How do I get rid of post-exercise muscle soreness?
Delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS is the dull, achy and stiff soreness that you feel 24-48 hours after exercise. Everyone experiences DOMS when exercising, even elite athletes! You can’t get rid of DOMS completely, but here are a few natural ideas to help you cope with the discomfort.
1) Heat may relieve the soreness by increasing blood flow to the muscles.
2) Avoid taking NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, aspirin or tylenol. Studies show that these medications slow down the healing process of the muscles.
3) Continue to follow your normal exercise schedule. Keeping your muscles moving helps them from getting locked up and tight.
4) Stretching and warming up before exercise can help decrease DOMS by increasing blood flow before you work out.
If you have severe pain with your DOMS or if these tips don’t seem to help you, it might be a sign that your workout is too vigorous for you or you might have a muscle imbalance that’s causing the pain. As with any type of discomfort, if you continue to have pain after stretching and trying these tips for more than 2 weeks, give our office a call. We’ll help you nip the problem in the bud!