Soreness After a Massage: Causes and Remedies

Massage involves manipulating soft tissues to loosen knots and adhesions from knotted soft tissues.

Firm pressure may also be necessary to return muscle groups into their relaxed untwisted states.

This process may cause microscopic damage, leading to inflammation healing cycles that result in soreness – similar to what might be experienced after strenuous physical activity.

This may produce delayed onset soreness similar to what people feel after an intense workout.

Is it normal?

Depending upon the type and level of pressure used during a massage treatment, muscles may feel sore for 24-48 hours following a session.

This soreness results from microscopic damage caused by manipulating tissues; our body’s natural inflammatory response then helps repair these micro-tears in muscle fibers caused by manipulation.

Typically soreness does not indicate poor quality massage services but simply indicates intense workouts have taken their toll and caused inflammation within muscle tissues – such as intense runs.

If you experience extreme pain, numbness, or tingling after receiving massage therapy, be sure to notify your therapist.

This could be an indicator of nerve compression, circulation issues, or more serious conditions like diabetes which cause extremities to feel numb and tingle.

After receiving a massage, it’s also essential to hydrate properly post-treatment to flush away toxins released during your session.

Try drinking coconut water, fruit or vegetable juices, or herbal teas to replenish hydration levels post-massage.

Though muscle soreness after massage is completely normal, you should also keep an eye out for other signs, including bruising and pain that does not resolve within several days.

Informing your massage therapist of these symptoms could make the experience more comfortable and help them adjust pressure or techniques to make you more relaxed during each massage session.

How long will it last?

Concerns associated with massage should not last longer than several days, but if they persist, speak with your therapist and discuss ways of relieving them.

Soreness after massage sessions are expected and can be reduced by properly hydrating before and following each session, discussing pressure/target areas with your therapist as needed (wrapped in a towel to protect skin irritation), stretching before and after sessions, resting and recuperating afterward, as well as resting and recovering afterward.

Massage stimulates muscles that have become tight or underused, and may reveal areas in need of stretching or strengthening.

Massage may even produce delayed-onset muscle soreness similar to what might occur after an intensive workout – this effect is especially common when using deep tissue techniques.

Soreness should subside within hours or days following a regular massage schedule; otherwise, it could take several days for your muscles to adjust to being manipulated by your therapist.

You may experience discomfort if your massage is too intense or the technique isn’t unsuitable to meet your needs.

What can I do to help?

After receiving a massage, it’s normal for some soft tissues in your body to experience discomfort from being massaged.

Therapists work to loosen tight muscles and release knots, leaving some areas slightly sore or tender; this indicates that soft tissues are working to loosen and repair muscle fibers and tissue structures.

This type of soreness typically lasts only 24-48 hours after an intense workout, similar to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

While discomfort may arise from this recovery process, it plays an essential part in helping your muscles heal properly.

To ease soreness and tightness after massage therapy sessions, we advise drinking lots of water and including hydrating foods such as fruits and vegetables in your diet.

Light stretching exercises may also be beneficial in increasing flexibility and blood flow to those areas that have become sore.

At your massage therapy session, it is also wise to communicate any discomfort or pain you are feeling with them to adjust their technique to prevent further soreness or soreness.

If the soreness persists or is accompanied by fever, discoloration of skin, sharp shooting pains or swelling then this could indicate more serious damage to muscle tissue and needs immediate medical attention.

Is it a sign of something more serious?

After receiving a massage, sore muscles may feel like an unfortunate side-effect, but this is normal response to stimulating muscles that don’t typically get used regularly and healing inflammation.

Deep tissue massage may cause more soreness than others due to working deeper into muscle tissues and may require longer to recover than other forms.

Therefore, you must communicate any areas of discomfort to your massage therapist so they can adjust the pressure or try another approach if necessary.

Dehydration can also contribute to massage-induced soreness. Drinking plenty of water before and after your massage to reduce soreness and facilitate recovery is vital to minimize its severity and speed up recovery time.

Alcohol, sugary drinks, or caffeinated beverages should be avoided to minimize soreness and worsening effects.

Soreness after massage therapy should generally be seen as a good sign.

If it persists for more than 24 hours, seek medical advice immediately as this could indicate rhabdomyolysis (when your body breaks down skeletal muscle tissue for energy production), which requires prompt medical intervention.