What to apply to muscles after training. How to get rid of muscle pain after exercise

Muscle pain can be either partial or permanent. Most often this problem occurs in athletes. Sometimes the pain is so severe that the thought of walking becomes simply unbearable. By and large, muscle pain can be prevented, but in addition, you also need to correctly recognize the pain, because it comes in several types. After all, how to get rid of muscle pain largely depends on its cause.

Perhaps it's time to go to the doctor...

Most people trying to get rid of muscle pain often confuse pain with sore throat, but these conditions are completely different. Pain is a sharp and sharp sensation in the joints, bones and muscles. Krepatura is a restrictive movement, dull sensation in the muscles. If an athlete is in pain, he should stop training immediately. The question arises, how to get rid of muscle pain yourself? Let's figure it out... It is very important to consult a specialist if you have symptoms such as:

Excessive pain;
Weakness in the limbs;
Inability to move a joint(s) through its full range of motion;
Edema;
Bone displacement;
Tingling and numbness.

If such “surprises” are not observed, medications can be used.

Magic ointment or quick-acting medications

One of the ways to get rid of muscle pain is the use of medications. Here are the most common of them:

Analgos;
Heparin ointment;
Apizartron;
Vipratox;
Tiger ointment;
Raymon-gel;
Nicoflex et al.

The following list will quickly and efficiently relieve muscle pain. However, consulting a specialist will not hurt. If you think that you can get rid of muscle pain using only ointments... you are deeply mistaken! It’s good to take courses of vitamin E from time to time. It perfectly neutralizes harmful products formed in the muscles under conditions of heavy physical exertion and intense metabolism. Besides, you can't be lazy! Walking, yoga, exercises, active recreation are healthier than lying on the couch, which causes similar problems...

Traditional methods and local effects, or rather massage, will also be appropriate. Professional massage, as well as self-rubbing, cooling with ice, walking on tiptoes, regular exercise, walking - all this will help ensure that the problem of how to get rid of muscle pain never bothers you.

If you want to avoid or get rid of muscle pain, the main thing is to remember that your health is literally in your hands.

This is pain, this is real pain! Who hasn't experienced the feeling of starting a new workout program with enthusiasm, and the next day feeling like you've been run over by a truck? Sometimes it can be difficult to even walk down the stairs. Almost every one of us has felt muscle pain “in our own skin.” But did you know that there are different types of it and some of them can be prevented? After reading our article, you will learn to determine which muscle pain is considered normal and which is unnatural. You will also learn the difference between normal soreness and pain that requires you to forget about the gym for a while (or even see a doctor).

Many people confuse soreness with pain, but there is nothing in common between these conditions. Krepatura is a dull, painful sensation in the muscles that restricts movement; and pain is a sharp, sometimes sharp sensation in the bones, joints, and sometimes in the muscles. If soreness is a normal condition, then pain is not. At any stage of the exercise, pain signals the need to stop training. If you feel sudden, severe pain, excessive soreness, severe weakness in the limbs, inability to stand on your feet, inability to move joints to their full amplitude, seeing swelling, visible bone displacement, feeling numbness or tingling, you should immediately contact a specialist.

Five types of muscle pain

Common sore throat

Common sore throat is a common occurrence among sports and fitness fans. This is a condition when, after yesterday's intense workout, you find it difficult to get out of bed the next morning. This type of muscle pain appears 24-48 hours after training and indicates the natural adaptation processes occurring in the body after heavy training. When you perform a new or very difficult exercise, microscopic cracks appear in the muscle fibers.

It takes time for muscles to recover. This is why after a serious workout we can experience lingering pain for up to 72 hours. Sometimes it may even get worse on the second or third day. Do you want good news? The exercises after which soreness appeared will not cause such strong painful sensations in the future (and perhaps none at all), since the muscles will become stronger and adapt to this kind of load.

How to warn:

Previously, it was believed that stretching exercises were necessary to prevent sore throat, but recent research is not so clear on this issue. Yes, stretching is very useful and should be done both during the warm-up and during the cool-down (it is believed that they also prevent the appearance of sore throat). But with regard to the strength itself, the best solution is to increase the load slowly and gradually, so that the muscles gradually get used to it and adapt.

