Stretching is the lengthening of muscles in order to increase muscle flexibility and joint range of motion. Stretching activities are an important part of any exercise or rehab program. They help decrease the risk of injury as well as muscle soreness. The benefits of stretching for all ages include:
1. Increased flexibility and joint range of motion. Flexibility tends to decrease as you get older, but you can regain and maintain it.
2. Improved circulation: stretching increases blood flow to your muscles. Improved circulation can help shorten your recovery time if you have muscle injuries.
3. Better posture. Frequent stretching can help keep your muscles flexible, allowing you to maintain proper posture. Good posture can minimize discomfort and lessen aches and pains.
4. Stress relief: stretching relaxes tight, tense muscles that often accompany stress.
5. Enhanced coordination: maintaining full range of motion through your joints keeps you in better balance. Coordination and balance will help keep you mobile and less prone to injury from falls, especially as you get older.
6. Decreased risk of injury during exercise and daily activities.
Flexibility tends to deteriorate with age, often due to a sedentary lifestyle. Without adequate flexibility, daily activities become more difficulty to perform. Staying active and stretching regularly help prevent this loss of mobility, which ensures independence as we age. Patients with chronic pain may find it takes weeks or months of stretching to mobilize the spine and soft tissues, but will find that the increase in motion often provides significant and sustained relief of their back pain.
At Campbell Therapy Center, restoring normal range of motion and flexibility is one of the primary goals in all rehab programs. We provide manual therapy treatments and have one of one treatment sessions to assist patients with appropriate techniques to best suit your needs. If you have noticed postural changes, increased weakness, loss of balance, loss of flexibility, or difficulty and pain with normal activities of daily living, please consider giving physical therapy a try. Physical therapy is the key to a healthy recovery and healthy living.
Did YOU know that YOU can ALWAYS choose where you go for YOUR therapy? Your doctor may suggest another PT clinic but you can have your PT sessions at the clinic of your choice. We are honored when our patients return and say that they wouldn’t want to go anywhere else!
We accept almost all insurance plans and work with all medical providers to give you the very best PT treatments. Give us a call today at 731-641-8111. We are here to serve you and help you move and feel better!
**TIP OF THE MONTH** Use a tennis ball for pressure relief on tight muscles. You can gently lean back against tennis ball with pressure applied to painful muscle (works really well on neck or low back/hip) to loosen the “knot” and decrease pain.