Your questions answered! We’re talking all things DOMS!

We’ve had several questions regarding DOMS, or muscle aches and pains and what can we do about it?? Read on for (hopefully!) some helpful information regarding our good friend DOMS!

What even is DOMS? 

“DOMS” stands for “delayed-onset muscle soreness”, and it generally refers to the achy pain you experience in your muscles after periods of excessive or unusual exertion – whether that is a big gym workout after a few weeks off, hiking up a mountain when you’re usually a couch potato, playing your first game of soccer for the season after not doing pre-season training, or completing your physiotherapy home exercise program for the first time! DOMS does not usually rear its achy head until around 24-48hrs after this sudden spike in your activity levels – hence why it is “delayed-onset”. 

What does DOMS feel like?

DOMS tends to present as tight, achy muscles that don’t like to be used or stretched. This is usually a dull, intense ache that presents 24-48 hours after your period of exertion, and generally in the muscles used at the time (if you did a hike, it’s more likely your legs will ache significantly more than your arms for example). It may take up to 4 days for your DOMS to fully resolve. 

So when is “DOMS” not DOMS, and actually potentially an injury or something more serious?

One thing we cannot stress enough – DOMS does not present as pain during or directly after exercise. If you are experiencing pain during or directly after exercise, it is quite likely that you are experiencing pain from an underlying injury or condition, or have over-exerted yourself resulting in something else such as a muscle strain or spasm. 

It is very important for you to consult your physiotherapist if you are regularly experiencing pain during or directly after exercise so we can get to the bottom of the problem and get you back to running up those mountains like a mountain goat! 

Is the location of my DOMS pain relevant?

DOMS is a response to exertion in specific muscles. For example, if you go and do a “leg day” at the gym and work your legs until they burn and shake, then start to get intense aching in the backs of your arms but your legs feel completely fine, that’s probably an indication that either your technique is not quite right and needs checking over, or potentially a symptom of something else that is not related to your gym workout. 

Will I always get DOMS after exercise?!

The key thing to remember about DOMS is that it is a load-dependent response to more exertion than it is used to in comparison with your usual activity level. So in a nutshell – consistency is important if you want to avoid DOMS. If you are consistent with your exercise so that your muscles can build a higher capacity to tolerate exercise, then they will start to view your gym routine as their “normal” activity level, and your DOMS will give you a bit of a break (until you randomly decide to take up competitive dragon-boating for the first time ever, at which stage WELCOME BACK DOMS! WE’VE MISSED YOU!). 

Is there anything I can do to help my DOMS or do I just have to wait it out??

As much as it may not feel like it when they are aching and tight – muscles LOVE to be used. When you use your muscles, you increase blood flow to those areas, which can then have a really positive effect on decreasing tightness and stiffness. You may notice with DOMS that those first few steps after a rest period are the most painful, but when you warm up it feels much better, then you sit down and it’s like you’re back to square one. This is because muscles love “active recovery”, and generally this is the best way to deal with DOMS. Think of it as your “hair of the dog” equivalent for sore muscles! Lots of regular, gentle and progressive movement to load up those muscles in a nice way, and keeping moving as much as you possibly can, will generally make that horrible DOMS go away a whole lot quicker. For particularly bad muscle aches, you can use heat or topical rubs like voltaren gel. There isn’t much research backing for either of these two pain-relieving modalities – we definitely know that heat and voltaren have no scientifically proven effect on healing those sore muscles – but what they can be really helpful for is assisting with increasing blood flow to the area, giving you a similar relieving effect to getting those muscles switched on and working. 

Take home message?

DOMS is one of those necessary evils of living an active lifestyle. However, if you are consistent with building your strength and exercise capacity in a gradual, progressive way, then it’s not something that is going to haunt you forever. If and when you do experience the true delights that are DOMS in your calves that don’t let you get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, or DOMS in your quads so you avoid all sets of stairs for four days, feel free to give us a call to get us to check it out and provide you with the best advice for combatting DOMS in the short term, and hopefully avoiding it altogether in the long term!