How to remove:

There are a large number of opinions on this issue and a number of studies have been conducted. Some things that can help ease post-workout muscle pain include massage, icing, gentle stretching, over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications (check with your doctor before taking), and yoga. Unfortunately, a way to completely get rid of post-workout pain has not yet been invented, but the above methods will provide some relief.

What not to do:

Be lazy! It’s clear that the body needs rest, but give preference to active recovery - walking or yoga is better than lying on the couch. Active rest is beneficial after a hard workout - light physical activity improves blood circulation, which in turn speeds up muscle recovery. But the loads should be low-impact, low-intensity and short - 30 minutes will be more than enough.

Prolonged sore throat

Sometimes the soreness lasts more than 72 hours after the end of the workout. This happens when you apply too much load, perform a completely new exercise, or do not exercise for a long time. Prolonged soreness resembles normal one, but the painful sensations are a little more pronounced. It indicates that the muscles need more time to recover.

How to warn:

As in the case of regular sore throat, for prevention you should get involved in training gradually, gradually increasing the intensity and duration of training.

How to remove:

To relieve pain, the same methods of active recovery are used as for normal sore throat - walking, swimming at a calm pace or yoga. If the pain lasts more than five days, you should consult a doctor.

What not to do:

Don't do too hard workouts, get good sleep. Give your body a few extra days of rest. Carry out active recovery, go to bed early. And soon you will be able to get back on track!

Muscle cramps

You probably experience muscle cramps in your calves, feet, or knees from time to time. Typically, muscle cramps are sudden, involuntary contractions or spasms. They often occur after exercise or at night while sleeping. May last from a few seconds to several minutes. Sometimes muscle cramps are caused by impaired nerve function due to conditions such as spinal cord injury or a pinched nerve in the neck or back. But in most cases, they are caused by much less dangerous conditions: muscle strain or overuse, lack of minerals in the diet, leaching of minerals from the body, or poor blood circulation in the muscles.

How to warn:

A proper and balanced diet, as well as taking multivitamins and drinking enough fluids. Also, the appearance of muscle cramps is prevented by regular stretching and feasible loads in classes (without abusing training). It helps to replenish the loss of electrolytes that occurs during long workouts (more than 90 minutes).

How to remove:

Cramps can be very painful, but stretching or gentle massage can help relieve the pain. If you experience a cramp during exercise, stop exercising until the pain disappears. Monitor your general well-being, as abruptly stopping the exercise can lead to dizziness and even loss of consciousness.

What not to do:

When a cramp begins, the most important thing not to do is flex your muscles. Flexing the muscles will only increase spasm and pain. Instead, straighten the muscles to stretch them. For example, if you have a cramp in your calf, you will instinctively want to clench your toes and pull them up to give the calf muscle a good stretch.

Pain of unknown etymology

Has it ever happened to you that the next day after a good workout, pain appears in a part of the body that was not used? Or in the middle of a workout you feel pain or burning in those muscles that should not work during this workout (for example, pain in the lower back while performing abdominal crunches). The cause of such pain may be incorrect exercise technique. Unexplained back, neck, or joint pain may be a sign that you are overusing your joints or performing exercises with poor technique, causing your body to overcompensate and recruit other muscle groups.

How to warn:

Always perform exercises with perfect technique. If you cannot perform an exercise with the correct technique, then you need to either reduce the weight or modify the exercise.

How to remove:

If you feel only painful sensations, act as you would with normal sore throat. But pay special attention to the source of pain to determine its cause - and try to avoid it next time. Joint pain may indicate a more serious injury, so it should never be ignored. Also, be sure to consult a doctor to rule out the possibility of injury.

What not to do:

Do not put stress on the part of the body where it hurts - especially for back or neck pain. Avoid any activity that increases pain, and use rest, ice or a compress to relieve it.

