Have you ever woken up the next day after exercising and wondered about the great guilt you did to deserve this intense muscle pain?
This type of pain is known as Muscle Soreness after Exercise -DOMS.
Causes of muscle pain after exercise.
During exercise, very small tears may arise in some muscle tissues in the body, and 1-2 days after the exercise is finished.
The immune system stimulates an inflammatory reaction in the damaged area of muscles to speed up its recovery, which may cause some fluid to accumulate in the areas of the tears, which leads to a feeling of pain and tension that increases in intensity over a period of hours or days.
This type of pain is known as Muscle Soreness after Exercise -DOMS.
It is worth noting that some believe that the cause of muscle pain after exercise is the accumulation of lactic acid in the body, which is a false belief, and the real reason is what was mentioned above.
Not everyone who exercises will experience muscle pain after exercise, but these factors may increase the chances of developing this type of pain:
Slightly stiff exercise.
_ Doing exercises that cause stretching and contraction of the muscles, such as: deep squats, push-ups.
_ Doing new exercises or changing your regular exercise routine.
_ Exercising for longer than usual.
When does muscle pain disappear after exercise?
Post-exercise muscle pain usually begins after a day or two of exercising, and then continues for a period of 3-5 days.
Muscle soreness after exercise often begins to subside gradually over time as the body begins to adjust to exercise.
Although feeling this type of pain after exercise is considered normal, there are certain cases in which this pain may mean that there is an imbalance that calls for a doctor's consultation.
Here is a list of the most important signs that may indicate that your muscle pain may be abnormal, or that the exercises that you have practiced were somewhat severe, and you should consult your doctor immediately and without delay! if any of the following serious symptoms appear after exercising:
_ Pain that hinders the practice of normal life.
_ Pain that appeared during exercise or upon completion of exercise.
_ Difficulty moving one of the joints of the body.
_ Intolerable pain that may get worse over time.
_ Pain accompanied by one of the following symptoms: swelling, bruising, a feeling of some kind of heaviness or pressure, vomiting, nausea, chills, fever.
_ Sudden pain in an area of the body that contained a previous surgical wound, or sudden pain in an area that had previously suffered an injury.
_ Swelling, or swelling of one side of the body.
_ Passing dark colored urine, or decreased production of urine in the body.
_ Pain that does not subside despite the passage of several days after the exercise and despite the practice of some behaviors that are
supposed to relieve muscle pain after exercise.
It should also be noted that the pain that appears during the exercise is a clear signal that means the need to stop performing the exercise directly, because continuing to exercise or repeat performing this exercise again may cause health problems in the muscles, tendons and joints.
Prevention of muscle pain after exercise.
To reduce your chances of developing muscle soreness after a workout, be sure to adhere to the following tips:
_ Always do warm-up exercises before starting an actual exercise, and always do stretching exercises after you finish exercising.
_ Performing exercises in a correct manner, and consulting the sports trainer about the correct way to perform exercises whenever necessary.
_ Gradually increasing the intensity and duration of exercise to give the body's muscles sufficient time to prepare, and it is preferable here that the mentioned increase does not exceed 10% per week.
Relieve and treat muscle pain after exercise
_Get enough rest.
_Take a warm bath to improve blood _circulation in the body.
_Do some simple stretching exercises.
_Gently massage the muscles.
_Apply cold compresses to the site of pain.
_Take some mild pain relievers.
_Apply some muscle pain-relieving ointments topically to the areas of pain.