We have often woken up or gone to bed with a very annoying pain in the calves or in the back and we tend to never really get used to this pain. Pain is it in the bones or in the muscles is something that you won’t ever get used to. The reasons are numerous and both belong to two separate extremes. Muscle pain occurs due to excessive use of the body or no use at all. After a quick research you might end up with the results like there are kinds of muscle soreness where the pain comes after excess use of the muscles and there seems to appear minute tears in the muscles. It is because of these tears that people feel the muscles getting sore. However for fitness junkies this soreness reduces with the passage of time, as the muscle move towards rebuilding itself on the stronger side and the leg day that felt like curse on day one was not as hard by the end of the week. On the other hand the second condition is quite critical and this muscle pain does not vanish with muscle building.
The most common kinds of muscle pains are back muscle pain, calf muscle pain and neck muscle pain. What we know in common words as muscle cramp is that the muscles often get stiff from a particular area (mostly calves, palm and sole). This stiffness can last from a few seconds to a couple of minutes and the person bears intense sharp pain going through that particular area. This condition occurs majorly due to lack of essential minerals calcium, magnesium and potassium. Also there are certain medications that intend to create cramps as a side effect and often a restricted form of blood flow also becomes the reason.
15. Understanding Sprain And Strain
There are two distinct types of issues related to soreness of the muscles known as sprain and strain. In the case of a muscle strain the tissues that connect the muscle to the bone get injured and in the case of sprain it is the ligaments (found to join two or more bones through a joint) are torn or hurt in a way. The pain that dissipates is different in both the cases and hence the remedies that need to be applied are different. Here is an effective muscle pain relief remedy that will help you get rid of it.
Rice is for Sprain
- In order to cure the pain that is caused by a sprain rest before it gets worst. The first step to do after one understands the pain and the cause is to do as much rest as possible.
- Next is to the ice the area that is sore and swelling has appeared on the surface, ice it couple of times in a day
- Compress it with the help of a compression wrap that is worn around the swollen area for good 24-36 hours
- Finally elevate the swollen area. If the sprain is on any area in the leg (which it usually is) than the advise is to elevate the level of the sprained muscles from the heart, two to three times in a day for the initial 2-3 days of the sprain. This helps in decreasing the swelling in the muscles.
14. Bathe With Epsom Salt
One of the oldest, tried and tested remedies is the use of Epsom Salt, now many would be thinking what has salt to do with reducing pain in a sore muscle? But Epsom Salt is nothing less than a miracle salt as it absorbs the pain no matter if it is calf muscle pain, neck muscle pain or back muscle pain.
- All you need to do is to throw in a cup or maybe two full of Epsom salt inside a warm bath and make sure it is not sizzling hot because that might have a negative effect on the therapy overall.
- Immerse yourself in the bath and help your muscles getting soothed and relaxed because Epsom salt has the tendency to pull out any extra fluids that might be causing swelling inside the tissues.
- With the use of warm water your skin too will not be dried out excessively.
13. Getting Into A Hot And Cold Shower
Hot and cold shower is a perfect DIY treatment that you can easily try at home to get rid of muscle pain. There are some sore muscles that are often an end product of excess work and tension. Most often after a hectic day at work you end up having immense pain in your back or your upper back body (especially the back of the neck and shoulders). The key is to get a good shower and the intensity of the water used depends upon the temperature outside.
- If you are surrounded by ice all around than dip in under a warm shower that will relax the stress in your shoulders and back.
- If it is immensely hot outside than a cold shower will not cool your senses but will also reduce any inflammation that is formed in the affected sore muscles.
12. Intake Of Magnesium Supplements
The major reason behind sore muscles is actually the deficiency of magnesium from the body. People do not actually concentrate on the level of sweating they go through each day and because of this most of the salts and minerals are lost from the body because of which the body suffers from a lot of mineral deficiency based issues out of which one is sore muscles. Because of magnesium and calcium deficiency many people often go through striking and sharp pain in the form of muscle cramps. So try to increase magnesium intake for muscle pain relief in this case.
- There are any magnesium rich foods that can be added in to the diets to fulfill the daily dose of the mineral.
- Some of these magnesium rich foods are spinach, molasses, pumpkin seeds, Swiss chard, cocoa powder, seeds like sesame, flax, and sunflower seeds and also nuts that include almonds and cashews.
11. Good Use Of Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar is actually thought of as jack of all trade that is used to treat a number of problems. These uses include activating a slow metabolism and also help boost weight loss. A lot of people are found to have used apple cider vinegar to treat sore muscles and they have approved as well as recommended the use to everyone else. It is a very effective natural treatment for all kinds of muscle pain especially calf muscle pain and back muscle pain.
- For daring people they can take a tablespoon full of apple cider vinegar like a shot to get the rich goodness of the substance.
- Others have recommended creating a drink that includes a teaspoon of honey, 2-3 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar, 5-8 mints leaves added in a small cup of cold water.
10. The Old School Power Drink
Sportsmen cannot really live without energy drink and this has indeed become a global trend where people go for energy drinks of all sorts to quench the thirst and also balance out all kinds of mineral levels in the body. But there was an old school way before the advent of all crazy energy drink trends that also include a number of chemicals. For all kinds of muscle pain, It’s and effective muscle pain relief remedy.
