You probably expect to have sore muscles after a rigorous workout. However, many people associate a massage as a feel-good service that works out the kinks — not as a precursor to soreness. Yet, occasionally, some people do experience soreness following a massage.

Yet experts say if you aren’t used to a massage or having certain muscles worked, they might feel sore in the following days.

Pain management specialists say soreness is more likely to follow a person’s first massage, because kneading, squeezing and moving certain areas may stimulate muscles and nerves in a way they haven’t been before. The deeper a massage, the more likely it may cause soreness.

As with exercise, you might experience soreness immediately or a day or two after the massage. Some therapists suggest stretching to prepare your muscles for the massage experience.

An ice pack, hot compress or a soothing bath in Epsom salts, a natural muscle relaxant, may help relieve the pain. Also, as with a workout, make sure you drink plenty of water to rehydrate the muscles and flush out the toxins that were released during the massage.

If the pain isn’t gone within a couple of days, you may need to discuss this with your Charlotte massage therapist, so he or she can adjust the technique or the length of the session. However, if you feel uncomfortable with your service provider, sign in to Angie’s List to find a new massage therapist. There, you’ll find ratings of different providers in your area and read member reviews of recent services.

Rich Sauser visited highly rated A Timeout Therapy in Gastonia, N.C., for a one-hour Bowenwork therapy session. He says massage therapist John Granger did “a great job of the gentle moves done on muscles, tendons and ligaments on from head to toe.”

“I hadn't felt this relaxed in years and will definitely being going back to John and recommending him along the way,” Sauser says.