Cease What You’re Doing
“Rule number one is to stop the activity,” says Martin Z. Kanner, MD. He jokingly says his medical practice has two kinds of patients: “People who should exercise and won’t, and people who shouldn’t exercise and do.” People who are working toward a goal such as a marathon, or teenage athletes who can’t see beyond their next game, often have a hard time giving their bodies a break. But if you have muscle pain that’s bad enough to be consulting this chapter, now is the time to stop pushing yourself. A cramp may require only minutes of rest, but a severe strain may need days or weeks.
Serve Yourself A Big Helping Of RICE
This stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation, Kanner says. Hopefully, you’re already resting: Refrain from athletic activity, and avoid putting any weight on the injured area if you’re really in pain. The remaining steps in the formula help reduce inflammation and swelling in the injured muscle. To ice an injured muscle, wrap a bag of ice cubes in a cloth and apply it to the sore spot for no more than 20 minutes at a time, Kanner says. A good alternative is a cloth-wrapped bag of frozen veggies, which you can mold around the body part—he knows one woman who’s been using the same bag of peas for years. You can get compression from wrapping the injury snugly with an elastic bandage—but not so tight that your body tingles or turns a darker color on the other end of the bandage. Leave on for no more than 4 hours at a time. Elevate your arm or leg above the level of your heart to help reduce swelling. You may need to prop up your arm or leg on a pillow. MORE: 10 Healing Foods That Reduce Pain Naturally
Get Warm
About 48 hours after the injury, you can begin stretching the sore muscle a little and heating it—preferably at the same time. This will help avoid “contractures,” muscle tightness that won’t loosen back up. Your natural tendency is not to move the part of your body that hurts, Kanner says, but it’s important that you do. Step into a hot shower and slowly start circling the achy part. Go just to the point of pain, and don’t push further. Whirlpools and heat wraps offer other good methods of warming yourself.
Look For Arnica On The Ingredient List
Old-time folk remedies for sore muscles contained arnica, a yellow-orange flower found in Europe and North America. Arnica-containing lotions are available at many health food stores and some supermarkets. You should test a small patch of skin before applying it liberally. Note: Some people are allergic to a chemical in the flower.
Stretch For Prevention—If You’d Like
Although you may have memories of a high-school gym teacher urging you to reach further toward your toes, research has gone “back and forth” on whether stretching is beneficial for your muscles during physical activity, says Gregory Snow, DC, CCSP. A 2004 review of studies didn’t find enough evidence to support stretching before or after exercise among serious or recreational athletes—or discourage it, either. A 2007 study in the journal Sports Medicine, however, suggested warming up first with low-intensity movements that create slight sweating, then stretching. This is all done within 15 minutes before your workout or event. Warm up for at least 5 minutes (stretching cold muscles may raise your risk of injury), then stretch if you’d like, Snow suggests. Once you’re finished with your exercise, stretch again. That final stretching session “is helpful for recovery and feeling good the next day and keeping the muscles lengthened after the activity, when they’re most fatigued,” he says. (Here’s 9 stretches you can do at any size.)
Try Some Caffeine Beforehand
One study found that women who had the amount of caffeine equivalent to that in 2 1/2 cups of coffee an hour before a 30-minute bike ride had roughly half the leg muscle pain as riders who didn’t have caffeine. Caffeine may block an inflammatory chemical from attaching to areas in your brain or muscles that are associated with pain, according to the lead researcher. Even one preexercise cup of coffee may help.
Drink Some Cherry Juice
It may not often be considered a sports drink, but cherry juice contains natural anti-inflammatory chemicals that can reduce pain and swelling. Participants in one study who drank 16 ounces daily for 3 days before a hard workout felt less muscle soreness two days later. (Here’s 3 unbelievable benefits of tart cherry juice.)
Accept Your Limitations
“Those of us older than 40 think we can do everything we did 20 years ago, and we can’t,” Kanner says. He compares muscles with rubber bands: At 20, they’re like a fresh rubber band that springs back after you stretch it. At 40, they’re more like a rubber band that’s fallen behind the couch for several years. It’s stiffer and will snap more quickly when you overstretch it. Although it’s important to stay active as you get older, make sure your pace and activities change to accommodate your body’s evolving limits.
Wear Warm Clothing
If you’re exercising in cold weather and feel you’re getting stiff and sore, warm up with more clothes. You may be able to halt muscle problems right there. In cold weather, former New York Jets head trainer Bob Reese had players wear running tights under their uniforms to retain the heat. “The players like the compressive feeling it gives them, and the tights support the muscles a little bit,” he says.
