Timing and character tell them apart: DOMS arrives 12-plus hours after training as a dull, widespread ache that fades in 3 to 5 days; injury pain is sharp, focal, and lingers.
Cleveland Clinic's lines: soreness lasting a week or more points to injury, and injury pain feels sharp and constant rather than dull and generalized. Injuries also tend to start during the activity - a pull, a pop - with swelling or one-sided weakness. DOMS improves with gentle movement; injuries complain about specific motions. Pymander's escalation routing is built and tested specifically for this class of decision; see the safety architecture working paper .
What to do
Common questions
What is the difference between DOMS and an injury?
Timing and character tell them apart. Delayed onset muscle soreness shows up after the workout - as early as 12 hours, typically peaking at one to three days - as a dull, generalized ache and stiffness across the muscles you trained, and it fades on its own within three to five days. Cleveland Clinic's dividing lines are clean: DOMS goes away in a few days - pain lasting a week or more points to an injury like a strain - and injury pain feels sharp and constant, not dull and widespread. Injuries also tend to announce themselves during the activity (a pull, a pop, a misstep), concentrate in one specific spot, and come with swelling, bruising, weakness, or lost range of motion. The practical test: DOMS hurts symmetrically in the muscles you worked and improves with gentle movement; an injury is one-sided, focal, and complains about specific motions. Train through light DOMS at reduced load if you want - light movement helps. Never train through suspected injury: sharp pain, swelling, or pain past a week earns a clinician's exam, not another session.