Burning in the muscles

There is a saying “without pain there is no progress.” This refers to the burning pain in the muscles that we feel while overcoming our capabilities and fatigue. (As you can imagine, real pain has nothing to do with progress.) This burning sensation is an unpleasant - but normal - sign of quality training. It's just that when muscles use energy, they release hydrogen ions and protons. During heavy or prolonged exercise, protons accumulate in the muscles faster than the body can release them. This is what causes the burning sensation. It indicates that you are reaching muscle fatigue or “overloading”, and this, in fact, is a necessary condition for building strong muscles.

How to warn:

To prevent such pain, you can reduce the intensity of your workouts, although it is advisable to still “feel the burning” during each workout, since this will ensure that your muscles are working and getting stronger!

How to remove:

Stopping the “burning” is very simple - you just need to stop doing the exercise. Rest for a minute or two and try again if you feel strong enough. The burning sensation itself will go away in a few seconds or minutes, although tomorrow or the day after tomorrow a sore throat may appear as a result of intense work.

What not to do:

You shouldn’t think that there should be a burning sensation during every workout. The best training plan is one that combines high and low intensity training (to prevent overtraining). Alternate your workouts and give your body the rest it needs.

How to get rid of muscle pain after an active workout?

What to do if your muscles hurt after training? This question worries people who play sports regularly and from time to time.

Muscle pain occurs after physical activity. The reason is a low level of physical fitness. Even if the workout is not very intense, an unprepared person will feel discomfort in the muscles. Normal movements are accompanied by pain. There is a feeling that the slightest movement will cause pain. The discomfort will not last long. Regular classes
sports will make your body fit, your muscles will get used to the load, and you will be
feel comfortable.

A person whose muscles are in good shape can easily endure training.

For many people legs hurt after training. Runners know better than anyone what foot pain is. Unpleasant sensations can be caused by many factors.

Pain may result from injury. In this case, unpleasant sensations will appear very quickly.

The cause of discomfort may be lactic acid, which accumulates in muscle tissue.

Minor damage to fabric fibers.

During the training process, too much lactic acid accumulates in the muscles, for this reason, at the time of their contraction, a feeling of pain appears.

Changing your sports program will help. The exercises performed should be aimed at certain muscle groups and have an impact directly on them. Exercises can be repeated and the load increased. It is possible to perform a set of exercises aimed at developing endurance ().

Even experienced athletes with developed muscles experience muscle pain after heavy loads.

Microdamage to muscle fibers is a common cause of pain.

Painful sensations appear after 12-24 hours, and after a couple of days the discomfort disappears. The higher the training level, the better the body copes with removing toxins that appear in the tissues. The strength of the fibers becomes higher.

Minor damage to muscle tissue causes the body to turn on its protective functions. This leads to increased hormone production. These substances have an effect that relieves inflammation, and healing occurs much faster. Protein cells divide very quickly, which contributes to a rapid increase in muscle mass.

How to prevent muscle pain after exercise

A properly organized training process will save for muscle pain. Unpleasant sensations should be kept to a minimum.

Muscle pain can be caused by excessive exercise (too much or too often). Overtraining occurs due to a strong desire to achieve results. Experienced athletes have repeatedly encountered this effect and its consequences. Pain indicates that the body does not have enough time to recover. Muscle fibers are damaged during exercise, and there is not enough time to recover. As a result of the additional load, inflammation intensifies and new damage appears. It is important to give your body rest.

The final stage of a sports session should be a cool-down..
The cool-down includes movements similar to those performed during the warm-up. But the purpose of these exercises is different. Walking at a leisurely pace, jogging slowly, doing flexibility movements or stretching. This whole set of simple exercises helps speed up the removal from muscle tissue of harmful substances accumulated in it during training.

Rules for playing sports

Warm-up– an important part of playing sports. Its goal is to warm up the muscles and prepare the body for stress.

It is necessary to tune in to each lesson. Set yourself a goal. Give a goal for the result. Sports activities should not become a set of mechanical movements. This approach will give you nothing but fatigue.

To speed up the removal of decay products (they are the cause of painful sensations) from the body, it is necessary. It is best to use plain clean water. Water will help restore the supply of lost fluid (a lot of water comes out with sweat, sweating is especially intense during sports).

For severe pain, it is an effective remedy. visiting a bathhouse or sauna.

