Stretching - the key to lessening pain

Learn to stretch and regain your mobility

It's natural, we tend to limit our movements when we experience pain. If a body part is sore we look to guard the area,,, immobilise the joint or limb and slow down our activities.
This is fine in the short term when an injury is fresh and needs to heal...but at some point this lack of movement will impact on our long term ability to use the joint/muscle or limb.
Learn to Stretch
To help maintain flexibility and reduce the pain of immobilised body parts we need to learn to stretch.
If you are experiencing pain in a certain area - it is good to stretch that body part.. gently slowly.  Stretch the muscles up to the point of pain...but not to the point where you experience it.  This way the joints and muscles will not stiffen and seize up but will remain flexible while the area repairs.

Stretching every day:
In fact a simply 10 minute daily stretching session can keep joints and muscles healthy and supple, restore flexibility and amazingly - reduce pain!
You see when you use your muscles and  rotate your joints your body releases endorphins (hormones that help you to feel uplifted and invigorated) your muscles also warm up and joints retain their mobility.

Stretching is like a lube job for the body
It's a bit like giving your muscles and joints a lube job.  Gently stretching and moving your joints each day effectively lubricates and conditions your body. It also increases circulation and helps to reduce stress held in the body.

What to aim for:
A healthy body has the following ranges of motions.  Gently warming up and then stretching your muscles can help restore your range of motion to 'normal' levels.
The accepted normal ranges of motion are:

• Raise your arms above your head 180 degrees
• Bend at your elbow 145 degrees
• Bend your neck 45 degrees to each side
• Arch your back at 30 degrees
• Move your hips 45 degrees
• Extend each knee in a straight line (0 degrees).

So if you are having trouble achieving any of these movement benchmarks, then it might be a good idea to look at ways of including a little stretch routine into your daily activities.