Working hard at the office all week makes you feel that you need to reward yourself during the weekend. People have varying ways of unwinding after a long week’s work – some go for a hike to the mountains, others stay at home with a bottle of wine and there are also those who go to the gym to recharge.
If you’re the type to do a vigorous activity after a busy work week to feel good, then it is more likely that you’ll feel soreness in your body after. However, you shouldn’t let your muscle pains consume you. Here are some tips that you can use to kiss those soreness and stiffness goodbye!
Causes of Muscle Pains
Experiencing soreness in the muscles is a normal thing especially if you’re doing vigorous physical activities.
- You do something that your body is not used to like joining a marathon when you just normally go for a jog.
- You extend the length of your exercise.
- You do an unusual exercise routine, something different from what you do on a daily basis.
Changes in your exercise, no matter how gradual, will cause tiny injuries to the muscle fibers and connective tissues in your body. Usually, the soreness comes the day after you have performed the exercise. Physical therapists refer to that as ‘delayed onset’ muscle soreness. This condition peaks after 48 hours that the activity happened, but there is nothing to worry about as it eventually goes away.
Causes of Joint Pains
When you feel aching and soreness in your joints, it may mean that you have osteoarthritis. It’s an inflammatory condition that usually develops as you get older. What happens is that the cartilage that acts as cushion for your joints grow thinner that makes your joints inflamed and painful.
If you have undergone a recent injury and overuse it, you may experience pain in your joints too. Knee injuries usually mean that you are having a problem with your meniscus or ligament – the former is a rubbery disc that protects your knee while the latter refers to the bands of tissues that puts your bones together.
Treatments for Sore Muscles and Joints
For sore muscles, you may take acetaminophen or aspirin to soothe the pain. Ibuprofen or naproxen also helps eases the discomfort that you feel. Just be cautious and don’t take strong medicines without consulting your doctor first. Some medications may not be suitable for you especially if you have an existing condition like ulcer, kidney disease or liver problem. Also, keep in mind that there are sore muscles and joints that cannot be soothe with a simple ice pack or OTC medicine.