Effective Ways to Prevent or Relieve Muscle Pain

Muscle pain can be troublesome, especially if it keeps you from being able to do your regular activities. My name is Jeremy Decker and I’m a physical therapist at Full Potential Physical Therapy in Holland, Michigan. Today, I want to talk to you a little bit about two common types of muscle related pain. 

Muscle Pain Type #1: Soreness

The first type is called delayed onset muscle soreness, and this will occur after doing more activity than what your body is used to. Soreness usually sets in 12 to 24 hours after the activity, peaks at two days after the activity, and usually resolves within three to seven days after that activity. 

Typically, you don’t have to do a lot to treat delayed onset muscle soreness as it will resolve on its own with time. But light stretching and foam rolling can speed this process up slightly. 

Muscle Pain Type #2: Strain

The second common cause of muscle related pain is muscle strain. This will feel more like pain compared to soreness. Symptoms usually begin immediately after the activity and can take three to six weeks to resolve. 

To treat muscle strain, keep the area moving only gently for three to five days after the activity to let pain and possible inflammation reduce. After this try, gentle stretching and a gradual return to your normal activities. 

Once pain is no longer constant, progress gradually into strengthening exercises, starting with light resistance exercise and progressing as tolerated based on your symptoms. Experiencing mild symptoms during the exercise is okay, but the symptoms should not be worse after about an hour after the exercise. 

Call Full Potential Physical Therapy if Your Muscle Pain Won’t Go Away

If your symptoms are not improving significantly by three to four weeks after the initial onset of muscle pain symptoms, seek out a physical therapy evaluation. There are several musculoskeletal issues that can feel like a muscle strain or delayed onset muscle soreness, but they could in fact be something different that would require more specific types of treatment. 

If you’re in our area, give our office a call at (616) 537-2837, and one of our physical therapists would be happy to help you.