Chapter List

• Introduction to Doctors Home Remedies
• Acne
• Allergies
• Angina
• Athritis
• Asthma
• Athletes Foot
• Backache
• Bad Breath
• Bed-Wetting
• Belching
• Bites
• Black Eye
• Bladder Infections
• Blisters
• Blood Pressure
• Body Odor
• Boils
• Breast Discomfort
• Breastfeeding
• Bronchitis
• Bruises
• Bruxism
• Burns
• Bursitis
• Canker Sores
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Cellulite
• Chafing
• Chapped Hands
• Chapped Lips
• Cholesterol
• Colds
• Cold Sores
• Colic
• Conjunctivitis
• Constipation
• Corns and Calluses
• Cuts and Scrapes
• Dandruff
• Denture Troubles
• Depression
• Dermatitis and Eczema
• Diabetes
• Diaper Rash
• Diarrhea
• Diverticulosis
• Dry Hair
• Dry Skin and Winter Itch
• Earache
• Ear Infection
• Earwax
• Emphysema
• Endometriosis
• Eye Redness
• Eyestrain
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Fissures
• Flatulence
• Flu
• Food Poisoning
• Foot Aches
• Foot Odor
• Forgetfullness
• Frostbite
• Genital Herpes
• Gingivitis
• Gout
• Hangnails
• Hangover
• Headaches
• Heartburn
• Heat Exhaustion
• Hemorrhoids
• Hiccups
• Hives
• Hyperventilation
• Impotence
• Incontinence
• Infertility
• Ingrown Hair - 10 Ways to Get a Clean Shave
• Ingrown Nails
• Insomnia
• Intermittent Claudication
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Jet Lag
• Kidney Stones
• Knee Pain
• Lactose Intolerance
• Laryngitis
• Menopause
• Menstrual Cramps
• Morning Sickness
• Motion Sickness
• Muscle Pain
• Nausea
• Neck Pain
• Night Blindness
• Nosebleed
• Oily Hair
• Oily Skin
• Osteoporosis
• Perfect Posture
• Pet Problems
• Phlebitis
• Phobias and Fears
• Poison Ivy and Oak
• Postnasal Drip
• Premenstrual Syndrome
• Psoriasis
• Raynauds Syndrome
• Restless Legs Syndrome
• Scarring
• Shingles
• Shinsplints
• Side Stitches
• Sinusitis
• Snoring
• Sore Throat
• Stained Teeth
• Stings
• Stress
• Sunburn
• Swimmers Ear
• Tachycardia
• Tartar and Plaque
• Teething
• Tendinitis
• Tmj
• Toothache
• Travelers Diarrhea
• Triglycerides
• Ulcer
• Varicose Veins
• Vomiting
• Warts
• Wrinkles
• Yeast Infections

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Muscle Pain

Muscle Pain

41 Ways to Relief

MAN: I don't understand (as he rubs his cramped calf, then his sore hamstrings, and then his strained shoulder). I exercise almost every Saturday. Softball, basketball, touch football. My muscles should be used to that stuff.

ALMOST EVERY MULE IN HIS BODY: Give us a break. You've never met an elevator you didn't like. The only thing we're used to is pain. We should have you arrested for muscle neglect.

Enter Ted Percy, ., associate professor of orthopedic surgery and head of the Sports Medicine Section at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Arizona Health Sciences Center. "Overuse—that's the key word. Doing too much too soon."

WOMAN: I'm supposed to be in great shape. I walk 6 miles every single day. But my legs are killing me!

HER ANGRY LEG MUSCLES: You're killing us! You never take a day off. We should have you arrested for muscle abuse.

Enter Dr. Percy. "Overuse—that's the key word. Doing too much too often."

So there you have the most common reasons that you hut—the terrible trio of too much, too soon, and too often.

Now here are the treatment tips you need to know for those times when your muscles have sentences you to pain—whether it's a cramp, a strain, or general soreness.

Take it easy. "Every time you exercise, your muscles are injured," says Gabe Mirkin, ., sports medicine practitioner at the Sportsmedicine Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland. "It takes 48 hours for muscles to heal from exercise. Soreness means damage, and you should stop exercising when you feel sore."

Of course, you don't have to be running a race or playing a hard tennis match to injure your muscles. Working in the yard, walking around the zoo all day, or simply sitting in an unfamiliar or awkward position, or in the same position for a long time, can cause muscle problems.

