Injury and Muscle Soreness: How to Know which is which?

Injury and Muscle Soreness: How to Know which is which?

Numerous fitness freaks and health-conscious individuals who feel a stinging pain or experience a nagging ache especially after a workout cannot make out whether the uncomfortable feeling is because of a soreness or muscle injury. This inability to figure out overwhelms or besets especially those individuals who’ve started to work out a long hiatus. However, that is not to imply that those who exercise routinely are not vulnerable to have such a feeling. Muscle soreness or sprain can result from your trying out a strenuous workout that caused excessive strain on your body causing you pain that more often than not can become unbearable.

Nevertheless, those who follow a strict workout regimen at least are better placed to distinguish between injury and a soreness compared to those who’re not habituated to training on a regular basis. Even if you adhere to your fitness program with missionary zeal, the knowledge or insight is not of much help as the soreness in most cases could be indicative of an injury. Nonetheless, there are some telltale symptoms or signs that can help you tell soreness from an injury. And in case you’re hurt or injured, there are scientific ways of getting remedy for the inconvenience.

For a start, if the soreness or tenderness doesn’t come in the way of your performing simple, everyday chores like climbing stairs, walking on the road, getting up on the bus or disembarking from it, then it may not be suggestive of an injury. In such an eventuality, the soreness could make you feel tight or stiff and may cause a mild ache. On the other hand, if the pain is remarkably sharp and shooting, chances are that you’ve hurt yourself badly. Majority of fitness experts and bodybuilders are of the opinion that a sore impacts the entire part of a body like the shoulders or the lower back whereas an injury affects a particular spot like your wrists or toes.

If you’re injured after a round of demanding physical exertion, you’ll most likely be wincing in acute pain that’ll either shoot up gradually or keep recurring in staccato stabs. You might also see the painful area swelling up which again is a strong indicator that you’re suffering from injury. Soreness in most circumstances attains a peak within 1-2 days following the workout, and depending upon your physical fitness and hydration levels, should heal in a maximum of three days. Conversely, if the soreness continues even after 4-5 days have elapsed or doesn’t go away after you’ve rested sufficiently, then there is cause for alarm, if fitness specialists are to be believed.

If you’re injured, you may not also be able to exercise with the same flexibility as you used to, and the stabbing pain could simply prevent you from training. Instead of taking any chances and waiting for the pain to subside on its own, you should consult your fitness instructor who in turn may recommend you to get in touch with a physician. The physician or doctor is the professional who’s perfectly placed to diagnose the real issue.

Image Credit: Cheryl Holt

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