Muscle injuries are common and range from minor overstretching to more serious injuries like partial or complete tears. There are a number of symptoms that can indicate a muscle injury, and the common factor in these symptoms is isolated pain.

If you're dealing with serious or chronic muscle pain, working with pain management professionals is the best way to treat your injury.

In the meantime, there are a few ways that you can improve your injury recovery process and avoid causing further damage to the affected muscle.

Read on for seven tips for muscle injury recovery that will speed up or improve your recovery.

1. Stay Hydrated

We all know that we're supposed to stay hydrated in order to keep our bodies happy and healthy. Did you know that staying hydrated is particularly important when you're recovering from an injury?

Dehydration can slow down your muscle's natural ability to heal itself. On average, it is recommended that men drink about 12 cups of water a day while women drink about 8 cups of water a day. It is also recommended that if you are exercising for weight loss, you add an additional 16 to 24 ounces of water to your daily consumption for each pound that you lose.

2. Reduce Inflammation With Cherry Juice

When you are recovering from a muscle injury, a lot of the pain and potential swelling you may experience is the result of inflammation. Reducing inflammation is a great way to manage the symptoms of your injury and speed up the recovery process.

There are plenty of over-the-counter treatments you can use to reduce inflammation. If you're looking for a more holistic approach, try drinking tart cherry juice. The studies are still underway, but the results so far seem to indicate that a glass or two of tart cherry juice a day can reduce inflammation, damage, and soreness in the muscles.

3. Increase or Improve Sleep

Your body has many means by which it can heal itself, but you have to give it the right environment to do so. Resting is one of the most important components of injury recovery (and the "R" in the "RICE" treatment method).

Most adults find that seven to nine hours of sleep a night makes them feel well-rested. If you are a highly active adult, you may need more sleep than others. Some professional athletes are catching around ten hours of Z's!

4. Compress the Affected Muscle

If possible, make sure to compress the affected muscle throughout the day. You can do so using compression garments designed for that specific body part or by wrapping the area with an ACE bandage. Remember, you don't want to cut off circulation, so don't wrap the muscle too tightly.

It seems that compression is most effective when used during exercise as a preventative measure. That being said, compression can help to keep swelling and inflammation low, both of which can slow down the recovery process.

In addition to compressing the affected muscle, it can also be helpful to elevate the muscle whenever possible. When you elevate an injured muscle above your heart, you can reduce the swelling.

5. Switch to Low-Impact Exercise During Injury Recovery

One of the most important things to remember when you are recovering from an injury is that you do not want to make the injury worse. When it comes to muscle injuries, they tend to result from overstretching the muscle. This can occur to active or athletic individuals of all kinds, from runners to yogis to weight lifters.

During your injury recovery process, switch to a form of exercise that won't have a high impact on your injured muscle. For example, if you usually run but currently have a muscle injury in your calf or ankle, switching to swimming can help prevent the injury from worsening.

6. Up Your Protein Intake

Plenty of athletes are familiar with the idea of increasing their protein intake when trying to build muscle. Did you know you should also up your protein intake when you're recovering from a muscle injury? At the very least, you should not lower your protein intake during recovery, even if you aren't exercising as much.

Research has found that protein inefficiencies during recovery can slow down your muscle's natural healing process and lead to an increase in inflammation. If you need an easy way to increase protein without changing your diet, consider using whey or collagen powder supplements.

7. Limit Alcohol and/or Tobacco Consumption

Generally speaking, alcohol consumption and tobacco use aren't great for your health. When you're recovering from a muscle injury, it is particularly important to limit your consumption of either.

Alcohol has been found to impair your body's ability to replenish glycogen in your muscles while also lowering protein synthesis. While there is no information about the relationship between tobacco use and injury recovery, it is known that tobacco can damage the musculoskeletal system. This can increase your risk of muscle injuries, and when you are in recovery, you don't want to put yourself at any further risk.

Come to Us for Injury Recovery Help

Muscle injuries are common not only for athletes but for just about everybody. From minor strains to major tears, it is important that you take your muscle injury recovery process seriously. With these seven tips, you can make sure that the recovery process goes smoothly and that you don't worsen your injury.

Do you need professional help from a pain management doctor in Arizona? AZ Pain Doctors are here to help. Contact us today to find out more about our services and schedule your appointment.

There are billions of nerves in your body. It’s the way that messages are sent and received.

