3 Ways Physiotherapy Can Help with Your DOMS

Few things can ruin your morning as much as when delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)—the fancy term for muscle pain after the gym—hits. While going to the gym routinely is one of the best ways to keep your body in shape and healthy, it can also bring with it some of the worst muscle pains you will ever feel. For some people, the pain is so bothersome that they aren't able to walk after a leg day or stand up straight after a hardcore abdomen workout. So naturally, everyone is out there looking for something to ease the pain and let them carry on with their daily routine.

There are a lot of remedies out there and myths that are supposed to cure and minimise this soreness, but they don't work for everyone. The one thing that will guarantee any gym-goer DOMS relief is physiotherapy—here are three tricks that can help.

1. Deep tissue massage

Deep tissue massage fits into the manual therapy category of physiotherapy, and it is one of the most effective treatments for delayed onset muscle soreness. The massage will help reduce the tightness and soreness in your muscles—which cause the pain you feel when moving any areas you worked on at the gym—by using stretching and elongating the muscles. This will soon relieve the tension, which will eliminate the pain completely and allow you to continue with normal flexibility.

2. Trigger point dry needling

Trigger point dry needling is also considered an effective treatment for delayed onset muscle soreness symptoms, especially if you add it as a regular post-exercise addition to your programme. This kind of manual therapy pushes your body and helps it flush out all wasted products inside it. By getting rid of all the waste, your muscles will have an easier time recovering. This way the pain and soreness will go away much quicker and you'll be on your feet to return to training as soon as possible.

3. Cryotherapy

While cryotherapy may sound painful, it's considered to be very helpful with delayed onset muscle soreness. This therapy involves using localised freezing temperatures to deaden any irritated nerves. It can either include water immersion or ice bathing. Research has shown that cryotherapy causes significant reduction in muscle soreness. As such, it's recommended that instead of trying just one session of this therapy, you commit to a repeated schedule for better efficacy and better results.

To learn more, contact a physiotherapy clinic.

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