Muscle blog series: Part 4: Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS):

-

What is DOMS?


DOMS is a phenomenon of muscle pain, muscle soreness or muscle stiffness that usually occurs one to two days after exercise. Most commonly people get DOMS when they perform unaccustomed exercise like beginning a new exercise program, changing their exercise routine, or increasing the duration or intensity of their exercise routine. People also noticed DOMS more when they have performed a lot of eccentric muscle work, this is when you contract a muscle and are lengthening it at the same time, for example when throwing a ball, the muscles of the shoulder blade and the muscles that attach the shoulder blade to the spine are contracting to decelerate the arm/shoulder/shoulder blade, so they are working hard but lengthening.

What causes DOMS?

There have been several theories to explain what causes DOMS. Some have suggested a build up of lactate in the muscle causing chemically induced pain but more likely it is microscopic tearing of the muscle fibres. This would make more sense as eccentric training causes the worst DOMS and when a muscle eccentrically contracts it is pretty much pulled apart at a microscopic level.

So how do I prevent DOMS?

Well to lessen the severity or chance of getting it you need to plan out your training so that it is progressive in how it is advanced over the weeks. However DOMS isn't harmful and some people actually feel like getting it means they have trained hard enough! (Me included)

So what helps when you have it?

Stretching?

It appears not, based on the evidence: Stretching before or after exercise doesn't produce clinically important reductions in delayed-onset muscle soreness (Herbert et al 2011)
However I believe that if you have DOMS then stretching does help, although the stretches are pretty uncomfortable to do but you tend to feel better afterwards.

What else can help DOMS?

Often people find massage to be helpful and feel recovery is sped up and soreness reduced.

There was some evidence that cold-water immersion reduces delayed onset muscle soreness after exercise (Bleakley et al 2012)

But….
There was no evidence that Hyperbaric oxygen therapy helped people with DOMS (Bennett et al 2005)

So overall it’s nothing to worry about and it will pass within several days. If it lasts longer or comes on as you are exercising then it isn’t DOMS and it’s more likely to be a muscle strain (See Muscle blog article part 2: Muscle injury)

If you need any further information or would like to book an appointment then call Hawkes Physiotherapy on 01782 771861 or 07866195914
Keep posted for the next article in the muscle blog series over the coming weeks.



Comments

  1. Pain Management NYC8 March 2019 at 08:58

    Muscle aches and pains are common and can involve more than one muscle at the same time. Muscle pain can also involve the soft tissues that surround muscles. Muscle pain is most frequently related to tension, overuse, or muscle injury from physically demanding work. Get Professional pain management in NYC.
    Suffering from muscle pain can be distressing and limit your ability to move freely. professional pain management in NYC is a unique and focused combination of skills that permits professional pain management in NYC experts to treat your muscles pain.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Biswabhusan7 July 2019 at 20:57

    I really like your Blog. Thanks to Admin for Sharing such useful information. Addition to this here I am sharing One more similar Story Home Remedies for Sore Muscles pain relief instantly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ellie28 August 2019 at 08:40

    It's a really helpful post, thanks for sharing. We have IASTM Tools for Sore Muscles that targets larger muscle groups like back, lats, chest, upper arms, upper and lower legs.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case of the clicky hip (AKA: Snapping hip syndrome)

-
Image
Ever wondered what the click in your hip is? Firstly you need to know a little about the anatomy of the area. Bones: Ilium, Ischium, Pubis, Femur: Ilium: Acetabulum (lunate surface, margin of acetabulum) Anterior inferior iliac spine Anterior superior iliac spine Ala (wing of ilium) (gluteal surface and iliac fossa)) Iliac crest (outer lip, tuberculum, intermediate zone, inner lip) Gluteal lines (anterior, inferior and posterior) Posterior superior iliac spine Posterior inferior iliac spine Greater sciatic notch Body of Ilium Illiopubic eminence Arcuate line Auricular surface for the sacrum Iliac tuberosity Ischium: Ischial spine Lesser sciatic notch Body of Ischium Ischial tuberosity Ramus of ischium Obturator foramen Acetabulum Acetabular notch Pubis: Superior pubic ramus Pubic tubercle Obturator crest Inferior pubic ramus Acetabulum Pecten pubis (pectineal line) Symphyseal surface Obt
Read more

Patella Tendinopathy

-
Image
I hear different terminology used all the time, so what is tendinitis, tendinosis or tendinopathy? Tendinopathy: This is a broad term encompassing painful conditions occurring in and around tendons, which includes tendinitis and tendinosis. Tendinitis: This basically means inflammation of a tendon. Tendinosis:  This means degeneration of tendon (Meaning cumulative damage). So what does this mean to me? For a long time tendinitis was the term used and it was considered that injured tendons were simply inflamed. Then the thinking shifted to the thought that there was little or no inflammation present in these conditions (Andres & Murrell 2008). However as is with research, the thinking is changing again: There may be an inflammatory response associated with chronic tendinopathy, even though recent opinions had decided it to be non-inflammatory (Rees 2013). So both types can occur! This is important as the way that you treat each one has to be
Read more

Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

-
Image
Heard of Cubital Tunnel Syndrome? Probably not but you may have heard of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Well they are similar but Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is in the wrist and hand whereas Cubital Tunnel Syndrome is in the Elbow. What is Cubital Tunnel Syndrome? Basically it is a compression neuropathy, which means that a nerve is "trapped”. The nerve at fault in this case is the ulna nerve and where it gets “trapped” is in the cubital tunnel of the elbow: See the below picture: How common is it? It is the second most common compression neuropathy in the upper limb (Palmer & Hughes 2009). What causes it? A common cause is frequent bending of the elbow or constant repetitive pressure on the elbow itself. This then irritates the nerve and it is irritated too much then it becomes a “neuropathy”. What are the symptoms? The patient will complain of pain and numbness in the ring and little finger and weakness is common. If left untreated then this
Read more