“Muscle pain occurs when there is a small tear in the muscle. To cure it, there are many ways you can do it, such as compressing it with ice cubes, to doing massages.
Muscle pain occurs due to a small tear in the muscle. There are many things that can cause it, for example due to injury, infection, improper posture, or certain health conditions.
While generally harmless, muscle pain can seriously interfere with daily activities and be uncomfortable. Therefore, let's find out how to treat muscle pain safely and precisely.
How to Treat Muscle Pain Safely
Here are some ways to treat muscle pain safely:
1. Compress with ice cubes
Compresses with ice cubes can be the first aid for treating muscle pain. This method is also known as cryotherapy. Although it doesn't cool the muscles directly, it can calm the nerves, relieve pain, and reduce swelling.
Use a towel or cloth to wrap a few cubes of ice, then apply the ice to the painful or swollen area. Compress for 15 to 20 minutes, and repeat three times a day so that muscle pain recovers quickly.
2. Using hot water
Even though it is inversely proportional to the previous method, using hot water is no less effective for treating muscle pain. Heat is believed to help reduce swelling, increase blood flow, and relax muscles. You can compress the painful area with a towel dipped in hot water for two hours.
Apart from that, you can also take a bath or shower using hot water to soothe and relieve sore muscles. If you want to be more practical, there is another alternative that you can try, namely using a patch.
3. Using an elastic bandage
Elastic bandages or compression bandages work to treat sprains, strains, and can help keep parts of the body stable. If you experience serious muscle soreness from exercise, you may want to consider using this bandage. This method is usually also used by athletes to treat muscle pain, sprains, or other injuries.
When using an elastic bandage, you need to apply proper pressure to prevent swelling and help stabilize the injury. This method can be a little tricky because every part of the body and blood vessels have different shapes and sizes.
In essence, make sure the bandage is not too tight or it will cause pain, numbness, tingling, or blue fingers and toes
4. Massaging
Not only does it feel good, massage also helps increase circulation to the tissues so that it can reduce inflammation and muscle soreness. According to a study by the Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation, massage can reduce the intensity of pain from fatigue and inflammation.
However, you should ask for professional help to do the massage. Because there are several parts of the body that can be dangerous if you get pressure, for example the neck to the coccyx.
5. Stretch
Apart from preventing cramps when exercising, stretching is also a way to treat muscle pain. Muscle pain is usually caused by stiff muscles.
Well, by stretching, the muscles become more flexible so that it helps relieve tension and stiffness, and stops pain more quickly.
6. Consumption of anti-inflammatory foods
While more research is needed, some evidence suggests that eating anti-inflammatory-rich foods helps treat sore muscles. For example, watermelon, this fruit is rich in the amino acid L-citrulline.
Based on several studies, amino acids can stabilize heart rate and restore muscle pain. Apart from watermelon, there are also cherries which contain very high anthocyanins, which are antioxidant compounds that help reduce muscle pain.