Stop Muscle Pain Quickly
Muscle pain can occur from overexertion, exercising too hard or even from lifting a heavy object the wrong way. No matter where it comes from, the most important thing to know is stop it fast. While there's no miracle cure to eliminate muscle pain altogether, there are some techniques to help relieve muscle pain soon after it starts. Here are some tips to stop muscle pain quickly.
Instructions
1. Cease all strenuous activity. If you experience muscle pain, stop what you are doing and avoid any heavy lifting or strenuous movement that involves that part of your body. Ignoring pain and continuing your activity is not only likely to increase the pain, but it could worsen the injury and cause it to take longer to heal. Paying attention to muscle pain at the first onset will help keep a minor injury from turning into a major one.
2. Take an anti-inflammatory medication. Over the counter anti-inflammatory medications, such as ibuprofen, will reduce the inflammation in sore muscles, helping your injury heal and giving you some comfort in the process. Begin with the standard dosage for over the counter strength ibuprofen or any other anti-inflammatory and do not exceed this dosage without talking to a doctor or your pharmacist.
3. Elevate or immobilize the injured area if possible. Reducing the use of the injured muscle and elevating it helps reduce inflammation and the risk of further aggravating the muscle. Elevate ankle or knee injuries by sitting and placing your leg on a stool or chair opposite you and immobilize arm injuries with a sling.
4. Alternate cold and hot therapy. If you are not sure of the extent of your injury administering both hot and cold therapies to the area is a good way to reduce inflammation and pain in conjunction with anti-inflammatory medications. Use a heating pad for a half hour to an hour on the area, and then apply a cold pack for an equal amount of time. Most drug stores now carry universal packs that can be frozen as cold packs or microwaved and used for heat therapy; keeping a few of these on hand is a good idea so that one can be used for heating while the other is in the freezer.
5. Drink lots of water. Hydrated muscles are healthier muscles so drinking a lot of water will help any injured muscle areas to heal themselves. Avoid alcoholic beverages; they can alter the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs and will dehydrate your body.
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