Massage Myths: The Lies Of 'Lactic Acid Flushing'

Massage Can Help After a Workout, but Not for the Reason You Think

(A summary of what research says about massage, DOMS and “flushing things out”) Estimated read time: ~3 minutes

You’ve probably heard that post‑workout massage “flushes lactic acid” and prevents soreness.

At The Massage Clinic, we see plenty of people right after races or heavy gym work, and we’re happy to help them recover. But the science suggests massage helps for reasons other than flushing anything out, and that matters for how we set expectations.

The Problem

DOMS is normal, and it’s not just lactic acid.

Delayed onset muscle soreness is the ache and stiffness that show up 24–72 hours after unfamiliar or intense exercise. It’s linked to micro‑trauma in muscle fibers, inflammatory changes and fluid shifts—not a simple build‑up of lactic acid that can be squeezed away.

Reviews on massage and DOMS show that massage can reduce soreness and help performance recover, but they don’t support the idea that it’s flushing lactic acid from your muscles.frontiersin+2

Mechanism matters because it shapes your expectations.

If you believe massage will erase DOMS entirely, you might be disappointed or push your training harder than you’re ready for. The evidence suggests more modest effects: massage can make DOMS less intense, improve comfort and possibly help muscles bounce back a bit faster, but it doesn’t erase the normal adaptation process.pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih+1

Brief summary of the research (and how we use it)

The 2017 meta‑analysis on massage and DOMS found that massage significantly reduced muscle soreness after strenuous exercise, with the strongest effects at 48 and 72 hours post‑exercise. It also reported improvements in some measures of muscle performance and reductions in creatine kinase (a marker of muscle damage), but it did not attribute these changes to lactic‑acid clearance.[pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih]​

A separate systematic review noted that massage alleviated DOMS and swelling but had limited effects on strength recovery, underscoring that massage supports, but does not replace, the body’s own repair processes.

A 2023 review on massage in sport and exercise echoed that massage is valuable for recovery and how athletes feel, but is not a magic tool for lactic‑acid removal or immediate performance enhancement.pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih+1

For us at The Massage Clinic, this means we talk about post‑workout massage as a way to support comfort and recovery, not as a detox or lactic‑acid flush.

We time sessions so they don’t interfere with heavy lifting or key runs, and we choose pressure and techniques that your body can relax into after hard work. For you as a client, the helpful frame is: “massage can make my recovery more comfortable and maybe a bit smoother,” not “massage will erase all soreness or undo over‑training.”

A practical takeaway: if you’re using massage in a training cycle, keep your overall load, sleep and nutrition in view—massage is an adjunct that helps you absorb that work, not a fix for poor planning.

At The Massage Clinic, we bring this research into the way we schedule and structure post‑workout sessions, and we’re here to help if you need us.

References

• Poppendieck W, et al. Massage therapy influences post-exercise recovery and muscle performance after strenuous exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Physiol. 2017;8:747. Showed reduced DOMS and some improvements in muscle performance after massage, especially at 48–72 hours post‑exercise.[pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih]​

• Torres R, et al. Effects of massage on delayed-onset muscle soreness, swelling and recovery of muscle function: a systematic review. J Athl Train. 2012;47(5):548‑557. Found massage alleviated DOMS and swelling but had limited effects on strength recovery.[pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih]​

• Davis HL, Alabed S, Chico TJA. Effect of sports massage on performance and recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2020;6(1):e000614. Concluded that massage offers modest benefits for recovery and soreness but limited evidence for direct performance gains.bmjopensem.bmj+1

Poppendieck W, et al. The effects of massage therapy on sport and exercise performance. Sports Med. 2023;53(7):1351‑1370. Summarized that massage may positively influence perceived recovery and readiness without consistently enhancing objective performance metrics.[pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih]​