Understanding Muscle Soreness

11/16/2009

Understanding what causes acute muscle soreness can help you deal with it and may help the pain go away faster. Acute muscle soreness starts during or immediately after strenuous activity and may persist for several hours. Stress-induced ischemia (oxygen starved tissues caused by a stoppage of blood flow) impairs the muscle's ability to quickly remove metabolic waste products such as lactic acid and potassium, which then accumulate causing pain. When you stop exercising, blood flow increases, and pain soon disappears.

Delayed soreness appears 8-48 hours after exercise and may result from tissue tears, irritation or local muscle spasm. A full warm-up helps prevent soreness. Athletes should follow the training principle of progression, gradually increasing workload and duration, and then cool down after exercise to dissipate wastes. Apply ice to exercised areas to lessen muscle spasm, and follow with massage to rid the area of wastes using strong intermittent pressure to press out edema. A person with muscular soreness should stretch statically to the point of pain and hold the stretch. With severe soreness, you may apply ice. At first you feel coldness and then aching. The area soon becomes numb. Then you may begin stretching, performing 1-minute stretches in sets of three, separated by 5 minutes of ice massage.

Obviously a full warm-up is the most beneficial activity you can do to prepare your body for exercise. A warm-up mentally and physically mobilizes you for activities. A general warm-up is comprised of jogging, stretching, calisthenics and some resistive exercises. For athletes, the sport-specific part includes stretches and movements you will use in the sport, but not at the maximum intensity.

We seldom think of warming up when we are going to do other kinds of strenuous activity, but we need it then also! Psychologically, it relieves tenseness and tightness and relaxes you so you are calm and can concentrate. Physiologically, the warm-up increases circulation and respiration. Oxygen becomes more accessible to cells because vascular resistance is lower and hemoglobin gives off oxygen more quickly.

A warm-up literally warms the muscles, producing faster and more forceful contractions. The metabolic processes involved in contraction and relaxation progress quickly. Muscle viscosity drops, making contractions easier and smoother.

Muscle soreness may be avoided by a proper warm-up. The warm-up will also promote agility and alertness and decrease movement time. Range of motion in joints will increase, allowing better technique, new skill acquisition, and reduction in injuries.

After any vigorous activity, you should cool-down. The cool-down includes light jogging and stretching which relaxes your body, lessens muscle spasm, and removes waste products. Soreness will be reduced, and you will feel better. The regimen of the warm-up and cool-down done on a minor scale, 10 to 15 minutes each day, will certainly help you "make it through the day" easier, and is recommended for everyone. One caveat, however. If you are a patient who is now undergoing treatment, do not undertake any such activity until you have first cleared it with your doctor or physical therapist. You may endanger your present injury. Remember, start gradually and build up slowly. If, for some reason, you have to miss several days, don't take up where you left off - start over again. Doing too much too soon is often as serious as doing nothing at all. Set your own pace.

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Sheila Yonemoto, P.T.,
Yonemoto Physical Therapy
55 S. Raymond Ave., Suite 100,
Alhambra, CA 91801
PHONE: 626 576 0591 / FAX: 626 576 5890

Links:
http://www.yonemoto.com/ - Yonemoto Physical Therapy home page
http://www.yonemoto.com/programs/IMT.htm - Integrative Manual Therapy, a Hands-On Approach
http://www.yonemoto.com/programs/qigong.htm - Qigong to boost the immune system