Soreness vs Pain

There is a difference between exercise soreness, which is a common side effect of a good, solid workout, and exercise pain, which usually indicates signs of a problem. University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) recommends listening to your body for warning signs that indicate serious complications. Discontinue exercise when pain levels become intense, as the underlying causes could lead to permanent damage.

Benefits

Many people with chronic pain avoid exercise because they believe it will only exacerbate their condition.The Mayo Clinic notes that while exercise may create new soreness in unused muscles, it can alleviate pain and improve overall health. Strong muscles help to support joints sore with arthritis. Increased activity with little weight-bearing stress can relieve the pain of nerve conditions such as neuropathy. Regular exercise helps to maintain proper weight levels that can ease the pain of many conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. In many instances, lack of exercise can cause more pain than the soreness experienced following a good workout.

Considerations

Back pain is notorious for ending a fitness enthusiast's workout in short order. Painful back injuries will prevent any kind of exercise and should be avoided. Exercisers should not work through back soreness, as it could lead to permanent damage. Flexibility routines are the best choice to prevent serious back injuries and help to alleviate soreness following workouts. UMMC recommends stretching for at least 10 minutes, three times a week, to maintain a healthy back.

Warning

While a strenuous workout like running or working quickly on exercise machines for extended periods of time will increase the heart rate, normal aerobic conditioning should not cause pain in the chest. If breathing becomes labored or the heart begins to beat irregularly, it could be signs of a heart attack or other vascular distress. Unusual fatigue, lightheadedness or nausea also are uncommon signs that you should not ignore.

Prevention

Pain is a sign of injury and can be avoided with proper warm up and cool down exercises, according to UMMC. The body must make the transition from resting to movement to alleviate pain and subsequent injury. Spend five to 10 minutes on warm up exercises, such as walking or mild calisthenics. Older people should spend at least 15 minutes warming up. A cool down period after an exercise routine should consist of slow walking until the heart returns to 10 to 15 beats above its resting rate. While muscles may be sore from a strenuous workout, stopping suddenly can increase the chance of painful muscle cramps and rapid blood pressure drops.

Equipment

Proper equipment for each exercise is another important aspect to be considered when working to avoid the pain of injury. The right kind of shoes for running will not alleviate the soreness in the calves and thighs, but will help to prevent the pain of skin splints and jarring spinal injuries. Safety devices such as helmets and kneepads may not prevent the soreness from repeated falls off of a bike or skateboard, but they will serve to prevent pain from a cracked skull or chipped elbow.

LS 10/27/2009