Muscle Soreness or Injury?

Often it is hard to tell if you are injured or sore. If you’ve just gotten into a new routine or increased the intensity of one you are used to doing, injury can be a frustrating set back. Under these circumstances soreness is also common and it is often hard to tell the difference. Here are a few tidbits to help you decipher between the two.

Deciphering the difference

There are a few rules of thumb I use to discern the difference between soreness and injury.

• Pain only on one side of the body – It is more likely to be an injury, because soreness is usually present on both sides of the body
• Pain decreases while warming up or moving around – You are probably sore, because increased movement and circulation usually lessens soreness while it can make injuries hurt even more
• Sharp or radiating pain, numbness, swelling – Probably an injury, because soreness shouldn’t cause any of these
• Pain subsides after 4-5 days – More likely than not you simply had soreness, because injuries often linger longer. See a doctor or physical therapist to get a proper diagnosis and speed up your recovery time.

Types of Injury

Acute injuries occur suddenly and examples include broken bones, sprained ankles, or bruising. These are easy to detect because they usually require immediate attention. Chronic injuries (or overuse injuries) are more easily mistaken for soreness. They are caused by repeated stress on one part of the body and often from doing the same activities frequently. It is often hard to pin point an exact moment when the injury occurred because often it will begin to hurt while not doing the specific activity or randomly present itself. Examples include stress fractures, IT band syndrome, or tendonitis.

What is Soreness?

There is no doubt soreness can be intense and annoying. Delayed Onset Muscles Soreness (DOMS) is the term used to describe muscle soreness from physical activity that occurs 12-48 hours after exercise. It is caused by suddenly increasing the intensity of a given activity or starting a new activity altogether.