Sore Chest Muscles

Sharp, stabbing pain in chest may not be always due to some serious health condition. Oftentimes, the cause of chest pain can be sore muscles. Sore chest muscles induce sharp pain upon movement, which lasts only for minutes. However, you may experience throbbing pain until the muscles heal completely. Soreness in chest muscles is often due to repetitive, excessive use of muscles. When you strain your muscles, a small tear occurs in them, which heals by itself. Subsequent tearing and healing is what actually makes the muscles strong. However, due to aging or physical injuries, this healing process is prolonged, hence, the chest muscle pain.

Causes

Coughing
Hacking cough is the primary cause of soreness in chest muscles. Persistent coughing puts a lot of strain on the chest muscles, chest wall, which eventually results in soreness. Sore chest muscles from coughing is mainly found in people suffering from respiratory disorders such as pneumonia, bronchitis etc.

Aging
Aging weakens the chest muscles. Hence, even slight amount of strain can cause tearing. Sore muscles of chest in old people are also due to the above respiratory disorders, since they are more prone to these disorders.

Exercises
You may have experienced sore muscles from running, or after doing chest muscle workout. When you strain your pectoral muscles excessively the tear in muscles cannot be healed quickly. As a result, you have to bear pain until it heals. Apart from chest exercises sore muscles from lifting are also pretty common.

Diseases
Certain diseases like fibromyalgia cause degeneration of muscles. Hence, soreness of muscles is likely to occur, even at the sign of slightest strain. Similarly, certain infections of respiratory tract may also cause soreness of muscles.

Physical Injury
A hard blow on chest can cause a muscle tear, which eventually leads to soreness and pain. The inflicted area will feel tender to touch.

Treatment

The soreness in muscles is due to inflammation resulting from the tear. The treatments are mostly targeted at reducing the inflammation and relieving muscle pain. Over the counter drugs like ibuprofen can be used for managing pain as they are anti-inflammatory and analgesic. Compressing or icing may also help to reduce the inflammation. Take a few cubes of ice in a zip lock bag and wrap it in a towel. Apply the compress on the affected area on chest. You should compress for 10 minutes at a stretch, then take a 10 minutes break and repeat. This should be done for an hour or until you feel better. Compress in this way for 3 to 4 times a day until the chest pain subsides completely. Alternatively, you may also use frozen peas to achieve the same effect as ice pack.

While your chest muscles are healing, it is important, not to strain them further. Make appropriate changes in your workout regimen. There are a number of things you can do to prevent soreness of muscles. Most injuries to chest muscles occur due to incorrect chest muscle exercises or over stretching. Although, it is true that pain means you are working properly on the concerned muscle, do not proceed further if it hurts too much. Your gym instructor should be able to guide you regarding the correct way of working out your chest muscles. People with already weak chest muscles should consult a physician prior to putting any strain on chest muscles.

If there is an unexplained soreness of chest muscle which persists for days, do not hesitate to call your doctor.