If the heat is intense and is contraindicated for you, you do not tolerate being in the steam room for a long time, take a hot bath. Add sea salt to the water. This procedure is good for health, it helps to activate the metabolic process in the body. The unpleasant sensations will quickly disappear.

There are special patches that relieve inflammation and have an analgesic effect. They can be purchased at the pharmacy.

Patches for muscle pain produced by different companies operate on the same principle: they relieve pain, relieve inflammation, and increase the movement of blood through the vessels.

It is advisable to use this remedy at night. Apply the patch to the sore spot before going to bed. It will relieve fatigue and pain. The patches are effective for injuries caused by frostbite, dislocations, sprains and bruises.

There is no sport without pain. We're talking about the kind of muscle pain that more often causes satisfaction than regret. After all, it is believed that this is the body’s reaction to quality training. However, pain is not always physiological. There are times when they indicate real problems in the body.

How and why muscles hurt

Lactic acid.

Formed from glucose, in the normal state of the body it quickly moves from the muscles to the blood, and from there to the liver. And with excessive load, it accumulates in the muscles.

Its acidic component, hydrogen, causes a burning sensation in the muscle fibers. A person feels pain already during the training process. This is a stop signal. The body requires a break until excess lactic acid is eliminated, which happens within 24 hours.

Microtrauma of muscles.

Lingering pain appears the next day after exercise and indicates that you have overdone the load. A similar phenomenon is also observed among beginners and with long intervals between training.

These microtraumas are not dangerous; they force the body to activate its defenses to repair damage and synthesize proteins. After 3 days the pain subsides.

High muscle reactivity.

Caused by excessive sensitivity of muscle nerves to stress and a violation of the water-salt balance. As a result, during training, in addition to pain, your calves may also cramp, that is, cramps.

In these cases, the nature of the pain is similar. Muscle tone is felt, pain intensifies with movement.

If the limbs constantly ache and seem to be constrained, they hurt somehow abnormally, uncharacteristically for the usual sensations after physical activity, then the reasons lie in pathology. These may turn out to be:

Sprains of muscles and ligaments;
Bruises, injuries;
Diseases of the joints or blood vessels.

If you suspect an injury or illness, stop training and consult a doctor.

Muscle pain lasting more than 3 days should also alert you.

Microtraumas to fibers stimulate protein synthesis, which allows you to gain more muscle mass. Bodybuilders use this property of the body. For them, pain is the goal.

How to speed up the elimination of lactic acid

To get rid of muscle pain after exercise, there are the following methods:

Read more about and read the relevant articles.

Prevention of muscle pain

To avoid pain being taken by surprise, it makes sense to prepare for it in advance.

Activities that will significantly reduce pain after training:

Eat watermelon! Eating watermelon an hour before class and an hour after it helps to quickly remove uric acid from the body;
Pure water. Take it with you to classes, drink it afterwards, toxins will leave the body faster, the water-salt balance will be normal;
Cardio training. By combining your usual activities with this type of exercise, you will increase blood circulation, enrich the body with oxygen, and the recovery and metabolic processes will accelerate;
Fish oil and flaxseed oil. As biologically active food additives, they strengthen the immune system, eliminate inflammatory processes in the muscles;
Alternating workouts. Replace high repetitions and heavy weight with lower repetitions and light weight, and vice versa;
The optimal training time is 45 minutes. Above this, the body experiences stress even at the hormonal level;
8 hours sleep. Affects the general condition of the body and the restoration of muscle fibers in particular.

There is no achievement without pain. The main thing is to recognize the nature of the pain, to understand whether it is good or bad. And remember that quality training is not a test of survival, but a smart way to maintain good physical shape.

Muscle pain may arise for various reasons - pulled a muscle or sprained a leg, hit or fell, or had a back pain. Pain can also occur suddenly and for no apparent reason. To eliminate it, it is necessary to determine the origin of the pain.

The most common solution is apply ointment for muscle pain after training.

Even if there was no training, the ointment will eliminate sudden pain, relieve swelling and spasm.

