After training you may experience delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS is the aching sensation you feel throughout your muscles 24-72 hours post workout. This sensation occurs due to micro tears in muscle fibres during training. The damage results in a buildup of metabolic wastes and chemicals.
Muscle tears cause inflammation which activates the immune system to repair the injury. After a workout your body repairs or replaces damaged muscle fibres. New muscle fibres form new muscle protein strands or myofibrils. These myofibrils increase in thickness and result in muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth). This process does not happen during the workout but when you are at rest.
The aim of a myotherapy treatment is to help the muscles recover during your rest period. Myotherapy treatments promote healing, remove metabolic waste and relieve tension in muscles. Massage and dry needling are the main techniques that a Myotherapist will use to help stimulate recovery. These treatments bring fresh nutrients and oxygen to the muscles to help to rebuild.
Massage is a great tool for targeting large areas and muscle groups. It encourages blood circulation, this allows more oxygen and nutrients to be delivered to the damaged tissues. A systematic review and meta-analysis found massage does not improve strength, jumping, sprinting or endurance but it does statistically improve flexibility and DOMS for recovery (Davis, Alabed and Chico, 2020). Another study looked at pain and perceived fatigue in long-distance triathlon athletes post Ironman race. The athletes that received a massage post race had significantly lower pain and perceived fatigue scores in comparison to those that didn’t (Nunes, et al., 2016).
Dry needling is a great tool for targeting specific muscle groups. A pilot study looked at the effect of dry needling on the quadricep muscle group in relation to fatigue, performance and dynamic balance. They found improvements in all three areas after dry needling was performed. They concluded that dry needling is a great recovery strategy for muscle fatigue (Ershad, et al., 2019).
If you are constantly suffering from DOMS or need help to recover pre/post event book in for a treatment.
References
Davis, H.L., Alabed, S., Chico, T.J.A. (2020). Effect of sports massage on performance and recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine.;6:e000614. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2019-000614
Ershad, N., Nokhostin Ansari, N., Naghdi, S., Otadi, K., Gorji, E., & Dommerholt, J. (2019). The effects of dry needling as a novel recovery strategy on quadriceps muscle fatigue: a pilot study. Journal of Iranian Medical Council, 2(6), 215-221.
Nunes, G., Bender, P., de Menezes, F., Yamashitafuji, I., Vargas, V., & Wageck, B. (2016). Massage therapy decreases pain and perceived fatigue after long-distance Ironman triathlon: a randomised trial. Journal Of Physiotherapy, 62(2), 83-87. doi: 10.1016/j.jphys.2016.02.009