How much rest you should give your muscles depends on the severity of the injury and the situation, says Allan Levy, ., director of the Department of Sports Medicine at Pascack Valley Hospital in New Jersey.

A cramp may require only minutes of rest, a severe strain may need days or weeks. But sometimes you might not have the luxury of resting the muscle as long as needed. "If you're out hiking, for example, and strain a muscle [which is the same as pulling a muscle], at least rest for a couple of hours, then carefully stretch the muscle" before trying to continue, Dr. Levy advises.

Overall, don't underestimate the value of rest.

Put yourself on ice. It's still the first line of defense against swelling and should be used immediately after injury, says Carol Folkerts, orthopedic coordinator of physical therapy at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore. She recommends using an ice pack or wrapping ice in a towel or plastic bag and applying it for 20 minutes at a time throughout the day.

Keep the ice off the affected area for at least as long as you keep it on. "The ice constricts your blood vessels, and it's not good to constrict your blood vessels too long," Folkerts says. "You could kill the viable tissue in that area." People with heart disease, diabetes, and vascular diseases are especially vulnerable, and "they should use ice with caution and only with the consent of their doctors."

MEDICAL ALERT When Pain Is a Sign of Disease A sudden muscle cramp, strain, or even extreme soreness can launch you into the pain galaxy. Sometimes it hurts so badly, you think you'll never come back to earth. Most of the time, the pain is a lot more serious than the injury. But not always. Cramping, for example, could be the result of a nerve injury, says Allan Levy, . Or in rare cases, it could be the result of phlebitis—inflammation of a vein. Phlebitis can become serious if a deep vein is involved, but is typically not serious when the inflammation is located in a superficial vein. A strain may not even be what it seems. "This is very rare," Dr. Levy says, "but I had a patient who thought he had badly strained a thigh muscle on a stationary bike. It didn't ever get better and we finally did surgery. He had a huge malignant tumor in the muscle." The point here isn't to scare you but to remind you that muscle problems that take on abnormal characteristics and linger may be more serious. Consult your doctor.

Get wrapped up in yourself. Don't make a mummy out of that sore calf or strained ankle, but wrap it in an Ace bandage to keep the swelling down. Just be careful, Dr. Levy cautions, not to wrap too tightly, or you could cause swelling below the injured area. Compression may stop cramping, too, but Dr. Levy warms that it's a rather painful approach.

Put your feet up. That is the advice if you've injured your foot or lower leg. Specifically, raise the injured body part higher than your heart to prevent blood from pooling and causing swelling, says Bob Reese, head trainer for the New York Jets and president of the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society.

Fire up. "After starting the ice, you may switch to heat for acute soreness or strain," Folkerts says. "Typically people like heat better; it's more relaxing. The heat will dilate the blood vessels and promote healing."

Just remember not to switch from ice to heat too soon, or the injured area may swell. "And you don't have to switch over to heat at all unless you want to," Folkerts says. "You can stay with ice."

Stretch to Strengthen Give muscles the attention they need, and they tend to do their jobs quietly. Ignore them, and they'll grab your attention—or your leg, or your arm. When that happens, you may be able to quiet them again with some simple stretching. But if you want them to remain quiet, you probably will have to make stretching a regular part of your life. Here are a few suggestions from doctors, athletic trainers, and physical therapists to help you keep your attention on work and play, not on muscle pain. Toe the towel. To stretch and strengthen ankle muscles, sit on the floor and loop a towel around the ball of your foot while holding the ends of the towel in your hands. Alternately point your toes up and down while stretching the towel toward your face and keeping your legs straight. Repeat several times with both feet. Toe the towel again. Only this time don't move your toes, Lean back with the towel looped around your foot until you feel the stretch in the calf muscle. Hold 15 seconds and repeat several times. Stand tall. To strengthen calves, stand and slowly raise yourself on your toes, then gradually lower yourself. Do this at least ten times. Get into bed. Actually, sit with one leg stretched out on the bed and hang the other leg over the side. Then lean forward until you feel the stretch in your hamstring (the back of the thigh) and hold 10 to 15 seconds. Repeat several times, then switch positions and stretch the other hamstring. Do the flamingo. To stretch your quadricep (the front of the thigh) muscles, stand on one leg and bend the knee of the opposite leg so that the ankle is touching your buttocks. Hold 10 seconds. Repeat five times with each leg. Reverse the conventional sit-up. For a safer way to strengthen abdominal muscles, lie back with your arms at your sides or your fingers on your stomach. Then bend your knees and raise them above your chest. Lower your legs slowly while concentrating on your abdominal muscles. Repeat five to 10 times. Reach back. For a good shoulder stretch, place one arm, with elbow bent, behind your head, and using the opposite hand, gently pull your elbow behind your head. Reach around. Another good shoulder stretch is to hold one arm, with elbow bent, across your midriff and use the opposite hand to gently pull the arm across the front of your body. Do the keyboard lift. It is important to strengthen those muscles that get a workout on a keyboard all day. Sit at a table and hold a light weight, says 3 to 5 pounds, in your hand with your palm up, your forearm supported on the table, and your wrist over the edge. Life the weight up slowly, flexing the wrist. Repeat with each wrist 10 to 20 times. Go palm down. This is another good wrist exercise that's done while sitting down. Do the previous wrist exercise as instructed above, except turn your palm toward the floor. Again, use light weights and repeat 10 to 20 times.

