Sometimes your body may be sore after osteopathic treatment. This can be for a variety of reasons. It may be because you were sore before you walked in the door and it hasn’t fully resolved yet. Or perhaps your osteopath has got your body to move in a way it hasn’t for a long time and the muscles are still a little stiff. Another cause for some pain may be that your body hasn’t been able to remove waste products from the stiff area for a while and as it starts to get an increase in movement these waste products start to be removed but are causing a little bit of inflammation in the area.
The following suggestions can help you improve if you are feeling any pain after your osteopathic treatment:
- Drink Water – this helps to flush out waste products from the tissues that may have been released during the treatment.
- Exercises and gentle stretching and movement are useful to help keep the body’s joints and muscles moving. (we have a stretching guideline HERE)
- Relaxation exercises such as deep breathing or conscious awareness may be prescribed to help reduce stress. Stress can prevent the body from healing itself by decreasing blood flow.
- Magnesium Cream – Topical magnesium has been shown to increase cellular magnesium levels. Magnesium is required for normal healthy muscle relaxation which then allows better venous and lymphatic drainage so that you aren’t building up toxic metabolic waste in your muscles and joints.
- Taking a bath with Epsom salts can ease muscular pain. Epsom Salts contain magnesium, a muscle relaxant, but the hot water also aids the nervous system to relax. Dissolve ½ to 1 cup of Epsom salts to a hot bath and soak for 20 minutes. Make sure you bring a glass of water with you as epsom salts can dehydrate you a little.
Have a look at our upper back pain, neck pain and lower back pain pages for more information about how osteopathic treatment might be able to help you with your pain.