Is your new gym routine causing muscle pain? Skip the pain medicine and check out these ways to get some natural relief from muscle aches and pains.
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Do you suffer from occasional aches and pains from working out? No matter how careful you are when you are running on the treadmill or lifting weights, sometimes you overwork those muscles. At times these muscle pains or soreness are minor and go away quickly without the help of any medicines. Then there are the pains in your body that linger for many hours or several days. These body aches or muscle pains can discourage you from working out the next day. I have many things that I do to first prevent muscle pain but when I do get the pain in my leg muscles from running extra miles, I reach for many different muscle remedies to help soothe my sore muscle pain.
Last month, I noticed that my right arm hurt when I tried to wash the back of my left shoulder. I had just finished lifting weights at the gym so I figured that I may have pulled a muscle in my upper arm. I finished my shower and thought to myself it would be better in the morning. Since it only hurt when I reached over my left shoulder, I did not apply any muscle cream to my arm.
A couple days later I noticed the pain in my tricep again after I was showering up after my weight lifting session at the gym. So after my shower, I reached for my
CBD muscle cream and applied it to my arm. That gave me some great pain relief. I love using CBD oil for pain relief. I understand if CBD oil is not for you or if you are worried about THC on a workplace drug test. My neighbor works for the government and his security clearance won't even allow him to have CBD oil products in the house. CBD oil has such a small if no amount of THC in it that it will not show up on a drug test but the government has its rules. So I will tell you about other natural products that I use for pain relief.
I can tell when I forget to take my turmeric capsules. The other day I went running and my legs started hurting halfway into my run. The light bulb went off in my head and I remembered that I did not take any turmeric supplementation that morning.
Arnica
Arnica is a homeopathic medicine that temporarily relieves muscle pain and stiffness. This natural supplement comes in many forms like tablets, cream, gel, and ointment. I discovered this pain reliever at a
fitness conference. I like using arnica after my fitness session for those times that my muscles are sore. I also like using this cream on my kid's bruises as it offers some nice pain relief for those times when they get hurt from playing. Arnica does not make me sleepy like CBD does so arnica is great to use during the day for my muscle pain. Last year when I attended a fitness conference, I overdid it in the expo trying out all the new exercise equipment and machines. My calves were super sore and rubbing arnica gel on them took away the pain so I could sleep that night.
My boys love arnica too! The other day my boys were having fun at the skateboard park. One landed hard on his knee and the other did something to his foot. When we got home, I gave my boys some arnica tablets and had them rub some arnica cream on their bruises. The boys then went to their church youth group and forgot about their pains. When they got home later that evening, my boys asked me where the arnica was. I said to my boys, " I love that you are asking for arnica!" and the oldest one replied, "yea, 'cause it works!"
CBD Oil
CBD oil is great for muscle aches and other pains. This natural supplement comes in many forms like liquid, gummies, and creams.
CBD oil is safe to use and I even give it to my kids for pain relief. I like using CBD creams as some have the added benefit of methol to give soothing pain relief. For some people, like me, it has a relaxing effect. So I like to use CBD oil creams at night for pain help. For me personally, CBD also has a healing effect. I discovered the pain relief power of CBD a couple of years ago when I had a trigger thumb. I had received some samples of CBD cream, again from a conference, and decided to try it on my painful stiff thumb. I applied the CBD cream on my thumb before I went to bed and in the morning my thumb felt better and was no longer stiff.
CBD oil is another favorite natural home remedy that my boys will use. The other day the teen was complaining that his head hurt, so I gave him a CBD gummie. Within 20 minutes, his head felt better. My boys also like using CBD cream on the many bumps and bruises that they get from sports like skateboarding. I will always use CBD first before I give my boys over-the-counter pain relievers, especially after they visit the orthodontist.
Massage therapy
Massaging a sore muscle helps with pain and stiffness. My husband sure does love back rubs and using the hydro massage at the gym. The problem is that involves me giving him a back rub, which hurts my hands or my husband having to wait a long time at the gym to use the hydro massage. I discovered a more effective tool that gives my husband a deeper massage and does not involve my hands. The
PowerDot also helps with muscle recovery and more. This performance tool recently helped me with my stiff upper arm muscle after other natural pain relievers and rest did not work.
Remember that sore stiff tricep muscle I was talking about earlier? The natural pain creams like CBD oil and arnica were only taking care of the pain temporally. After a couple days of the pain, I knew that I must have overworked my arm muscle and I took a week off from lifting weights. I also did not do any exercises that involved that arm. The pain and stiffness did not go away. I even tried hot and cold therapy. My PowerDot arrived in the mail and I decided to give the electrical stimulation a try on this annoying arm pain. I had requested this at-home performance tool to use with my training but instead, I had a perfect opportunity to see how it could help with muscle recovery and pain relief.
