Rest and recovery are one of the most important parts of building up your physical strength and pursuing your fitness journey. The interesting thing about a health and fitness journey is that every person will have a unique experience as they pursue what health looks like for them. Yes, there are certain tenants of health that are important like having a nutritious diet, or regular exercise, but every person has a body that uniquely interacts with health.
Every person will digest carbs, proteins, and fats, a little differently, as well as have varying relationships with things like sleep and rest. When it comes down to it, a very big part of every person’s health journey is simply figuring out what that looks like for them. How your body responds to exercise, nutrition, sleep, and challenges are all important parts of the journey that you have to discover for yourself.
Along the way, it can be very normal to experience symptoms like soreness, or fatigue, and this is why rest and recovery are so important. However, there is an important distinction between soreness and inflammation that needs to be understood. One is a very positive thing to experience (soreness) and can be indicative of growth and advancement toward goals, while the other one (inflammation) can be indicative of injury and may need to be handled differently.
The good news is that there are a lot of healthy options to help you deal with both soreness and inflammation when either one occurs. From getting better sleep to topical solutions like hempvana pain relief cream, there are a lot of ways to help you recover from soreness or inflammation.
Why Is Knowing the Difference Between Soreness and Inflammation Important?
You may be thinking to yourself – what’s the big deal, aren’t both of these symptoms something that will naturally occur?
The answer to that question – to some degree – is yes, it’s very normal to experience feelings of soreness or to experience some kind of inflammation. This can happen even outside of a physical fitness scenario. Maybe you have an office chair that is hard on your back and over time will cause some inflammation due to poor posture; or, maybe you have kids and you take them to the park for a playday and you wake up sore the next morning.
The benefit to knowing which is which, or having the knowledge to identify them, is in how you treat these symptoms. For the most part, soreness is a positive sign of growth, and it can be handled with rest and recovery. It also doesn’t typically indicate that you need to take too long of a break from the physical activity that caused it as it’s normal to go back into the gym after your rest day – still feeling a little sore. Soreness itself is the process of your muscles getting stronger.
Inflammation, on the other hand, is a sign that something is wrong and that you may need to take a more prolonged and serious break. While both can be handled with something like Hempvana pain relief cream, inflammation may require more downtime than recovering from soreness.
Here are three signs that you may be dealing with inflammation instead of muscle soreness!
- Redness and Swelling
This is one of the most important signs to be aware of when it comes to distinguishing between sore muscles, or actual inflammation. Sore muscles will feel unpleasant, but they shouldn’t produce any kind of swelling or redness. The reason that inflammation needs to be taken seriously, is that it represents actual damage to either muscles or tendons.
Because the affected area has been damaged, inflammation is the body’s natural reaction as it seeks to repair itself. If you see redness and swelling in a joint, or an affected area, this could be a sign of inflammation.
- Fever or Chills
Whether it’s the day after a big hike, or you are recovering from chest day, soreness and even trouble moving is a normal reaction to your body recovering from a lot of physical activity. It’s even normal to feel a little under the weather and in need of more rest than usual. However, one thing that you shouldn’t experience – is a fever and chills.
Inflammation can cause the body to have a raised temperature which can give you flue like symptoms. If you experience fever and chills, you could have more going on then than just simple muscle soreness.
- Joint Pain
This is another sign that something might be going on that passes the typical nature of muscle soreness. Joint pain can be a sign of inflammation, especially if it limits your range of motion or your strength. This one can be a little more tricky to spot because an intense, focused workout can make you feel fatigued and sore in specific areas of your body; however, pain that comes specifically from your joints is something to pay attention to.
Conclusion
Inflammation is something to be aware of, and you can treat it with everything from rest and over-the-counter products like Hempvana pain relief cream, or prescription care if it’s more serious. If you have concerns about the pain that you are feeling, don’t be afraid to ask your doctor for help understanding your symptoms and how to better rest and recover.