Use heat-penetrating rubs carefully. There isn't complete agreement here. "All the heat penetrating rubs are valuable," Dr. Levy says, "because they keep the temperature of the affected area up."

But athletic trainers, for the most part, are less enthusiastic about these popular over-the-counter analgesics. "They can irritate the skin," says Mike McCormick, director of sports medicine at DePaul University. "These rubs give a false sense of security—they warm, but it's surface warmth. They don't get the muscles warm."

Lay on some aspirin-based creams. Also sold over-the-counter, they're an alternative to the heat rubs. "They're greaseless and less likely to irritate your skin, and you won't feel the heat sensation as you would with a lot of other rubs," says McCormick. They work like aspirin, reducing pain and inflammation.

Bring on the A-I team. This is the anti-inflammatory team—"aspirin, ibuprofen—any of the over-the-counter nonsteroidal drugs," says Dr. Percy. "They'll help reduce pain."

S-t-r-e-t-c-h. For cramps and spasms, "gradually stretch the muscle out and you'll get the muscle to relax," says Dr. Levy.

"And stretching exercises can take care of your soreness as it exists now, as well as prevent soreness in the future," McCormick adds. Stretching is important because muscles injured during exercise shorten during the healing process, Dr. Mirkin explains. And unless the muscles are then lengthened, they will remain tight and more likely to be injured or torn. (For instructions on stretching exercises, see "Stretch to Strengthen" above.)

A Nocturnal Cramp in Your Style You're sleeping soundly, dreaming happily. "Ouch!! *&%*!" you shout, grabbing your calf, now obviously wide awake in a real-life nightmare of nocturnal leg cramps. So what happened? Basically, your calf muscle got stuck. Leg muscles contract when you turn or stretch during sleep. When a muscle stays contracted, a sudden cramp can result. Here's how to stop night cramps and, hopefully, head off a recurrence later in the night. Grab some wall. Stand 3 to 5 feet away from a wall, keeping your heels flat and your legs straight. Lean into the wall in front of you as you support yourself with your hands. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat several times. Pet that calf. Massage the calf by "rubbing upward from the ankle toward your heart," advises Carol Folkerts, orthopedic coordinator of physical therapy. If night cramps are a constant problem, you may want to do this before you even try to sleep, she adds. Loosen the covers. The pressure of heavy blankets on your legs could be partly to blame, says Folkerts. Wear roomy PJs. Pajamas that fit as snugly as straight-leg blue jeans are the last thing you want to wear to bed. Electrify your bed. The electric blanket on your bed can do more than keep you warm all over on cold winter nights; it can also keep your calf muscles warm and pain-free, says Folkerts. Sleep like a baby. Sleeping on your stomach with your legs straight out and your calves flexed invites cramping, says Scott Donkin, D.C. "Try sleeping on your side with you knees bent upward and a pillow between them." Consider more calcium. "A calcium deficiency can make the muscles trigger-happy; the contractions in the muscles are stronger," Dr. Donkin says. Of course, check with your doctor before making a substantial change in your diet or adding a supplement.

Give your muscles a massage. It would be nice to have a personal masseuse or masseur at your side at all times, and in a way, you do have one—yourself. Just rub gently, and as with exercise, stop if it hurts, Dr. Levy says. You also might want to warm the sore area before massaging it.

Add warm clothing. If you're exercising in cold weather and feel yourself getting stiff and a little sore, warm up by adding more clothes. You may be able to halt muscle problems right there.

