We have all had DOMS...

An interesting study here....while DOMS might be due to damage to a particular muscle, in the brain it looks like the pain is mapped all over the body....

Central Projection of Pain Arising from Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) in Human Subjects

Using event-related fMRI, the temporal evolution of brain activity during the subacute pain state DOMS was mapped in the human brain. We located strongest and widespread pain-related activations in the primary motor and sensory cortex that affected the area somatotopically related to the thigh and also adjacent areas reminiscent of the transient cortical remodelling described in chronic pain states, such as CRPS or phantom limb pain. Further pain-related activation was located in the SMA, IPL, STG, bilaterally in the insula and the cingulate cortex. Activation in the cerebellum was most widespread when pain from DOMS occurred in combination with limb movement. Our study demonstrated that defined stimulation or repeated contraction of a DOMS-affected painful muscle can evoke strong and reproducible increases in BOLD signal; therefore pain from DOMS provides an effective, non-invasive model to study the central processing of inflammatory muscle pain

Very interesting stuff.  I wonder what signals the pain is sending....protecting more than just the inflamed muscles.....