5 Ways To Cope With Muscle Pain

Being in pain can be annoying and debilitating. Muscle pain can range from a constant ache to excruciating pain. As long as there is no underlying reason for the pain, it is something that will usually go away and subside with time. That doesn’t, however, mean that it doesn’t cause you problems. Here are some ways that you can cope with the pain while going about your everyday life:

1. Painkillers

Over the counter pain medication is usually the first port of call for any muscle pain. It can help take the edge off so that the pain doesn’t interfere too much with your day. Paracetamol can take away the pain, and ibuprofen can take away pain while also reducing any swelling because it is an anti-inflammatory.
If you need any advice on your pain medication or you don’t know what to take, always go and ask for your pharmacists’ advice.

2. Heat pads or cold compress

When you have muscle pain, there are two options for temperatures that will help with the pain. You can put a cold compress on your muscles to help reduce inflammation. If you don’t have a frozen gel pack that you can put on your muscles, you can use anything from your freezer wrapped in a tea towel.
If you want to increase the blood flow to your muscles, you should put heat on it. You can buy dedicated heat packs, or use hot water bottles.

3. Creams and ointments

There are medicated creams and lotions that you can massage into the affected area to reduce your pain. This could be used instead of pain medication if you don’t like taking tablets and is localized to the source of the pain. There are natural pain relievers like CBD lotion, or you can get creams that have paracetamol or ibuprofen in them.
The act of massaging the cream or ointment onto your muscles can also be beneficial for the pain.

4. Stretch

When you are in pain, it may be tempting to stay in bed or to relax on the couch all day. This, however, isn’t necessarily the best idea. Try to do something that gets your muscles moving gently. You could walk, swim, or do any other form of light exercise, just don’t work the muscles that are in pain too much.
By getting your blood moving, you will be getting more oxygen to the muscles that need to be repaired.

5. Visit a professional

If you are worried about the amount of pain you are in, or how long you have been in pain for, you may want to consider visiting a doctor or another medical professional. Signs that you should visit your doctor include:

- Pain that is unbearable when you move
- Pain that gets worse with exercise
- Pain that lasts longer than a week
- If there is swelling or the muscle becomes red and warm
- If Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation (RICE) doesn’t work
- If you have any other unusual symptoms like dizziness

See your doctor as soon as you think that there could be something wrong. They will be able to help you with the pain and give you the best recovery advice.