"In cold weather we use running tights under players' uniforms to retain the heat," Reese says. "They like the compressive feeling it gives them, and the tights support the muscles a little bit."

Loosen your clothing. But if it's a leg cramp you feel approaching, you may want to shed tights or any other snug clothing to give your muscles a little more room.

Change positions. Whether you're bent over a keyboard typing or bent over a bicycle pedaling, your wrists and forearms are vulnerable to cramping and soreness, says Scott Donkin, ., a partner in the Rohrs Chiropractic Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.

But there's one important difference between the cyclist and the office worker—the cyclist always has the opportunity to select the bike that best fits him or her. Yet office workers, who have fingers and hands of all different sizes, typically use the same office equipment.

"The wrist and hands should be used in what is known as the neutral position," according to Dr. Donkin. "In this position, the wrist is bent neither forward, backward, inward, nor outward.

If you have long hands and fingers, you can reduce the strain by adjusting the keyboard to a more horizontal position (flat with the work surface) as long as it does not put your arms or shoulders in a strained position.

For those who have short hands and fingers, a higher incline on the keyboard, typewriter, or calculator will make the keys easier to reach.

Stand up. It's simple, and perhaps that is all it will take to stop a cramp in the leg or foot, Dr. Levy says.

Repeat the activity that made you sore the very next day. Say what? "Do the activity again the very next day," Reese says, "but with much less intensity. It will help work out some of the soreness."

Then continue to follow a hard-easy/hard-easy workout pattern. This is advisable because of the 48 hours needed for muscles to recover, says Dr. Mirkin. "All serious athletes train that way."

Branch out. This is perhaps an even better idea than the hard-easy routine, Dr. Mirkin says. If you're a walker suffering sore lower leg muscles, he suggests mixing in some swimming or bicycling (which works the upper legs) so you can continue exercising while healing.

Lose weight. If sore muscles and muscle strains have become a chronic problem, the extra weight you're asking them to move may be at least partially to blame.

Accept the truth. If running always makes you hurt, for example, then you may have to find another exercise. "Running is one of the most dangerous sports for injuries," Dr. Mirkin says.

Slow down instead of stopping suddenly. After hard exercise or physical work, the bloodstream is loaded with lactic acid, which collects in the bloodstream when there is a lack of oxygen, explains Dr. Mirkin. When the acid reaches high levels, it disrupts normal chemical reactions of the muscles and can make your muscles hurt.

"The most effective way to clear the bloodstream is to continue exercising at a slow, relaxed pace," Dr. Mirkin advises, adding that this may lessen immediate soreness but that it won't protect you from soreness the next day. That soreness, he says, is caused by torn muscle fiber.

Change your shoes. If you're wearing the wrong kind of shoes or wearing shoes that don't fit well, that could explain the foot, leg, and even back pains you're feeling while exercising, says McCormick.

Strengthen yourself. Weak muscles could be as much to blame for chronic strains as inflexibility. While men are more likely than women to be inflexible, "We tend to stress that women often need to gain strength. We stress to both men and women the need to develop strength and flexibility," McCormick says. (See "Stretch to Strengthen" on page 436 for suggested strengthening exercises.)

Be patient. The more serious the injury—a severely pulled hamstring, for example—the more of this virtue you will need to ensure a relapse-free recovery.

Drink up. Dehydration is often a big contributor to cramping, says McCormick. "We overstress the need to force liquids, especially before, during, and after physical activity. And for good reason."

PANEL OF ADVISERS

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Scott Donkin, ., is a partner in the Rohrs Chiropractic Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is also an industrial consultant, providing tips on exercise to reduce stress for workstation users, and author of Sitting on the Job.

Carol Folkerts is orthopedic coordinator of physical therapy at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore.

Allan Levy, ., is director of the Department of Sports Medicine at Pascack Valley Hospital in New Jersey. He also is team physician for the New York Giants football team and the New Jersey Nets basketball team.

Mike McCormick is director of sports medicine at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, and a certified athletic trainer.

Gabe Mirkin, ., is in private practice at the Sportsmedicine Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland. He is also associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, . He is the author of several sports medicine books, including Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness Clinic, and is a syndicated newspaper columnist and radio broadcaster.

Ted Percy, ., is an associate professor of orthopedic surgery and head of the Sports Medicine Section at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson.

Bob Reese is head trainer for the New York Jets and president of the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society.