Change Positions
Whether you’re bent over a keyboard typing or bent over a bicycle pedaling, your wrists and forearms are vulnerable to cramping and soreness, says Scott Donkin, DC. But there’s one important difference between cyclists and office workers—when cyclists buy bikes, a salesperson is usually there to make sure they select the bike that best fits them. Yet office workers, who have fingers and hands of all different sizes, typically use the same office equipment. With the selection of ergonomic accessories out there for desk jockeys, all it takes is a little research and testing to find a setup that puts you in a comfortable, ergonomically correct position. “The wrist and hands should be used in what is known as the neutral position,” according to Donkin. “In this position, the wrist is bent neither forward, backward, inward, nor outward.” If you have long hands and fingers, you can reduce the strain on the wrist by adjusting the keyboard to a more horizontal position (flat with the work surface) as long as it does not put your arms or shoulders in a strained position. For those who have short hands and fingers, a higher incline on the keyboard will make the keys easier to reach.
Repeat The Activity That Made You Sore
It sounds counterintuitive, but it helps. “Do the activity again the very next day,” Reese says, “but with much less intensity. It will help work out some of the soreness.” Moderate exercise has been shown to release brain chemicals called endorphins that act as natural painkillers. Also, the movement can stimulate bloodflow to the achy muscles, which may help remove inflammatory substances that are contributing to the pain.
Try The Curcumin Cure
The spice turmeric contains curcumin, which has an anti-inflammatory property that may work like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Look for curcumin supplements containing 95% curcumin; the typical dosage is 400 milligrams three times daily. (Here’s 21 healing herbs that doctors prescribe.)
Get Rolling
Exercisers have been flocking to foam rollers—firm foam tubes that you use to massage your muscles by resting your body weight on them. For example, for sore thighs, lie on your left side with your weight resting on the roller under your left thigh. Extend your left leg and cross your right leg over it, and rest your weight on your left forearm and right foot. Push up slightly from the floor with your right foot and work your left thigh across the roller for 2 minutes, stopping briefly at sore points. Switch sides and repeat on your right side. MORE: 3 Foam Roller Exercises You Should Be Doing
Branch Out
When one set of muscles hurt, use some others. For example, walkers experiencing sore lower leg muscles should mix in some swimming or bicycling (which works the upper legs) in order to continue exercising while healing.
Lose Weight
If sore muscles and muscle strains have become a chronic problem, the extra weight you’re asking them to move may be at least partially to blame. Get rid of those unwanted pounds by changing your diet and exercise habits. (Find out the easiest way so lose up to 20 pounds in 8 weeks.)
Be Realistic
If running always makes you hurt, for example, then you may have to find another exercise. “Running is one of the most dangerous sports for injuries,” says Gabe Mirkin, MD. When you run, both feet leave the ground, creating repeated impact when you land. None of his athletic friends from mid-century are still running, he says, and though he claims that “I can’t run across the street,” he’s doing 100-mile bike rides at a fast pace even in his seventies.
Balance Out Your Statin Drug
People taking statins to lower their cholesterol may run into a common side effect: muscle pain. Research has found that taking 100 milligrams of the supplement coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) daily helped reduce soreness in a small group of people on statins. Taking the drugs may lower your body’s natural production of CoQ10, contributing to pain. If you’re taking a statin, ask your doctor if this remedy may help.
Change Your Shoes
Wearing the wrong kind of shoes or shoes that don’t fit well could explain the foot, leg, and even back pains you feel while exercising, says sports medicine expert Mike McCormick. (Here’s the 7 essentials of a running shoe that won’t wreck your feet.)
Don’t Just Sit There—Move
Whenever you’re sitting down for long periods of time—whether at work in front of the computer or at home in front of the TV—get up and move at least once an hour, Snow says. This keeps your blood flowing and your muscles loosened.
Loosen Your Clothing
If you feel a leg cramp coming on, you may want to shed tights or other snug clothing to give your muscles a little more room. MORE: 6 Surprising Ways You’re Causing Yourself Pain
Drink Up
Dehydration is often a big contributor to cramping, McCormick says. “We overstress the need to force liquids, especially before, during, and after physical activity. And for good reason.”
