Exercise Cures Common Health Problems
Exercise is often prescribed as a means to assist in the healing process. In fact, at each stage of recovery, activities should be carried out to effect a change in the status of the involved part, the adjacent and even more distant body regions. Generalized conditioning programs assist all physical therapists to accomplish faster and more complete recovery with their clients.
Whether the need is to improve strength, restore range of motion, promote soft tissue healing, reduce inflammatory conditions, or to improve body awareness one form of exercise or another can be used to facilitate changes. Here are some exercise facts:
- Exercise helps to reduce pain in joints because muscle balances normalize and improve the joint’s ability to move correctly and therefore reducing joint friction, stress and joint instability in dynamic activities.
- Exercise helps maintain bone integrity by reducing decalcification of bones in those individuals who find themselves less active or who were never athletically minded.
- Exercise helps improve the condition of all cells in the body, including the skin. The profusion of blood through all tissue has a restorative value. We encourage cardiovascular activity to promote the well being of the integumentary system.
- Bowel and bladder functions are greatly enhanced through the use of exercise of the trunk, hips and legs. Exercise of the pelvis and the lower trunk can help to improve elimination and the tone of musculature helps in management of conditions such as incontinence.
- Exercise helps strengthen the cardiovascular system, improves circulation and builds endurance, as well as reducing swelling that may be chronic in inactive individual lower extremities.
- Exercise aids in the prevention of atrophy of the muscles of the trunk muscles, and those of the upper and lower extremities.
- Exercise decreases muscle spasms and restrictions in mobility.
- Exercise helps to lessen the progressive effects of gravity, including poor posture, functional scoliosis and pain associated with the irritation of soft tissue.
- Exercise is very effective when used in the treatment of tendonitis and epicondylitis conditions such as tennis elbow through emphasis of eccentric or negative contractions.
- Unloading techniques using suspension devices, aquatic exercise and/or incremental weight bearing allows higher repetitions to promote accelerated return to normal and athletic activities.
These are ideas that provide natural, inexpensive means to achieve rehabilitation, prevention and wellness milestones
