As a cheerleader, how to deal with muscle tension?

       As we all know, cheerleading is not an easy sports! It’s one of the competitive sports. In western countries like U.S.A., there are hundreds of cheerleading competitions every year. From high school students to adult competitors, across America, you can find cheerleaders everywhere. Since it’s so popular, we have to be much more cautious about preventing injuries caused by this activity. Composed of tumbling, dance, jumps, stunting, and cheers such as throwing cheer bows or yelling slogan, cheerleading sometimes can be a dangerous sports. Therefore, people who want to take part in this activity must have some basic knowledge about how to prevent or treat injuries.
       Muscle tension injury is thought to be the common injuries caused by over-exercise. It is the continuous and passive partial contraction of the muscles. Unconscious nerve impulses maintain the muscles in a partially contracted state. If a sudden pull or stretch occurs, the body responds by automatically increasing the muscle's tension, a reflex which helps guard against danger as well as helping to maintain balance. Such near-continuous inner-invasion can be thought of as a "default" or "steady state" condition for muscles. There is, for the most part, no actual "rest state" insofar as activation is concerned. Both the extensor and flexor muscles are involved in the maintenance of a constant tone while "at rest". In skeletal muscles, this helps maintains a normal posture. When you practice too much, or become too nervous about the cheerleading competition, your whole body will become stiff. Therefore, the tension of your muscle will stretch too much and causes strain.
       In this case, one treatment option is heat and cold remedy. Cheerleader requires high amount of physical activity and sustained training (2 to 3 hours), causing muscle soreness, chronic pain or even strain. Strains, if not detected early to relieve or treat, may likely cause further injuries. To allow players to recover from muscular sores and chronic pain, using cold pack will relieve muscle discomfort as soon as it arises. It is the effective way for pain management. After the sore and swelling is better, then you can put on heating pad to ease the symptom. It is a pad used for warming of parts of the body in order to manage pain. Localized application of heat causes the blood vessels in that area to dilate, enhancing perfusion to the targeted tissue. Types of heating pads include electrical, chemical and hot water bottles.
       Many episodes of pain come from muscle exertion or strain, which creates tension in the muscles and soft tissues. This tension can constrict circulation, sending pain signals to the brain. Heat application eases pain by dilating the blood vessels surrounding the painful area. Increased blood flow provides additional oxygen and nutrients to help heal the damaged muscle tissue.