Stretch To Strengthen
Give muscles the attention they need, and they tend to do their jobs quietly. Ignore them, and they’ll scream for attention by cramping or becoming strained when moved the wrong way. When that happens, you may be able to quiet them again with some simple stretching exercises. But if you want them to remain quiet, you probably will have to incorporate stretching into the daily activities in regular life. Here are a few suggestions from doctors, athletic trainers, and physical therapists to help you keep your attention on work and play, not on muscle pain. Toe the towel. To stretch and strengthen ankle muscles, sit on the floor and loop a towel around the ball of your foot while holding the ends of the towel in each hand. Alternately point your toes up and down while pulling the ends of the towel toward you and keeping your legs straight. Repeat several times with both feet. Toe the towel again. This time don’t move your toes. Lean back with the towel looped around your foot until you feel the stretch in the calf muscle. Hold for 15 seconds and repeat several times. (Here’s how to tone your whole body with a towel.) Use the steps. To stretch your calves, stand on the bottom step of a staircase and hold the railing for balance. Move one foot back so that the ball of the foot is at the edge of the step and your heel hangs off the back. Then, with both knees slightly bent, drop your heel below the step and feel a stretch in the back of your lower leg. Hold for 30 seconds, then switch legs. Get into bed. Actually, sit with one leg stretched out on the bed and hang the other leg over the side. Then lean forward until you feel the stretch in your hamstring (the back of the thigh) and hold for 10 to 15 seconds. Repeat several times, then switch positions and stretch the other hamstring. Stand on one leg. To stretch your quadriceps (the front of the thigh) muscles, stand on one leg and hold your opposite foot so that the ankle is touching your buttocks and your knee points toward the floor. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat five times with each leg. Reach back. For a good shoulder stretch, place one arm, with elbow bent, behind your head, and using the opposite hand, gently pull your elbow behind your head. Reach around. Another good shoulder stretch is to hold one arm, with elbow bent, across your midriff and use the opposite hand to gently pull the arm across the front of your body. Stretch your wrists. Make a fist, then span or spread your fingers as far as possible. Relax. Repeat three or four times. Stretch your forearms. Hold your arms straight out in front of your body with your palms facing down. Bend your hands up, so that your palms face away from you. Hold that stretch for 5 seconds. Then bend your hands down, so that your palms are facing toward you. Hold that stretch for 5 seconds. Repeat three or four times.
Banish Nighttime Leg Cramps
Few things hurt worse than a charley horse—the searing pain of a calf muscle cramp that can wake you from the dead of sleep. What happened? Basically, your calf muscle got stuck. Leg muscles contract when you turn or stretch during sleep. When a muscle stays contracted, a sudden cramp can result. Here’s how to stop night cramps and, hopefully, head off a recurrence later in the night. Lean into the wall. Stand 3 to 5 feet away from a wall, keeping your heels flat and your legs straight. Lean into the wall in front of you as you support yourself with your hands. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat several times. Massage the cramp. Massage the calf by rubbing upward from the ankle. If night cramps are a constant problem, you may want to do this before you go to bed. Loosen the covers. The pressure of heavy blankets on your legs could be partly to blame. Wear loose, flowing roomy PJs. Snug-fitting pajamas will only exacerbate nighttime leg cramps if you’re prone to them. Use an electric blanket. The electric blanket on your bed can do more than keep you warm all over on cold winter nights; it can also keep your calf muscles warm and pain-free. Sleep on your side. Sleeping on your stomach with your legs straight out and your calves flexed invites cramping, says Donkin. “Try sleeping on your side with your knees bent upward and a pillow between them.” Consider more calcium. “A calcium deficiency can make the muscles trigger-happy; the contractions in the muscles are stronger,” Donkin says. The Daily Value for calcium is 1,000 milligrams a day (1,200 if you’re older than age 50).
When To Call A Doctor
Most of the time, the pain of a sudden muscle cramp, strain, or even extreme soreness is a lot worse than the injury. But not always. Cramping, for example, could be the result of a nerve injury. Or, in rare cases, it could be the result of phlebitis—inflammation of a vein. Phlebitis can become serious if a deep vein is involved, but is typically not serious when the inflammation is located in a superficial vein. Muscle problems that take on abnormal characteristics and linger may be more serious. Consult your doctor.
Panel Of Advisors
Scott Donkin, DC, is a partner in Chiropractic Associates in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is also an industrial consultant, providing tips on exercise to reduce stress for workstation users and author of Sitting on the Job. Martin Z. Kanner, MD, is a physiatrist in Pikesville, Maryland, and founder of the Maryland Society of Orthopedic, Rehabilitation, and Occupational Medicine Specialists. Mike McCormick is a partner with Athletico, a rehabilitation center, in Lagrange Park, Illinois. Gabe Mirkin, MD, is a board-certified physician in sports medicine, and practices in Kensington, Maryland. He is the author of a number of books on the subject. Bob Reese is the former head trainer for the New York Jets and past president of the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society. He is an associate professor at the Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke, Virginia. Gregory Snow, DC, CCSP, is dean of clinics at Palmer College of Chiropractic, West Campus, in San Jose, California.
