Muscle pain (myalgia) can be persistent and unwelcome, affecting all aspects of our lives. We use our muscles frequently in our daily activities; whether that be climbing a flight of stairs, playing sports, or simply enjoying a leisurely walk, there can be many causes of muscle pain and experiencing this can be frustrating. For those wondering how to treat muscle pain, it can be confusing when trying to find an effective solution with the different types of treatment options available. From minor aches and strains to more serious sports-related injuries, muscle pain affects about 47% of the world’s population. Therefore, it can be difficult to know what treatment path works best for you due to the variety of different causes.
If you’re searching for muscle pain treatments then you’re not alone; in this blog we explore the myalgia causes and the best treatment options including the groundbreaking treatment – red light therapy for muscle pain.
What Is Myalgia / Muscle Pain
Myalgia is muscle pain, a common condition that can affect people of all ages and backgrounds. It’s a discomfort or soreness that can range from mild to severe, and it often arises due to various factors. Understanding your muscle pain causes is the first step towards effective treatment.
Causes of Muscle Pain
Before we look at how to treat muscle pain, it’s important to understand what is causing your discomfort. Muscle pain not only can have a negative impact on your daily life, but the severity of pain can vary from person to person, so it’s crucial to understand the type of muscle pain you’re experiencing in order to seek the right treatment for you. There are many muscle pain causes including:
Overexertion: One of the main myalgia causes is physical strain or overexertion. This can occur when you push your muscles beyond their usual limits, whether that’s through intense exercise, lifting things that are heavy, or even prolonged sitting with poor posture. This can also be caused during exercise when you don’t participate in proper warm up or stretching routines beforehand, leading to muscle strain.
Injuries: Accidents can be one of the myalgia causes which can lead to severe injuries. Athletes are also prone to sports related injuries, which can result in muscle sprains and strains. This can be frustrating to deal with, as experiencing an injury can negatively affect performance as they take time to recover. Therefore, finding the right muscle pain treatments is important in order to recover efficiently.
Medical conditions: Certain medical conditions, such as autoimmune diseases, can be one cause of myalgia. Autoimmune diseases occur in the body when the immune system mistakenly attacks itself, leading to pain and inflammation. Whereas, when the immune system is working normally, it usually fights off infections. Multiple sclerosis, lupus and inflammatory myopathies are examples of autoimmune diseases that can lead to muscle pain. This is because the inflammation caused by these conditions can damage muscle tissue. When the immune system attacks muscle tissue, it can directly cause damage to muscle fibres, which leads to pain and weakness. Repeated autoimmune attacks on muscle tissue can lead to muscle weakness, contributing to pain and reduced muscle function.
Myalgia Treatments
When looking for how to treat muscle pain, there are a variety of options that have different results. Deciding on which treatment option will depend on how severe your muscle pain is as well as the cause.
Medication: When seeking treatment for muscle pain, turning to over the counter medication such as ibuprofen is common, especially when the pain first begins. Pain killers work by reducing inflammation and blocking pain signals, temporarily alleviating your symptoms. This can be effective for moderate muscle pain however, they don’t address the underlying cause of muscle pain and can result in negative side effects.
Rest: One of the recommended treatment options you will receive when asking how to heal a muscle strain is rest. Rest and ice can be useful when experiencing acute injuries like minor sprains or strains. Resting allows the muscle to heal, and whilst applying ice can be beneficial in the short term, this may not be effective for chronic or severe muscle pain.
Seeing A Chiropractor For Muscle Pain
One long term solution for myalgia treatment is seeing a chiropractor. Not only can chiropractors treat muscle pain but they can prevent injuries from occurring by performing adjustments and treating problems with your posture, preventing excessive pressure placed on your muscles. This works to alleviate pain, improves joint mobility and reduces muscle tension. Seeing a chiropractor for muscle pain can prevent recurrence as they offer treatments that identify the root causes of muscle pain, reducing the likelihood of the pain coming back in the future.
Seeing A Sports Chiropractor For Pulled Muscle Treatment
Whether you’re an amateur or professional athlete, seeing a chiropractor for muscle pain is an effective way to treat sports related injuries. By following the steps above, this not only helps to treat your symptoms and prevent pain occurring, this also helps to enhance your sports performance. One of the main downfalls of experiencing muscle pain as an athlete is the time it takes to recover. By assisting in speeding up recovery time, chiropractic care can improve athletic performance and prevent future injuries.
Red Light Therapy For Muscle Pain
If your aches and pains won’t seem to go away, then why not try the revolutionary technology known as red light therapy or photobiomodulation (PBM). Red light therapy uses low levels of near or infrared light that penetrate the skin and stimulate the mitochondria, leading to changes in the body’s cellular processes and promoting healing. This accelerates the body’s natural ability to repair and regenerate cells, including muscle tissue, making it an effective treatment for many conditions. But what are the benefits of red light therapy for muscle pain?
Pain relief: One of the primary benefits of red light therapy is its ability to reduce muscle pain. By stimulating cellular activity, this helps to modulate pain perception and promote the release of endorphins – the body’s natural painkillers. As a result, many individuals report a noticeable reduction in muscle soreness and discomfort after red light therapy sessions.
Healing: Red light therapy’s impact on cellular repair and growth plays a crucial role in accelerating the healing process. Whether you’re dealing with a muscle strain, sports injury or chronic pain condition, the therapy enhances the body’s natural ability to repair damaged tissues and rebuild muscle fibres. This results in shorter recovery times and a faster return to regular activities or your sport.
Improved blood circulation: Enhanced blood circulation is a key mechanism of red light therapy. By promoting the release of nitric oxide and dilating blood vessels, it increases blood flow to the treated area. This brings vital nutrients, oxygen and immune cells to the muscle, assisting in the repair and healing process. By improving blood circulation this can help to reduce inflammation, a common partner in muscle pain.
Non-invasive: What sets red light therapy for muscle pain apart from other treatments is its non-invasive quality, making it a safe and natural option for muscle pain treatment. So whether you want to use this technology alongside other treatments, or whether you want to use it on its own, you will start to see long-term results in no time!
Why Choose Active Care As Your Chiropractor For Muscle Pain
Whether you’ve pulled a muscle going about your day to day activities or you’re recovering from a sports injury, at Active Care Chiropractic we make sure you’re in safe hands. Our team of experienced chiropractors not only can perform a variety of specialist techniques to treat your pain, but also offer red light therapy treatment.
We have thorough knowledge on this innovative technology and can help treat your myalgia as well as helping alleviate joint pain and skin conditions. Get in touch with us and start your red light therapy sessions with us and say goodbye to muscle pain today!
