Why are Prescribed Exercises so important?

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When attending the clinic your therapist will assess, diagnose and treat your ailment. With any of our approaches to therapy it is sometimes integral for your healing and speed of recovery to correct physical impairments and restore normalised function with specific exercises. Generally speaking, injuries can occur secondary to imbalances in the function of muscles and joints, whether it be due to increased tension causing neural pain or even incorrect timing of stabilising muscles leading to weakness. With this in mind we attempt to prescribe specific exercises for our patients to assist with:

• Strengthening weak muscles

• ​Improve timing of stabiliser muscles

• Maintain and improve muscle length

• Improving joint range of motion and ease of movement​

 

What are the benefits of Stretches?

• ​Increase muscle length and joint range of motion | Flexibility of muscles tend to get shorter as we age and continue to move our joints in smaller ranges. This can lead to stiffness and tightening of joints which can cause nerve involvement resulting in pain (i.e. tight neck muscles causing referred pain in the arm)

• Improve posture | Changes in posture will cause shortening as well as lengthening of muscles (i.e. “hunch back” posture has longer posterior muscles and shorter anterior muscles). This will lead to dysfunction between muscle groups allowing more dominant muscle groups to tighten and shorten while creating more dysfunction. Continued stretching allows your muscles to stay at their opportune length to maintain a healthy posture.

• Improve blood circulation | Due to the mechanism of stretching the body increases its blood flow to the respected area, allowing nourishment and getting rid of any by products in the muscle tissue. Improved circulation will also help improve recovery time with muscular injuries and relieve tension.