MUSCLE PAIN AFTER EXERCISE

Various activities began to be given permission by the government in order to welcome the new normal which is a transition to the life of a new order of society after the pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In some areas in Indonesia, especially big cities, government began to reduce restrictions on citizens activities. Various activities began to be carried out, especially in terms of the return of the community in implementing healthy lifestyles such as doing sports. However, these activities if done improperly, especially after a vacuum of several months by the suggestion of self-isolation at home lead by the government, and not doing adequate warming up could be able to cause various health complaints, such as the onset of muscle cramps/pain. Muscle pain after exercise is a common thing. In general, this condition is actually not dangerous, although this complaint often raises fears of serious injury by the patient.

Muscle pain after exercise is generally experienced by someone who is exercising after a long time vacuum, increasing the intensity of exercise suddenly, or trying a new branch of exercise that has never been done before. In the medical field, muscle pain and stiffness that arises after exercise is known as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). The condition of the onset of muscle pain generally arises within a span of 1-2 days after exercising with a high enough intensity, for example such as jogging, aerobics, long distance running or weight-lifting.

After doing physical activity and strenuous exercise, DOMS can occur when the body's muscle tissue tries to adapt by improving and increasing muscle mass. The emergence of this reaction is basically a normal thing to happen where it is a mechanism of body adaptation in receiving pressure by an activity. Although until now the exact mechanism has not been known in more depth, several other studies have concluded that DOMS can occur due to several things including the accumulation of lactic acid as a result of muscle metabolism, minor injury to muscles, the emergence of connective tissue and muscle damage, the emergence of inflammation in the muscles, as well as changes in electrolyte ions and enzymes in the muscles. In people who were rarely doing warming up or do it improperly before exercising certainly have a higher risk for experiencing DOMS after exercise. When DOMS appears, there are a number of things that can be done to alleviate this complaint, including by way of: 

1.     Massage

Performing light massage on the part of the body that feels pain or cramps proven to increase blood flow and stimulate nerves, which in this case is expected to reduce pain and swelling of the muscles.

2.     Take a break and food selection

In terms of muscle recovery, someone who has been running sports activities is highly recommended to sleep for 8-9 hours a day, not staying up late, and eating foods with high in protein such as eggs or meat. This is important because the composition of these high-protein foods has a major role in regenerating damaged tissue after exercise. Not only that, consuming enough 1.5-2 liters of mineral water per day is recommended to avoid dehydration.

3.     Apply warm or cold compresses

When pain has just arisen and there is little swelling in the muscles, cold compresses for 10-15 minutes twice a day are highly recommended which aims to reduce the swelling that arises in the tissues. Wrap ice cubes in a cloth or towel, afterwards put on the muscles that are painful or swollen.

After the pain begins to subside and the swelling begins reduce, in this condition warm compresses are given for 10-15 minutes for twice a day to make healing faster. Take a shower with warm water is also able to help in terms of relieving pain due to DOMS.

4.     Medication use

In the relation with the methods that have told above, if those don't provide optimal results, apply painkiller cream or taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are also able to relieve post-exercise pain.

In the recovery phase, you should avoid physical exercise that is too heavy with a long duration until the pain begins to decrease. Doing stretches or light exercise, for example walking around the house can still be done. This action can help in terms of blood flow to the damage muscles and stimulates the production of endorphins to relieve pain.

The condition for DOMS is a normal and temporary reaction. Immediately consult a doctor if there are severe complaints, such as a change in the colour of urine becomes darker, unbearable pain, muscle pain does not decrease for more than 1 week, swelling of muscles that are getting heavier, and the emergence of muscles that are difficult or can’t be moved after exercise. If someone experiences a complaint as mentioned, immediately consult a doctor to get further management.