When everything is working well, your brain gets in the information that it needs. Your body can move freely, recognize pain and danger, and function properly.

However, approximately 20 million Americans suffer from nerve damage. It can affect almost any part of your body and can be extremely painful. That why it’s important to receive pain management as soon as possible.

Do you think you might have damaged nerves? Keep reading to find out about the early warning signs.

Numbness, Tingling, or Burning

Numbness, tingling, or burning sensations in your limbs is often called pins-and-needles. It’s normal to feel if you’ve been sitting, lying, or sleeping in a particular position. It happens when a sensory nerve has been compressed.

This feeling should go away quite quickly once you’ve moved. But if it doesn’t, then it may be a sign of nerve damage.

This sensation can be quite gentle, like a prickling or buzzing feeling. Or it can be intense and painful. It may begin in your fingers and toes and can radiate into your arms and legs.

You might also feel like there is a band around your wrists or ankles. It can feel as though you are wearing tight gloves or socks.

If you have any unusual or uncomfortable sensations in your limbs that do not ease on their own, then it’s important to seek medical advice and pain management. It could be a sign of serious nerve damage.

Pain Down One Leg

Do you have constant, sharp pain in your lower back and down the back of your leg? It may feel like burning, tingling, or stabbing. This can be a sign that you have sciatica.

Your sciatic nerve is the largest in your body. It runs from your lower back down to the soles of your feet. You may be experiencing pain if it is compressed or damaged.

Intense Headaches

Brief, intense headaches are another sign that you may have nerve damage. They can come and go very quickly, and feel like electric shocks in your head.

It’s known as occipital neuralgia. This is when a nerve gets trapped in your neck.

The pain can be quite debilitating and affect daily life. Pain management may include a nerve block. This is an injection that temporarily stops the nerve from sending pain signals to the brain.

Difficult to Move

Motor nerves control muscle movements. If these nerves are damaged, then it can become increasingly difficult to move.

You may begin by experiencing twitching or spasms in your muscles. This is because, if a motor nerve is damaged, it can stop the muscle from relaxing.

You can also experience sudden and unexplained muscle weakness. This can make the muscle more difficult to move, which can then lead to atrophy. This is because the muscle wastes away when it is not used. This only makes movement more difficult.

Damaged nerves may also cause pain or discomfort. This is often most extreme in the shoulders, wrists, and hips. You may find yourself moving these areas of your body less, in an attempt to relieve your pain and discomfort. The less you move your body, the more difficult it becomes to move.

More Clumsy

If you have found yourself becoming clumsier and more accident-prone than usual, this can be another symptom of nerve damage.

Large nerves that affect sensation and feeling can become damaged. It can become difficult to sense what position your body is in. It also makes it more difficult to coordinate movement. All of this can lead to stumbling and falling.

Your feet and legs can also become numb. This makes it difficult to tell if you are placing them properly, and where you are walking. This can also make you more likely to stumble.

Not Feeling Something You Should

Your body’s sensory nerves send information from an external stimulus to the brain. They tell your brain if something is dangerous.

However, if they’re not working properly, then you could become more accident-prone. This is because you might not be feeling the uncomfortable sensations that you should be.

If you touch a hot surface, your sensory nerves should tell your brain that it is painful. That’s why you quickly pull your hand away. But if your sensory nerves aren’t working, you may leave your hand on the hot surface and suffer burns.

If the sensory nerves in your foot are damaged, then you may not realize that you’re stepping on things. You might begin to notice objects in your shoe or on your foot that you didn’t feel.

Bathroom Problems

Your bladder and bowel send messages to your brain via your nerves. However, if these nerves are damaged, then your brain may receive faulty messages.

You may feel like you need to urinate often, even though you don’t. Or you may have problems recognizing when your bladder is full, so struggle to make it to the bathroom in time.

Constipation is another sign of nerve damage. Your bowel movements can become infrequent and painful.

It may be embarrassing to talk about bathroom problems, but it’s an important symptom of nerve damage. If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, then you should discuss them with a medical professional.

Pain Management for Nerve Damage

Your nerves are essential for keeping your body moving, safe, and healthy. Nerve damage can have a huge impact on your daily life and wellbeing. It can also be extremely painful and distressing.

Do you have one or more of these symptoms? Contact us now if you think you have nerve damage. We can help with pain management, and getting your life back to normal.