Why Do I Get Sore After A Massage?

We've all been there before.  Your muscles are feeling sore and tight and you just want someone to massage it to loosen it up.  But then why does it hurt so much and for so long after??  Wasn't the massage supposed to help me feel better?!?!

If you workout on a regular basis, you may already know about delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS for short).  To get the energy needed for exercise, the body breaks down glucose which creates waste by products in the cells.  With a proper cool down after the exercise the body will return the waste to the circulatory system for proper disposal.  If left unattended, this by product will cause inflammation and discomfort.  With weight training, the muscle cells will create micro tears to allow the muscle to hypertrophy and become larger to keep up with the load that is placed on it, thereby becoming stronger.  These tears initiate the inflammatory response to rebuild the muscle.  As a result of the inflammatory process with training, DOMS may be present for a few days after the session.

But why do I experience DOMS after a massage?

Massage is considered a passive form of movement.  By using the mechanical force of the techniques the soft tissues can move around and loosen up without the client being active.  This passive force will initiate the inflammatory response similar to that of when weight training.  So although it may feel like you're not doing anything, your body is recognizing there is change happening and is initiating the healing process.  The soft tissues will feel looser but they will be inflamed to some extent.  This inflammation is usually what caused discomfort after a massage. But there are things that can be done to keep these side effects to a minimum:

• You guessed it, Communication!  If you've been following my blog for a while now you're probably aware that I harp on this a lot.  And that is because it is vital to an effective treatment.  If the techniques are too uncomfortable or you feel like they are ineffective, the only way we will know is if you tell us if we don't prompt you.

• Proper knowledge and training: with knowledge of the human body and how it functions, your therapist will be able to determine what techniques can be applied safely and effectively for your goals/condition to maximize the effectiveness.  And if you feel like it hasn't, refer to the first bullet.

• Following up with home care: A single massage treatment can only do so much.  As a part of your care, we can make recommendations to help lessen the side effects of the treatment which may include: drinking more water to help eliminate the waste byproducts, a cool application to reduce inflammation, a warm application to stimulate blood flow, stretching/strengthening exercises to prevent further damage and/or personal check-ins with your biomechanics.  If you don't feel they are effective, refer to the first bullet.

In some cases a deep tissue treatment may be indicated or more effective, but it should feel like it's releasing the tissue and never feel like it's causing pain.  Please refer to this article for more information.

Thank you for reading this article!  I hope you found it useful!

Reference:

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness after Massage Therapy. (2017, August 11). Retrieved October 5, 2018, from https://www.dimensionalmassage.com/blog/fascia-forward-by-jil-delayed-onset-muscle-soreness-after-massage-therapy