Slight muscle pain or soreness after doing a strenuous workout is considered normal. It indicates that your muscle fibers have got some small tears during the exercises and are now trying to recover. Once the fibers start repairing, they will become stronger and more prominent.
However, muscle aches can really get in the way of our determination to keep exercising. We will list several physical therapies assist you relieve tightness of the muscles.
Let's start from knowing the difference between necessary soreness and extreme pain due to an injury is crucial.
What is considered normal?
Delayed onset muscle soreness, popularly known as DOMS, occurs when you start with a new regime or change your regular workout's frequency, intensity, or duration. It usually begins within 24hrs of a heavy workout session and may persist for a few days.
What is considered abnormal?
- If the pain persists for more than 72 hours or starts immediately after the exercise is over, it may be muscle strain due to some injury, or the training was too heavy for you.
- If the pain prevents you from carrying down daily routine activities at home or the workplace, then the exercise was too much for you.
Effective Ways to Heal and Provide Muscle Pain Relief
From professional athletes to bodybuilders, everyone is prone to muscle pain. For muscle pain relief, rest and recovery are vital. Just like working out daily is essential, it is crucial to provide rest days to allow the fibers to heal and grow more potent than before. In addition, the physical therapies below will help your muscles recover faster.
1. Apply Heat
Hot fomentation or heat therapy can be done if the pain persists for more than 48hrs. When the heat is applied, the blood vessels widen, leading to increased blood flow. This increase in blood flow helps in relieving muscle spasms.
2. Gentle Massage
A gentle massage is always a good idea to release muscle tension. Deep tissue massage is not indicated in muscle pain cases. You may use massage balls, foam rollers or to do the trigger point therapy and acupressure, which can help relax tense muscles.
3. Medications
There are broadly two categories of medications for effective pain relief that your physician can suggest. One is oral, and the other is topical; the medication part is always kept as a last resort for any pain relief.
4. Doing Stretching using a Yoga Wheel
Stretching helps relieve muscle soreness by assisting the tight muscles to open up. A yoga wheel is a unique device that has gained mass popularity because of its versatility and efficient pain-relieving actions.
Unique Benefits of the Yoga Wheel
Apart from making your yoga practices more fun, this fantastic prop helps in relieving muscle tension and spasm. There are some unique benefits of this very new prop used nowadays in the fitness world.
Some of the key benefits are listed below-
- Ease of doing stretches safely
- Enhances your flexibility
- It helps in relieving pains
- It assists the beginners with their yoga poses
- Improves balance and strength
- Relieves back pain
The Bottom Line
The muscle soreness that sets in 24hours after the exercises are done is normal and desirable. For effective pain management, the best solution is getting a Yoga Wheel from Ativafit, but it is always suggested to visit your doctor at the earliest if the pain persists.