What makes lactic acid go away

Though the precise cause of DOMS is still unknown, most research points to actual muscle cell damage and an elevated release of various metabolites into the tissue surrounding the muscle cells. These responses to extreme exercise result in an inflammatory-repair response, leading to swelling and soreness that peaks a day or two after the event and resolves a few days later, depending on the severity of the damage.

In fact, the type of muscle contraction appears to be a key factor in the development of DOMS. When a muscle lengthens against a load—imagine your flexed arms attempting to catch a thousand pound weight—the muscle contraction is said to be eccentric. In other words, the muscle is actively contracting, attempting to shorten its length, but it is failing.

These eccentric contractions have been shown to result in more muscle cell damage than is seen with typical concentric contractions, in which a muscle successfully shortens during contraction against a load.

Thus, exercises that involve many eccentric contractions, such as downhill running, will result in the most severe DOMS, even without any noticeable burning sensations in the muscles during the event. Given that delayed-onset muscle soreness in response to extreme exercise is so common, exercise physiologists are actively researching the potential role for anti-inflammatory drugs and other supplements in the prevention and treatment of such muscle soreness, but no conclusive recommendations are currently available.

Although anti-inflammatory drugs do appear to reduce the muscle soreness—a good thing—they may slow the ability of the muscle to repair the damage, which may have negative consequences for muscle function in the weeks following the strenuous event. Already a subscriber?

Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. When a person feels the effects of lactic acid buildup, they can slow down and reduce the intensity of their workout. This will allow blood oxygen levels to recover. Lightly stretching the muscles after a workout can help to alleviate any burning sensations or cramps that lactic acid buildup may cause.

In most cases, lactic acid buildup is a harmless response to strenuous exercise and will go away on its own. Once the body has used the resulting lactate for energy, the liver breaks down any excess in the blood. For a long time, experts thought that lactic acid was responsible for delayed onset muscle soreness DOMS following exercise.

However, experts no longer believe this is the case. Instead, they now say that DOMS pain and stiffness is the result of microscopic damage to muscle fibers. Certain health conditions can lower blood oxygen levels, resulting in increased lactate production. These conditions include:. This can result in high blood lactate levels, which doctors call hyperlactatemia.

In some cases, hyperlactatemia can progress to lactic acidosis. This alteration can result in severe health complications. Lactic acidosis is also a rare side effect of some HIV medications. Anyone who thinks they have lactic acidosis or nonexercise-induced hyperlactatemia should speak to a doctor straightaway.

A doctor will usually carry out a blood test to check levels of lactate in the blood. In some cases, they may ask the person not to eat, drink, or exercise for several hours before the test. If the tests detect lactic acidosis, the doctor will work to diagnose and treat its underlying cause. Treatment will allow the body to dispose of the lactic acid in the usual way. The body makes lactic acid when it is low in the oxygen it needs to convert glucose into energy.

Lactic acid buildup can result in muscle pain, cramps, and muscular fatigue. These symptoms are typical during strenuous exercise and are not usually anything to worry about as the liver breaks down any excess lactate.

Staying hydrated and breathing deeply during exercise can help to prevent exercise-induced hyperlactatemia. Without treatment, lactic acidosis can result in serious health complications. Bruce Gladden :. Since the s, a 'lactate revolution' has occurred…… It now appears that increased lactate production and concentration as a result of anoxia or dysoxia hypoxia are often the exception rather than the rule.

Lactic acidosis is being re-evaluated as a factor in muscle fatigue…. Blood lactic acid concentration and subjective sensations of muscular soreness were assessed at intervals for 72 hours after the runs. Lactic acid concentration was significantly increased during running on the level, but subjects experienced no significant post exercise muscular soreness. Lactic acid was never elevated in downhill runners, but subjects experienced significant delayed-onset soreness.

Results indicated that lactic acid is not related to exercise-induced delayed-onset muscle soreness. People routinely cool down or use other recovery techniques right after a race or hard workout, or in the days following one.

As mentioned earlier, the causes of fatigue are multi-dimensional and perhaps cooling down does something that is just hard to measure scientifically in the lab.

It is also possible that this is just sort of the custom and people do what works for them or what their coaches and trainers suggest. The biggest challenges in a long and brutal series of days like the Tour de France are avoiding dehydration and getting enough to eat and drink so the rider has plenty of carbs available. Cold water or so-called contrast treatments seem to do help with perceptions of fatigue but not soreness. So it is a mixed bag with no magic bullet. I started this piece with data that is now 80 years old that debunks one of the central myths about lactic acid and recovery after exercise.

However, we hear the same old story about the evils of lactic acid, recovery and fatigue from commentators all the time.