Mechanism of action

Numerous inexpensive and effective ointments used for muscle pain are very popular. They are sold without a doctor's prescription, since their exposure will not cause dangerous changes in the body. Often the basis of such remedies is one of the natural and well-known substances:

Ask your question to a neurologist for free

Irina Martynova. Graduated from Voronezh State Medical University named after. N.N. Burdenko. Clinical resident and neurologist of the BUZ VO \"Moscow Polyclinic\".

bee venom;
snake poison;
pepper extract;
extracts of medicinal plants;
natural essential oils.

Expert opinion

Filimoshin Oleg Alexandrovich

Doctor - neurologist, city clinic of Orenburg. Education: Orenburg State Medical Academy, Orenburg.

To relieve pain, cooling and warming ointments are used, varying in composition, effect and area of application.

Cooling ointments and gels are used immediately after an injury or when muscle pain occurs. They do not reduce body temperature, but only create a cooling effect. Their main purpose is to relieve pain and relieve tension. They often contain essential oils, analgesics, and anti-inflammatory substances.

Warming ointments used to prevent damage - to warm up muscles and ligaments before intense training. These agents increase the permeability of small vessels and increase blood circulation. They are often prescribed for chronic diseases to obtain a systemic effect.

Expert opinion

Mitrukhanov Eduard Petrovich

Doctor - neurologist, city clinic, Moscow. Education: Russian State Medical University, State Budgetary Educational Institution of Further Professional Education, Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Volgograd State Medical University, Volgograd.

Relief of muscle pain occurs due to the irritating effect of the ointment on the skin, increasing its temperature, increasing local blood flow, mild local analgesic effect, antiseptic effect, and reducing swelling.

Indications for use

The mechanism of action of ointments is different. Muscle pain occurs for various reasons, including:

inflammation in tissues and joints;
changes in the lumen of small vessels;
circulatory disorders;
weakening of the process of nutrition and tissue regeneration;
destruction of articular cartilage;
reflex muscle spasms;
hypothermia;
swelling;
age-related changes.

In addition to household injuries, muscle pain occurs due to various diseases, such as:

myalgia;

External remedies are not able to cure such serious diseases; they only help to temporarily alleviate the well-being of a sick person.

But this is also important. Gel or ointment for the treatment of degenerative processes in joints contains glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate, analgesics to reduce pain intensity. The drugs are used in the complex treatment of dangerous diseases. The course of procedures is usually quite long - from 3 months to six months.

In case of hypothermia or injuries, medications that have an irritating effect are prescribed. For local effects on muscles, use a ten-day course of applying the ointment several times a day to achieve the desired effect.

The advantage of using external preparations is ease of use, safety, the possibility of long-term use and the creation of a high concentration of the active substance in the right place.

The use of ointments as prophylaxis

It is acceptable to use warming agents as a preventive measure. Before intense training or sports performances, athletes massage with warming agents. Sports ointments help improve joint mobility, relieve tension, and prevent muscle pain after exercise.

Anti-inflammatory ointments can be used by healthy people to relieve muscle and joint pain after intense exercise. However, they cannot be used regularly and constantly, since they contain potent substances.

In the formulation of sports ointments includes the most common analgesics, which quickly help with common types of pain. Additionally, they include active substances that have the ability to increase local blood flow due to vasodilation, stimulate nervous activity, and reduce swelling.

Ointments are available and safe, sold without a prescription.

Together with specialized ointments and gels, you can use long-proven folk remedies to relieve muscle pain:

compress of burdock or cabbage leaves, plantain;
hot salt compress;
mustard plasters;
heated paraffin;
compress from infusion of sweet clover, horsetail, barberry or willow bark;
rubbing with natural apple cider vinegar.

Contraindications

External ointments do not penetrate into the deep layers of the skin and do not enter the human bloodstream, so their side effects are not dangerous, but unpleasant and may look like:

peeling of the skin;
burning;
allergy.

This reaction is usually caused by individual intolerance to any component of the ointment or gel.

To avoid experiencing side effects, before using the product, apply a small amount to the inner surface of the elbow and wait for an hour. If the ointment does not cause any reaction, then you can apply it in the right place.

Medicines used externally only. After rubbing with ointment, you should wash your hands. Do not allow the drug to get into your eyes or mouth. To enhance the effect of the ointment, you can cover the treated area of the body with a woolen cloth.

