The sore feeling after a challenging workout or run, especially when the onset of pain comes during the days following, as is often found in delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), is common for even the most advanced athletes and runners. It is a mixture of the feeling of accomplishment combined with the humbleness of needing to lower yourself gently into your chair for several days. 

Over time there have been a number of tested ways to relieve the pain, such as massages, ice baths or foam rolling, all of which can be helpful to reduce pain or swelling, particularly when used alongside a decent muscle rub from a reputable retailer.

If you are experiencing aches and pains from your daily workouts, then you have come to the right place! In this article, we will explore the rationale behind these DOMS and everything you need to know about using muscle balms after exercising to relieve this. 

The Cause of Workout Pain

There is nothing worse than waking up in pain the next morning after a great workout brought on by extreme muscle soreness. This common issue is known as delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, and is the cause of many individuals’ ‘morning after’ aches and pains. As you exercise, your muscles essentially get damaged, as a result of the trauma to the connective tissue, which causes the pain. Tenderness generally onsets after 6-8 hours after exercising and can reach its prime even 48 hours after working out.

Now that you are aware of what causes these muscle sores, it is clear why reducing these where possible is so important. Below we have collated just some of the reasons for using muscle balms after exercising. 

What Happens When You Exercise Regularly 

As is found with many individuals who get sore after a workout, they tend to delay returning back to the gym to exercise (and some even give up altogether!). Typically, this issue affects novice gym-goers, but DOMS can affect even the most advanced athlete.

There are several fitness goals which demand consistency if you are to achieve success, such as losing weight, improving sports performance, getting stronger or building muscles. If you are finding that the soreness derived from one workout is hindering you from undergoing the next, how can this help your cause? Treating DOMS using a muscle balm can be exceptionally useful in reducing muscle soreness in order to assist you to push yourself to the next workout.

Performing Daily Activities

You may find that recovering from DOMS isn’t needed to get back in the gym, but more so to return to normal day-to-day activities. These can consist of anything from readying the kids for school, taking a walk, going to work or even mowing the garden. When considering these everyday activities, can you really afford to hinder your ability to perform such simple yet critical tasks, all because you are sore from your last workout?

Pain caused by muscle soreness can sometimes be so extreme that it makes the simplest tasks, such as walking around the house, more difficult. A great way to help reduce pain from DOMS is to continue to move about, helping to stretch and loosen your muscles, which can help to speed up your recovery. Applying muscle balms to the specific pain points can help you to ensure you are receiving plenty of movement which in turn can help you to tackle those everyday tasks. 

What Are The Health Benefits?

When you are pushing yourself to achieve your fitness goals on a daily basis, it is inevitable that your health will become paramount. This is the greatest reason for using pain cream over an oral pain reliever. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, are commonly used to recover from cases of DOMS, but can often come at a price. A major side effect of taking NSAIDs can be gastrointestinal bleeding, however, this can be eradicated through the use of muscle balms and pain creams.

The issue with oral pain medications is that they must be ingested, before being broken within the body and finally delivered to the area with pain, via your bloodstream. This can lead to unfortunate problems including kidney and liver problems if used long-term.

The National Athletic Trainers Association declares that pain creams are a viable option for reducing pain within athletes. They go on to state that topical pain creams are superior to oral medications as they pose no systemic side effects. Furthermore, creams for pain relief are also utilised by chiropractors and physical therapists day-to-day in order to provide relief to patients and athletes.