- The old school drink is called Switchel and the main component of this drink is the molasses.
- One easy recipe to make the old school energy drink for sore muscles. Switchel is:
- Take ½ cup raw and organic honey
- ¼ cup molasses
- Ground up to 1 ½ teaspoon ginger
- And ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- Add this in about a cup and a half water and mix well till they make a concentrated and homogenous mixture
- Chill this drink in the refrigerator or add ice, before use.
9. Add Up Essential Oil
Now oils play a very important role in order to relax tensed muscles. This is because oils soothes and warms the affected areas when applied with soft and gentle strokes. Essential Oil massage is really a miraculous remedy for all kinds of muscle pain including neck muscle pain. What one can do is that add a drop of two of any essential oil (preferably peppermint and lavender oil) to a small quantity of carrier oil like coconut oil and olive oil.
- Use this oil to massage over the affected areas.
- The essence and warmth of the peppermint from the oil not only soothes but also reduces inflammation from the affected sore muscles.
8. Move Those Muscles
Where one thinks that too much of work actually strains the muscles the opposite is also quite important. When we are constantly seated at one place for a longer duration for instance working while seated in one place for long hours builds up a lot of tension on the upper body and this causes muscle soreness. So this is important that you better get up, walk and stretch for a good while before coming back to the seat for work. Stretching your body is good way to avoid back muscle pain and neck muscle pain.
- If you are seated in a chair for long hours than it is better to time your work in 20-minute intervals. In these intervals get up go for a quick walk like to the bathroom or to grab a drink and get back again to the seat.
- You can also perform all kinds of upper body stretches while remaining seated at your desk.
7. Get Good Massages
6. Creating A Hot Rub For Sore Muscles
You might have used an over the counter rub for reducing pain in sore muscles or for injuries and wounds that actually cures the area by warming up the place. Here we are also recommending the use of a hot rub that can be applied on swollen and sore muscles that works to reduce and relieve the pain from the affected muscles. However this tip if not for everyone as some people tend to get more uncomfortable from the heat than they were before from the muscle pain.
- To create a home made hot rub use about ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper and mix it up with a small amount of coconut or olive oil.
- This mixture can then be used as a hot rub massaged over the affected area. After a gentle massage you can even cover it up with a bandage for maximum effect.
5. Rest A Lot
Rest is also one of the best muscle pain relief technique. Yes we recommend you to rest as much as you can because no matter how much you try and get back on track to fulfill a task or to catch up a meeting you are to get struck by the pain again at the most inappropriate of times. So it is better to give yourself the initial 24 to 36 hours to heal after you deduct a sore muscle and go for a complete resting phase.
4. Drink Up Cherry Juice
This drink is essentially recommended for work out junkies who have to go through stiff and sore muscles post work out and this is what a natural behavior of the muscles is after extensive movement and stress. The muscles do get stronger and build up great capacity to bear as the workout routine gets tougher and tougher but to still get rid of muscle pain and soreness quickly and effectively, then add a glass of cherry juice to your post workout diet. Here is how you can do it to get rid of calf muscle pain or any other kind.
- Cherries are a rich source of antioxidant especially anthocyanin’s that work in order to reduce inflammation from sore muscles and free radicals from the blood.
- Tart cherry juice post work out is known to boost up the energy, mood and remove stress from the body.
3. Look After Your Diet
Your diet no doubt plays a huge role on your overall fitness. Most of the pain and problems that arise in the body are due to a number of deficiencies that have long remained unnoticed. In order to have a healthy lifestyle one must have a closer look on their daily diet. Staying hydrated at all times should be one of the most important goals for fitness freaks. Not only for them a good intake of water throughout the day is good for everyone’s health.
- Include a good proportion of proteins in the weekly diet plan.
- Never neglect the power of vegetables and fruits.
- Good thing is to snack over nuts.
- This way your muscles will have much more to build upon than to stress about.
2. Precaution Before Pain
There are a number of remedies shared regarding getting rid of the pain that comes with stiff and sore muscles but one of the most important tips of all is precaution before cure. Yes, we need to actually prevent the pain from coming up in the first place. This could be done through a number of easy ways.
- Enrich your diet with antioxidant rich foods and foods that can compensate the daily vitamin intakes.
- This way the muscles will have a lot more to rely upon than nothing at all.
- Vitamin C is actually known to prevent any kind of soreness or pain in the muscles
- Exercise and move your body to an extent that it regulates the blood flow in all parts of the body
- Staying glued to the chair all day long also results in excessive burden on different parts of the body and can cause neck muscle pain or back pain.
1. Natural Painkiller
- The herb can be soaked in water and then grinded to form a paste.
- This paste cam then is applied to the affected swollen or sore muscles.
- This herb is known to effectively reduce inflammation and swelling from the painful muscles to about 30%.
Look Out For
- To be continuously using an ice pack over a painful muscle would not provide similar results. The better way is to ice the muscles for a while like say 10 minutes and then let it rest for 10 minutes before you re apply the ice pack.
- Going for a light workout instead of stretching is thought as a better alternative as stretching simply opens up the spaces in the muscles and does not heat the up for proper workout.
- Joint pain and pain and soreness in the muscles are completely different thing, always go to consult your doctor if the pain becomes unbearable or wouldn’t go away at all.
