Wrestling is an intense, physical, hands-on sport that can leave your body open to a wide range of painful ailments. From hitting the ground to having your body twisted and pulled abnormal lengths and in multiple directions, when you're feeling pain after a practice or match, there are a variety of possible causes.
DOMS
Pain that is more aching can be the result of common muscle soreness due to either overworking the muscles or using them in an abnormal way. This pain is often referred to as delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. Pain associated with DOMS occurs within 12 to 48 hours after your wrestling practice or match, and is caused by small microscopic tears that occur in the muscle with intense exercise.
Muscle Injuries
When pain develops during or directly after a match or practice session, your wrestling pain may be associated with a muscle injury. Muscles, along with other connective tissues, restrict your range of motion. Pulling the muscles the wrong direction or sudden movements of the muscle in the wrong ways can result in muscle strains. Heavy workouts of the muscles through strength training or during a match can also cause pulled or even torn muscles.
Tendon and Ligament Injuries
Certain positions in which the body can be placed during both wrestling matches and in training can also affect your tendons and ligaments. Tendons connect muscles to bones, and ligaments typically connect bones to other bones. Both play an important role in the structure of your body, and as such have a limit to how far they can be stretched and what directions they can be moved. Common tendon injuries include ailments like dislocations, ruptures and tendinitis, especially tendinitis of the rotator cuff. Common ligament injuries revolve around sprains at the joints, such as ankle sprains, ACL knee sprains and iliolumbar sprains.
Treatment
When pain develops with wrestling practice or matches, one of the first things you can do is practice the RICE sports-therapy technique. RICE stands for resting the affected area, icing the area, placing compression on the injury and elevating the affected site above the level of your heart. This method helps reduce inflammation, which can help treat pain. Your pain can also be managed through taking over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen, naproxen or aspirin. If pain continues without relief for more than 24 to 48 hours, or if pain is severe, see your doctor as soon as possible to ensure you don't have a more serious injury that needs additional treatment.
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