It’s inevitable that at some point, you’d experience muscle pains in certain parts of your body. It can either be due to an intense workout, playing a new sport, or poor body postures. Muscle pains are normal and can be experienced anytime, depending on how extreme you’ve used up your muscles for the day. It is also a sign that your muscles are responding to your new workout routine, and are either growing or becoming stronger.
However, this pain can be annoying, especially when it lasts for a few days. It may even become a hindrance to your day-to-day tasks and can also be the reason why you have to stop your workout routine temporarily. Because of these inconveniences, many people attempt to alleviate the pain by applying home remedies like ice and self-massage.
But are there better ways to reduce muscle pain more effectively? Yes, below are a few ways to help you reduce muscle pain efficiently and appropriately.
- Use An Ice Pack And Heating Pad
Applying an ice pack or cold compress on your skin can reduce painful muscle inflammation. For a better combination, you can use an ice pack with a heating pad too.
The role of the heating pads is to boost your muscle’s blood flow, while the ice pack will help reduce muscle inflammation. Studies say that using both heat and ice together will help prevent elastic tissue damage.
Start by applying an ice pack first for twenty minutes, then follow it with a heating pad for another twenty minutes. This alternation is an effective regimen to reduce muscle pains after an intense workout or activity.
- Massage The Trigger Point
Massaging the trigger point helps alleviate muscle pain. A massage helps loosen your tight muscles and keep your blood flowing. For better and faster results, you can use a magnesium spray to moist the triggered area before slowly massaging it. Aside from that, a good massage also promotes cell function and repair.
- Stretch
Stretching is an important routine that you must not skip after an intense workout. You can perform a few light stretches for 10 minutes after your exercise to prevent muscle pain. Through this, the tightness around your muscles will be reduced, and it’ll increase your motion range even when you’re sore. Once your sore muscles have already warmed up with your light stretching, it’ll be easier for you to move even with the muscle pain.
However, too much stretching may result in worse muscle pain. As mentioned earlier, stretching must be done lightly and with ease. Don’t force yourself to stretch too much, as it will only make your muscles tighter, and you might damage your muscle fibers as you try to exert more force.
The best way to determine whether you’re stretching the proper way is by feeling your muscles. If it feels pretty tight already, let it up after 10 seconds. You can repeat the process so you won’t have to get to the point where the pain is unbearable. If you still find light stretching painful and intolerable, you may try doing other remedies instead.
- Take A Warm Bath
If you’re feeling muscle pains in multiple parts of your body, it may be best if you take a warm bath instead of using too many heating pads. The warm feeling will help loosen your tight muscles and increase blood circulation. This is only a temporary relief, but doing this daily will help your muscles heal faster.
- Don’t Stop Exercising
You may have sore muscles after doing new exercises, and you might be thinking of stopping your routine due to the pain. The truth, however, is that you should not stop doing your exercises, despite uncomfortable muscle pains around your body.
Muscle pains occur only because they were stretched. They are expected to be painful especially if you haven’t done any heavy physical activity for a long time. Pain signifies that your body is adjusting to the exercise you’re doing, and is on its way to becoming stronger.
As a temporary alternative, you can do light exercises instead of your usual intense workouts while waiting for your muscles to fully heal from the pain. You can go walking for a few miles as it only requires a little strength. The point is, you should never let your muscles relax way too much.
Key Takeaway
Overall, the key to reducing muscle pain is time, but the pain can be reduced effectively and faster by just following the tips mentioned above. Sooner or later, your muscles will come back even stronger and better once you’ve healed. However, if the pain is still unbearable after a few weeks, it may be time to consult your doctor to see if it’s a symptom of something more serious.