The PowerDot is like having an at-home physical therapist and massage therapist
I liked how easy and cost-efficient the PowerDot is compared to physical therapy sessions. With my insurance, I have a $175 deductible and $50 co-payment for me to just see the PT person one time. The PowerDot is like having an at-home physical therapist and massage therapist. I like that I can use this pain-relieving device while doing other things. I don't even have to leave my home for my muscle therapy. I can use my PowerDot when I want when the pain strikes, no need to make an appointment! So the cost of this amazing Smart Muscle Stimulator is so worth it.
The small
Smart Muscle Stimulators™ are easy to attach and I love that I can control it through an app on my phone. It even comes with a case so I can use it at the gym or while traveling. Right now I am using the muscle massage device for pain relief but the PowerDot does so much more. This small device is a powerful fitness performance tool that can enhance your workout.
PowerDot® is the world's smartest muscle recovery & performance tool. The Smart Muscle Stimulator connects via Bluetooth® to an intuitive mobile app that controls 12+ electric muscle stimulation programs designed to help you:
- Recover faster
- Massage out knots
- Avoid training fatigue
- Relieve muscle & joint soreness
- Increase muscle strength & endurance
- Increase blood circulation
- Warm-up muscles to prevent injury
- Feel your best
Clinically proven, pain-free, and FDA cleared - It’s that simple.
PowerDot is an FDA-approved NMES & TENS device
I normally do not like massages but the PowerDot was gentle yet effective. I placed the stimulators on my arm muscle and selected the program on my phone. I liked that I could select the amount of intensity that felt right on my muscles. I could select the program that was best for my body part and what I wanted to achieve, like pain relief. I could see the PowerDot moving my arm muscle as it gently massaged it. I was able to work on my computer while the PowerDot worked its magic on my sore muscles. I could feel the muscle recovery device reducing my inflammation and taking away the stiffness. This device gave my arm muscle a deep massage.
After I used the PowerDot Smart Muscle Stimulator on my arm, my muscles felt less stiff and I had a better range of motion with my arm. My tricep did not hurt when I put pressure on it. I continued to use the PowerDot after each weightlifting session for about a week and the results were what I expected. My arm no longer had that annoying pain when I placed it over my other shoulder. I was able to wash my back without any pain.
Heat therapy Heat therapy is one of those home remedies that may work for natural pain relief but it is also one that you have to be careful with. A
heating pad is great for sore muscles but it can make an injury worse. So you have to know if your pain is from overworked muscles or an injury. My husband fell on his arm a couple of months ago. He only had a bit of pain for a day and aspirin took care of that. My husband has not realized that natural pain relievers work. So he thought nothing of his falling on his arm. About a week later, his elbow started hurting. So my husband put the heating pad on his arm as he thought that he overworked his arm at the gym. The next day his elbow was swollen and my husband was ready to head to the urgent care, thinking that he had broken his elbow.
Since I did not want him to spend $200, I told my husband to apply compression, ice, and elevate his arm for the weekend to see if that could help. I did not think that my husband broke anything as he was able to move his arm. My husband insisted that his arm felt better with heat, even though I told him that heat could make an injury worse, so he did not use ice therapy on his arm.
The swelling did not go down on my husband's elbow and he went to the urgent care that Monday. He came home later and told me that the doctor said he injured a tendon. I wanted to say, "I told you so" but I did not. The doctor told my husband to apply compression, ice, and elevate his arm.
Cold therapy
Sometimes something as simple as placing an ice pack on the sore muscle can help relieve the pain. The cold ice pack can dull the pain and take away any swelling or inflammation. I keep several
large flexible gel ice packs in my fridge so they are ready to use. These ice packs get used often as I have boys who play rough and participate in sports. Cold therapy is also great for headaches. Ice pain relief is always best to use if you think that you injured a muscle, tendon, or bone as coldness will help with the swelling.
Rest
Rest is always a good thing when you have muscle aches. Sometimes a day of rest can do wonders for a sore muscle. I am a firm believer in taking a day off from weight lifting so your muscles can rest and repair. The arm pain that I received from lifting weights did go away with using the PowerDot and taking some time off from my weight-lifting routine. I did not want this pain to turn into an injury or a muscle tear.
If the pain gets worse or does not go away ~ see a doctor
I am not a doctor or a physical therapist. These are natural at-home remedies that have worked for me and my family. If you are unsure if your pain is more than a muscle ache, then seek medical advice. When I have questions I call the nurse line that my insurance offers. I may also use a video doctor before I head to the doctor or the urgent care. There have been times when I knew that an injury needed medical attention, like when I tore my hamstring, and I made an appointment to see a doctor. Tearing a hamstring was not fun and I experienced burning pain in my leg that made me question if I broke a bone. My hamstring tear made me take a break from running and several weeks of physical therapy.
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