Sore Muscle Remedies That Really Work

People do some crazy stuff to get rid of their post-workout muscle pain, which is known in the medical community as DOMS -- for delayed onset muscle soreness. DOMS occurs when an exercise causes stress to muscle tissue. The tissue develops microscopic tears, causing inflammation and then pain that begins to mount in the 24- to 48-hour period that follows a workout.

While some athletes swear by acupuncture (that works!), others insist that nothing but a hot water bottle (which doesn't) will do. But amidst all the anecdotal evidence and superstition, how can we determine what actually will improve the muscle pain? A few new studies give us a glimpse into what might be the best strategies, including the latest one, released just yesterday on the efficacy of ice baths – a method of dunking your post-workout body in a frigid bath of water that is favored by everyone from rugby players to triathletes.

The study found that cold water baths do indeed reduce muscle soreness, but they have a limited effect. A look at some other remedies that have the clinical data to back up their claims:

Comments

[stevador]

06:13 PM on 02/20/2012

GInger relives muscle stiffness and soreness for me. I put either chopped fresh ginger or ground ginger in tea and it takes care of my post exercise soreness.

[organicconnect]

01:58 PM on 02/18/2012

Dr. David Pascal (trainer of two Olympic teams) has some nutritional solutions not covered in the above piece: http://naturalvitality.com/sports/sports-nutrition-performance-and-muscle-recovery/

[bogo1203]

04:41 AM on 02/17/2012

No mention of tequila shots. How sad.

[BigBrickHouse]

04:07 AM on 02/17/2012

PLAN AHEAD! Stretching, eating right and resting/sleeping will all help with sore muscles. Once you break down your muscle tissue with exercise, it's gonna HURT when it rebuilds (i.e.-repairs) it's self. Your best defence is to be eating right, stretching right and getting PLENTY of rest to help repair what you did you your muscles. SLEEP is GOOD for the body; not sleeping is a killer.

[BigBrickHouse]

03:40 AM on 02/17/2012

Heat & Ice~ your two best friends. Massage is #3.
I was a bodybuilder in the 80's and a personal trainer in the 90's and I know about chronic pain. The #1 thing I've convinced myself of is that I don't need pain meds to overcome my pain. I'm so damned afraid of becoming addicted to pain meds that I've always refused them all. Massage, heat & ice and rest and gritting my teeth with a smile (the smile helps) have always gotten me through my worst pain (when I couldn't even walk).

[Cyrus Trance]

08:18 PM on 02/20/2012

Why would anyone need narcotics to treat muscle pain caused by working out?

And what does bodybuilding or being a personal trainer have to do with knowing about chronic pain?

[lydatarz]

10:52 PM on 02/16/2012

The best way to treat sore muscles is a combination of heat and cold. This causes vaso dilation and constriction, which acts as a pumping mechanism to get blood to the muscles to deliver the nutrients that the muscles require and to carry away the metabolites (lactic acid being one) though the circulatory system. Begin with ice for 20 min., change to heat for 20 min., then end with ice. It's that simple.

[c8edid]

10:32 PM on 02/16/2012

Cold water bath?! I'd rather just "suffer" in a nice clean hot tub with the previously mentioned beer. Foam rollers work well, but hurt too much when your muscle soreness is at it's peak.

[Darreltheman]

07:12 PM on 02/16/2012

Cold water bath like cold water showers work on all the muscles?

[ccdae5]

06:40 PM on 02/16/2012

Ice is free!

[Darreltheman]

07:15 PM on 02/16/2012

Butterflies are free.

[ccdae5]

07:48 PM on 02/16/2012

ok, but how do they help sore muscles?

[ccdae5]

06:40 PM on 02/16/2012

Apply ice directly to tight muscle. Works every time.

[cintisky]

05:21 PM on 02/16/2012

Protein shake and some amino acids do the trick...ZMA works also for me..

[Mike in San Pedro]

05:12 PM on 02/16/2012

A beer or five works for me.

[The Man Thor]

03:43 PM on 02/16/2012

One of the best ways to fight muscle soreness, the Marc Pro device. Active recovery without fatigue

[kasel1]

02:58 PM on 02/16/2012

11 men...reduce muscle soreness? Totally useless, subjective and statistically insignificant data. Aren't you people ashamed to be so ignorant? Let alone write articles and broadcast it to the world.

[KMAJ]

02:06 PM on 02/16/2012

This article leave out one VERY important factor. Soreness prevention!

Stretching PRIOR to a workout will substantially reduce soreness and fatigue one feels following a workout. This also include a "stretch-down" immediately after the workout.

[BigBrickHouse]

03:47 AM on 02/17/2012

SO true! When I was bodybuilding I always took a full 20 minutes to run through a complete head-to-toe stretch, both before and after. Quite frankly, that's how bodybuilding was taught back in the 80's, with Joe Weider. Some folks wanna hit the gym in a 30 minute spurt and just wind up hurting themselves and never wanting to workout again :(

[Cyrus Trance]

08:37 PM on 02/20/2012

"I was bodybuildi­ng I always took a full 20 minutes to run through"

A waste of 20 minutes.

A reasonable warm up is all that is needed.

[Cyrus Trance]

08:24 PM on 02/20/2012

There is no proof that stretching helps prevent injuries.

http://articles.boston.com/2009-07-06/news/29264922_1_range-of-joint-motion-post-exercise-exercise-prescription