Physical exercise is essential to be able to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle, since it has innumerable benefits such as improving the activity of the heart and lungs, while strengthening muscles and bones. However, it can sometimes give rise to muscle pain.
This usually occurs when a new muscle group is started to work or the intensity is increased significantly.
You should keep in mind that muscle soreness is normal, and that it will not prevent you from recovering and returning to work at a high level of intensity, although you should always try to prevent possible injuries.
In the event that after training you consider that you may have some type of sprain or strain, you can apply the RICE method, which consists of:
- Rest: Make total or partial rest of the injury. This will depend on the severity of the injury in question.
- Ice: Use ice packs or similar to reduce inflammation, pain and bruising. Use ice for up to 3 days after the injury.
- Compression: Dress the injury to try to reduce bruising and swelling. You can have it bandaged between 1-2 days and a week after having suffered the injury.
- Elevation: Places the injury at or above the level of the heart. This will reduce swelling and bruising. Try to have it elevated 2-3 hours a day.
In any case, if the muscle pain lasts for more than a week, if you cannot move, the pain is unbearable, worsens when exercising or causes dizziness or shortness of breath, see a doctor. Likewise, if the RICE treatment is not effective, you can do the same.
How can muscle pain affect you?
Muscle pain can be very frustrating as it can limit your ability to move freely. Although it is normal for your muscles to ache after physical activity, if you feel excessive pain when doing routine activities, you will have to take measures and if you want to know what to take for muscle pain, you can opt for an Ibuprofen or a medication analgesic and anti-inflammatory similar.
Muscle pain is, in general, the result of overload, a minor injury, which can be caused by a fall, a blow, a trip, or simply by a situation of stress or tension.
In general, the pain improves as the days go by, but you can help yourself with pain relief medications.
Instructions
In the event that you start to feel immediate muscle pain, this will be considered an acute pain. You may notice the pain while the muscles are contracting, and the pain may last for up to 12 hours after exercise. In addition, the discomfort, in some cases, can reach its peak as soon as 48-72 hours have elapsed after the injury. This is the case for delayed onset muscle soreness. During that time the muscles are being repaired and strengthened. In any case, you should know that the pain can last for several days or improve quickly, depending on the case.
To treat pain, the following steps are recommended:
- First, try a gentle stretching of your muscles.
- Give yourself a muscle massage in the affected area.
- Try to rest so that the muscles do too.
- Use ice to help reduce the initial swelling of the injury.
- It uses heat to increase blood flow to the muscles.
- Take over-the-counter pain relievers, such as anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen. If you want to know what to take for muscle pain, this medicine or a similar one will suffice.
What do you need
- Ice to act on inflammation.
- Heat to increase blood flow.
- Anti-inflammatory analgesic such as Ibuprofen or similar.
Tips
Some advice that you should keep in mind in the event that you suffer from muscle pain, beyond knowing what to take for muscle pain, which, as we have mentioned, an Ibuprofen will suffice, you should take into account the following points, which will help you to prevent future pain:
- Warm Up: Warming up your muscles before exercising can wake up your muscles with increased blood flow. To do it you can jog, jump rope, etc.
- Drink water: Water is essential to control body temperature, at the same time that it is responsible for the transport of nutrients to create energy and prepare the joints. This way you will avoid fatigue, dizziness and muscle cramps, among others.
- Get enough rest: Do not exercise the same muscle groups in less than 48 hours. In this way you will reduce the chances of suffering muscle pain and other types of injuries.
- Do the exercises with the proper technique: Learn to do the exercises in a proper way to avoid injuries and pain.
- Cooling down: After doing the exercise you should cool down the muscles. Take the opportunity to stretch.