What To Do When You Need Muscle Pain Relief

Muscle pain is a broad and varied issue that can appear anywhere in the body. It is usually the result of blunt trauma to the muscle, overexertion, strain, or systemic issues within the body. In addition to muscle pain, you may experience symptoms such as muscle cramps and spasms or joint pain. Many conditions may cause muscle pain in addition to injury, such as medication, autoimmune conditions, infections or neuromuscular disorders.

Options for muscle pain relief will depend on the cause of your symptoms. If you’re looking for solutions to help recover sore muscles, here are a number of options that may help.

Muscle Pain Relief relating to DOMS

When you switch up your exercise regime or engage in new physical activities, you may experience delayed-onset muscle soreness, known as DOMS. Muscle aches and pains from DOMS may appear six to 12 hours after your workout, lasting as long as 48 hours. If you are seeking muscle pain relief from DOMS, you could: hydrate during and after your workout, warm up properly before exercise, stretch thoroughly after activity, use a foam roller or massage gun post-workout, and eat within half an hour of an intense workout to help recover sore muscles.

Movement

While you may be less inclined to move when in pain, keeping mildly sore muscles active may promote muscle pain relief. Move at a slower pace than usual, opting for less force or resistance.

Massage

Massaging can help provide muscle pain relief by repairing muscle fibres and decreasing inflammation. If paid massage from a professional is not an option, there are a number of ways to massage sore muscles on your own. Foam rollers, vibrating massage sticks and even tennis balls can be used to apply pressure to muscle tissues, serving as helpful muscle relaxers to help provide muscle pain relief.

Heat

Applying a heating pad to affected areas can help increase blood flow to recover sore muscles. Heat therapy is most helpful at providing muscle pain relief when symptoms have persisted beyond three days.

Epsom Salt

Muscle pain relief – especially if you are experiencing aches and cramping – may be supported with Epsom salt baths. Epsom salt is thought to be one of the best natural muscle relaxers when combined with warm water thanks to its high magnesium content. Epsom salt baths for muscle pain relief should only be undertaken if you have no open wounds or chronic skin conditions.

Over-The-Counter Medication

Certain medications can provide effective muscle pain relief, depending on the cause of the pain. Muscle soreness from strains, sprains or tears can be treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Topical gels, creams, medicated plasters or Super Patch technology can also help recover sore muscles. Muscle relaxers will reduce pain in incidences of acute muscle injury, and symptoms brought on by fever can be treated with paracetamol. In some instances, muscle pain is the result of a nutritional deficiency, such as a lack of vitamin D. A doctor may advise you on taking the appropriate nutritional supplement to help provide muscle pain relief.

RICE

If your pain is the result of an injury but you don’t consider it serious enough to seek medical attention, the first strategy for muscle pain relief is RICE. This stands for rest, ice, compression and elevation. Rest ensures you don’t continue bearing weight on the affected area and further aggravate the muscle, while ice helps reduce inflammation the first few days after an injury. Compression helps to limit swelling, as does elevating the limb above your heart. You may need to see your doctor if your muscle pain relief strategies at home aren’t helping to reduce symptoms within a few days. Muscle pain that: appears alongside a rash or tick bite, is accompanied by redness or swelling, occurs after a change in medication or is present with a temperature also requires medical attention. Consider your muscle pain a medical emergency if it presents alongside the following symptoms: sudden water retention or reduced urine volume, vomiting, stiffness or weakness in the muscles, particularly the neck, trouble catching your breath, or an inability to move the affected area.