In case of an overdose resulting from frequent use of the drug, a condition similar to the symptoms of a side effect may appear. Sometimes nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness, and breathing problems occur.

It is necessary to stop using the medicine and take absorbent substances.

There are few contraindications to the use of external agents:

individual intolerance;
pregnancy and breastfeeding;
age up to 12 years;
bronchial asthma;
peptic ulcer.

Some drugs have an additional list of contraindications.

Before using any external product, you must read the instructions for use.

Do not use external preparations for wounds, acute inflammations, or skin diseases.

If the pain does not subside for several days, then you need to consult a doctor to clarify the diagnosis and method of treatment.

Market Review

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs not only relieve inflammation, but also reduce swelling of the legs and improve joint mobility. They affect the synthesis of certain substances in the body. These include many popular drugs:

Ichthyol ointment

Local anti-inflammatory and analgesic, restores blood circulation, increases vascular tone and improves metabolism. In addition to eczema, boils, erysipelas, it is successfully used for neuralgia, arthritis, prostatitis, and skin infections.

Price - 73 rubles.

Indomethacin

Has an analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect. Widely used in the treatment of chronic arthritis, gout, rheumatism. Used for surgical interventions.

Price - 64 rubles.

One of the best absorbable drugs. Heparin prevents the clogging of blood vessels, thins the blood and has an anti-inflammatory effect. The anesthesin included in its composition provides local anesthesia. The ointment is very effective for bruises, hematomas, hemorrhoids, thrombophlebitis.

Price - 51 rubles.

Most often, these ointments are used for chronic diseases of the muscles, cartilage and ligaments of the legs and arms: arthritis, arthrosis, bursitis. The effect of using anti-inflammatory ointments occurs 15-30 minutes after application and lasts 5-10 hours.

Warming ointments are used for injuries, bruises, and discomfort after training.

These drugs dilate blood vessels and increase blood flow to a specific area. Available in the form of ointments and gels:

Apizartron

Under the influence of the drug with bee venom and mustard oil, local blood flow, cell metabolism and muscle elasticity improve, and pain decreases. The drug is contraindicated in renal failure and acute arthritis.

Price - 283 rubles.

Ointment with an irritating effect. The main active ingredients are nonivamide and nicoboxyl (nicotinic acid derivatives). Improves blood circulation and warms up the treated skin area.

Price - 299 rubles.

Fastum gel

Thanks to the presence of ketoprofen, it relieves severe inflammation in the joints. This ointment is often used for rheumatism, muscle injuries and soft tissue ruptures.

Price - 55 rubles.

The effect of the cooling agent begins within 10-15 minutes after application to the skin.
Price - 321 rubles.

These drugs are used in long courses over several months under medical supervision.

Conclusion

Ointments used for muscle pain are affordable and effective, often containing natural substances. They not only solve short-term problems, but are also part of a set of measures to combat serious diseases.

Their harmlessness allows them to be used for the prevention of myalgia and sports injuries.

Be sure to watch the video on this topic

Briefly

Ointments have a local effect and are effective only in complex therapy.

The mechanism of action of ointments is different: anti-inflammatory, cooling, warming, local irritant, antiseptic, decongestant, chondroprotective.

Indications for use: tissue inflammation, circulatory disorders, muscle spasms, trauma, damage, hypothermia, swelling, degenerative processes of cartilage tissue.

Use as a preventive measure: warming ointments - before training, cooling ointments - to relieve tension.

Contraindications: allergies, pregnancy, childhood (no indications), itching, peeling, burning, individual intolerance.

Use only externally, before use you should read the instructions, test on your wrist, after using the ointment, wash your hands, do not allow the product to get into your eyes and mouth.

Market overview: Diclofenac, Ichthyol ointment, Indomethacin, Heparin ointment, Apizartron, Finalgon, Fastum gel, Menovasin, Chondroxide, Teraflex M, Viprosal, Ketonal.

The use of ointments is a simple and affordable way to get rid of pain, but in difficult cases it is necessary to seek the help of a doctor.