long tried and true history of relieving pain and facilitating healing in a drug- free, non-invasive way by removing energy blockages and diffusing toxic build-up in muscle tissue.
At Easy Cozy Wellness Spa in Abbotsford, BC, all of our Acupressure and Massage Specialists are extensively trained and certified and they love what they do. We’ve developed our own unique approach, graduating the pressure and intensity at the acupressure points in a controlled way to increase comfort while achieving excellent results.
Call us today and let us help you find fast relief for your sore muscles.
About the Author
Easy Cozy Wellness Inc is owned by Jing “Crystal” Chen, a long-time customer of the traditional Chinese style acupressure and reflexology, she turned her personal love into a business idea aiming to benefit a greater public by introducing the most typical traditional Chinese healing methodologies together with modern natural health practice, which results in a unique “Easy-Cozy-Style” body and foot massage experience to all customers.
Started from just a benefited customer, Jing has worked her way up from self-learning to a formal trained professional. She gained her Acupressure and Body Massage Diploma and Diploma of Chinese
Foot Reflexology early 2018 after completing more than 1300 hours of formal training and practice. Now, Jing Chen is a member of Natural Health Practitioners of Canada and her professional service is recognized by mainstream insurance providers as an eligible service provider.
Good info. Lucky me I found your website by chance (stumbleupon).
I have book marked it for later!