What to Do to Speed Up Muscle Strain Recovery
When you live an active lifestyle and love going to the gym, it can be frustrating to experience a muscle strain or soreness of muscles. It’s important, however, to prioritize muscle recovery time. How much recovery time your muscles need varies depending on factors such as fitness level, exercise history, and workout intensity. If you’re looking for ways to speed up muscle strain recovery, we’re here to help.
Practice R.I.C.E.
If you’ve ever had a muscle strain before, there is a good chance you’ve heard of the R.I.C.E. approach. This stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation, and it’s the recommended approach for immediate self-care of a strain.
Rest: When you’re experiencing a muscle strain, rest is extremely important. You want to avoid any activities that cause pain, swelling, or discomfort. Although you want to rest, you don’t want to avoid all physical activity. We recommend trying gentle movement after about two days if it’s a minor strain.
Ice: Don’t forget to ice the area. Place an ice pack on the strained muscle for 15 to 20 minutes each time, and repeat every two to three hours. This is most effective the first few days after the injury and helps the swelling decrease.
Compression: Another way to stop the swelling is compression. You’ll want to compress the area with an elastic bandage until the swelling stops, but be careful not to wrap so tightly that you hinder circulation. Loosen the bandage if the pain worsens, the area becomes numb, or the area below the bandage starts to swell.
Elevation: It’s also important to keep the strain elevated. We recommend elevating the injured area above the level of your heart, especially at night.
If you follow these four practices, you can speed up your muscle strain recovery time.
Eat a Lot of Protein
Another key to muscle recovery is eating enough protein. Protein plays a vital role in wound healing. It acts as the building block of tissue, ligaments, muscles, tendons, and bones. Eating enough protein after a muscle strain can reduce the risk of significant muscle loss and help you recover faster. We recommend spreading your protein intake throughout the day, including at least 25-30 grams of protein per meal and a 10-15 grams of protein snack. Some good sources of protein are chicken breasts, Greek yogurt, eggs, bananas, and sweet potatoes.
Take Cetilar®
To set yourself up for success when it comes to muscle strain recovery, we recommend using Cetilar®. Our Cetilar® products contain a unique formulation of cetylated fatty acids (CFA) dedicated to muscle and joint health. It helps improve joint function and range of motion and is safe to use. We have Cetilar® Topical Cream, which can be massaged into the affected muscles twice a day and improves rehabilitation and functional performance after one week, as well as Cetilar® Patch, which adheres to the skin and stays effective for 8 hours. There is also Cetilar® Oro, the first and only oral suspension food supplement with cetylated fatty acids, an excellent flavor, and great tolerability, as well as Cetilar® Tape, adhesive tape with a CFA base to protect joints and muscles from strains and more. All of our Cetilar® products aid in muscle recovery and will have you back to feeling like yourself in no time.
Are you ready to speed up your muscle strain recovery? Learn more about Cetilar® today!