For a runner, even for professional ones, pulling leg muscles and having leg pain is common. Here we will discuss how to cure pain in the legs after running.
Several therapies, home remedies, and warming-up sequences can help you cure pain in the legs after running. Here we will discuss them in detail.
Therapies to Cure Pain in Legs after Running
Red Light Therapy
Red light therapy can be one of the great ways to get rid of pain in the legs after running. A therapy box with a certain number of LED bulbs is used in this therapy. These LED bulbs emit specific red and near-infrared light wavelengths to induce healing.
When you expose your injured area to this therapy light, the wavelengths travel deep into your skin and reach your muscles. Reaching there, this light energizes your cells to increase metabolism. This way you can get rid of stiff legs after running.
With increased metabolism, your body cells can repair and regenerate more rapidly. Also, infrared light heats up your cells and increases blood flow. Therefore, nutrients and antioxidants can reach the affected place. As a result, you can effectively get rid of leg pain.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture therapy has proven benefits to reduce leg pain after running. However, use this therapy when you are suffering from more severe injuries. The most common running injuries that you can take help from acupuncture are:
- Runner’s knee
- Shin splints
- Iliotibial band syndrome
- Plantar fasciitis
- Achilles tendinopathy
In case of these injuries, acupuncture can help you reduce pain and start running again.
Home Remedies to Cure Leg Pain
In most cases, various home remedies and methods can help you reduce your leg pain. You can start looking for a massage gun that will help massage your legs to loosen up the muscle tension. You can also try some basic concepts like those below: Some of the prominent and effective methods are:
Applying Heat
Applying heat helps your body to increase blood flow all over. As a result, antioxidants and nutrients can reach the injured area and reduce pain significantly.
You can take a warm bath, heat packs, or sprays to apply heat to your injured area.
Applying Ice
Cold pressing helps in reducing swelling and pain by numbing the injured area. You can use ice cubes or ice packs to apply in the injured area. Cold pressing also reduces the possibility of tissue damage.
Don’t apply ice for more than twenty minutes at once. You can apply ice in the injured area six times within 48 hours.
Gentle Massage
Massaging can help you reduce swelling by improving circulation in your muscles. Research has shown that 30% of muscle pain can be reduced by massage.
If you cannot give yourself a massage, you can use foam rolling to massage the affected area.
Taking Rest
Taking a day or two after getting injured is a great practice to give your injury time to heal. You can start running again after the injury heals from the affected muscle group.
Keep Your Legs Elevated
If you are injured from your run too much, the affected area can start swelling and get stiff. To avoid such incidents, you can keep your legs elevated above your heart. It will decrease blood flow and reduce pain and swelling.
Gentle Stretching
Stretching can align collagen fibers while your muscles are healing. Therefore, the healing process will be more rapid.
Also, it is important to stretch your leg joints and muscles before starting to run. It will help you run smoothly and reduce the possibility of getting injured.
Reduce the Intensity of your Run
If your legs are sore after running, it is advised to take the intensity down a notch. With reduced running intensity, your muscle pain won’t increase. Also, it will increase your blood flow to heal the muscles more effectively. Therefore, you can get rid of the pain easily.
Implement Regularity
If you are an occasional runner, you can often experience pain in the leg. It is because sudden exercise can easily strain your muscles.
To avoid this occurrence, regularly run for a certain amount of time at the same time. In this case, even if you have pain in your leg, have a running session with reduced intensity.
When you implement regularity, your muscles will get trained for running. Eventually, you will be able to run without suffering from leg pain.
Over-the-Counter Painkillers
If your leg pain is too intense, you can take some over-the-counter painkillers. Aspirin, ibuprofen-type painkillers, can help you significantly reduce your leg pain.
Make sure to consult a doctor before taking any medication. You may suffer from unwanted side effects if you don’t take the right painkiller in the proper dosage.
Measures to Reduce Leg Pain Intensity
Leg pain can keep you confined at home for a few days to a few weeks. Therefore, you should try your best to reduce your leg pain intensity. Here are a few ways you can reduce your leg pain intensity:
- Regularly exercise at the same time to keep your muscles active. It will protect you from getting injured.
- Maintain your warm-up routine properly. It will allow your muscles to stretch and reduce impacts.
- Maintain your body weight accordingly.
- Stop smoking. Smoking can cause serious harm to overall health and reduce your muscle mass.
- Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol in check. Take necessary steps to keep them under control.
- Reduce alcohol consumption.
- Wear proper footwear and running gear. It will reduce the impact on your leg muscles and protect you from pain.
- Drink plenty of water. Water helps you hold muscle mass and reduce the running impact on your legs.
- Have protein shakes to increase your muscle mass. You can endure the running impacts with better muscle mass and avoid getting hurt.
Bottom Line
Leg pain can pose serious problems. However, you can easily get cured with the help of therapies, home remedies, and proper warming up can reduce pain significantly.
Light therapy is an amazing therapy that can easily help you get relief from pain. You can also combine this therapy with other therapies for better results. In major cases, you can get acupuncture to reduce pain in your leg.
