Should I use painkillers to Help my soreness- from Swimming??

I swim and get pretty sore from it since I work extremly hard at it and am at a national level.

I have asked how to reduce it on yahoo answers, and I took a lot of advice and most of it helped, but some people said to take painkillers.

First off, should I take them? Can anything bad happen?

and second, what kind should I get? I really don't like swallowing pills

thank you!!

Don't take painkillers. You don't need them.

Vitamin E - Studies have found that vitamin E helps the body to break up the acid in muscles that are sore from overexertion. Only in your diet, not in pills.


Sore muscles gone! - If you put 2 to 3 tablespoons of ginger in your hot bath your sore muscles will be soothed.


Salt - After an activity that has caused you to be sore, try a hot bath with 2 cups of epsom salt, soak for about 15 minutes, and massage and stretch the sore place afterwards.


massage(massotherapy) - Break down the trapped lactic acid by massaging toward the heart in a squeegee-like manner. This gets the toxin out of the tissues and into the bloodstream and ultimately into the excretory system. Drink lots of water to help with the flushing process.

The best advice I've ever received -, I've suffered muscle cramping from dehydration that is by far the most painful experience in my life. The absolute cure (after keeping your body properly hydrated in the first place) is to drink tonic water. The quanine in the tonic water reliefs the cramping almost immediately. It tastes bad, but guzzle it down and see the difference immediately. It beats eating bananas by far.


Tiger sports balm - I started doing vigorous aerobic activities before 8 weeks, I have never really worked out that much before. My legs and shoulders became sore. I applied Tiger balm every night before going to the bed for the first 10 days. I also continuously worked out every day without stopping. After 2 weeks, I did not need Tiger balm.



Protien - Consume large amounts of protien after a workout. Also, get plenty of rest. Protien helps to rebuild torn muscle. The bulk of the repair comes during sleep.


Work your way up - Sore muscles usually occur when you are out of shape and have worked your muscles too hard. After 2 or 3 weeks of a good workout schedule, your soreness should not be nearly as extreme as it first was.

Take a bath in warm salt water, but any general pain reliever liek aspirin or advil I would think. The soreness is a good thing though, as your muscles are getting use to the movement.

I would recommend a soak in a hot tub first. Then tylonol if you still have pain. Don't rely on pain killers. Too many can damage your kidneys.

I hope that when you refer to painkillers, you are talking about over-the-counter stuff like Motrin or Excedrin. Anything you get by prescription is extremely addictive and may also interfere with your competition. So proceed carefully. If you take Motrin or Excedrin follow the directions and make sure you eat so your stomach doesn't bleed. Excedrin has a lot of caffeine, so it might keep you up. Have you tried Sportscreme. Take a long warm shower and have someone give you a rub down. Put on a shirt when you sleep so your arms aren't uncovered. Best wishes to you. Omega3 supplements might help, too.

Yes you can take over the counter pain killers for soreness due to over exertion. There are several out there you may want experiment and see what will work best for you. You may want to alternate between ibuprofen and acetomenphine. Ibuprofen is more of an anti-inflammatory but it does help with muscle aches and joint pains.

Painkillers are terrible for muscle soreness so I would not even bother. Very light exercise to the injured area can help alleviate the pain some. "LIGHT"

If you are at a national level why are you that sore from swimming?

cut the pills in half. Instead of using pain killers regularily, apply heatng pads for 30 minutes several times a day. That shhould make you feel better.