Most side effects of sports massage are:
Before we talk about how to take care of yourself after a sports massage, let’s take a quick look at some common side effects. Remember that each person is different, so that they may feel these symptoms differently. We’ll go through a few of the most crucial ones:
- Muscles that hurt and make you tired, like a cold (stuffy, runny nose),
- drinking more water
- Headaches
Most of the time, these signs and symptoms show up 48 hours after your sports massage. If you are worried about your symptoms, which is not likely, talk to your doctor or a sports massage therapist.
Massage after sports:
In light of your newfound knowledge about the effects of a sports massage, we present advice for keeping your muscles in top shape.
Take in a lot of water:
After getting a sports massage, keeping yourself hydrated may be the most important thing. You may not know this, but massages can make you lose water. When you knead a muscle, fluid is released from soft tissue and sent to the kidneys through the circulatory system.
Because of this, many people need to go to the bathroom right after getting a sports massage. This is why it’s important to drink water after getting a massage. Drinking adequate water will assist your muscles in recuperating.
You may have gotten a sports massage because your muscles were sore and tight. Staying hydrated is important if you want to keep your muscles flexible, and getting more fluids also helps the body eliminate the free radicals made during a massage.
Drinking a lot of water can also help your cells get oxygen, which helps your metabolism run smoothly. Most sports massage therapists tell their clients to drink a full glass of water after their session to ease muscle pain and help the body get rid of toxins. Consuming sufficient water to last the rest of the day is another sound recommendation.
To keep the body properly hydrated throughout the day, in addition to plain old water, you can also drink coconut water and other liquids.
Use heat or ice packs:
Ice or heat packs are another good thing to do after a sports massage.
As was already said, you should expect your muscles to hurt after getting a massage. Luckily, ice and heat packs can help ease this pain to get back to normal activities. Here are some good things about heat and ice packs:
- Less swelling and inflammation. Fewer muscle spasms.
- lessened pain
When heat or cold packs are put on the skin, the blood vessels open up and let more blood into the area. Because of this, oxygen can reach the muscles more quickly, which prevents muscle soreness from developing.
But neither heat nor cold can relieve muscle pain; they can only stop it from worsening. You should use the packs for another two to three days or until the pain disappears. If you take hot baths for a few days, they can work just as well as a heat pack.
Stretch:
Light stretches after a sports massage can help loosen up tight muscles and are an important part of the aftercare for a sports massage.
Your muscles will heal faster if you do gentle static and moving stretches to loosen up some of the tension in them.
This is called a static stretch when you stand, sit, or lie still for a long time.
For example, to do a static hamstring stretch, stand with your feet hip-width apart, move your hips forward, reach your arms toward your toes, and keep your legs straight. After that, hold it for 15 to 30 seconds.
Dynamic stretches don’t involve holding the muscles still for a long time. Instead, the muscles are moved while they are being stretched.
A dynamic way to stretch your whole body would be to lunge forward and simultaneously step your right foot forward. Then you raise both arms to shoulder height and turn your body 90 degrees to the right.
This stretch is dynamic because you have to move. One great piece of advice for taking care of your muscles after a sports massage is to do static and dynamic stretches.
Let’s move on now:
You might want to chill out after getting a sports massage. But one of the most important things is how to take care of yourself after a sports massage is to keep moving.
We’re not talking about long hikes or marathons. Simply put, you shouldn’t sit or stand still for long.
Get up and move around more if you spend much of your day bent over a desk or sitting with your legs crossed.
On a normal day, the body can’t handle long periods of sitting still because muscles tend to tighten up. This is especially important the day after getting a sports massage!
To help ease pain, keep your body moving with light exercises and stretches.
You’re also not required to finish this by a certain time. Think about taking a short walk during your lunch break or doing some dynamic stretching. Muscles are less likely to stiffen up and gain flexibility if you do this after a massage.
Conclusion:
If you feel sore after getting a massage, you shouldn’t worry; this is normal. Take care of yourself after each massage to keep your health and pain in check.
When you get massages regularly, the benefits will be greater, and the pain will be less. Try out different massage techniques, pressures, and therapists to find the one that fits your goals and needs the best. Please get in touch with us if you’re interested in learning more about sports massage in the Hackney area.