Stretching for Back Pain Lower Back and Pain Shoulder Neck

Stretching; fact or fantasy? Does stretching achieve anything that is real, or is it merely a nice thing to do before getting into any demanding activity? To add a little more weight to this debate, we should throw in the issues of why, when and how a person should do this debatable thing known as stretching. In the process, we will project a bit of useful light in the space we have, on a few issues that once understood, have had life-changing effects on back and neck pain sufferers all around the world.

First up, we will look at the question of why? Performed correctly, stretching actually produces a number of physiological benefits. Elasticity within soft tissue fibres, particularly the muscles, can be successfully restored by the re-introduction of two critical factors, and oddly enough, stretching is one of them. Without elasticity, muscles and joints cannot function as they should, and when a joint cannot function correctly, pain is usually the result. Every muscle in the body directly or indirectly crosses at least one joint, so it is quickly apparent as to why the elasticity of muscles is so crucial.

Exercise, particularly resistance exercise, produces the other 50%. This is due almost entirely to the fact that resistance exercises, by the very nature of the way in which the mechanics of muscles operate, produce a capability for the joint to create movement by shortening its length across that joint [or joints]. Simultaneously, as that muscle contracts [or shortens within itself telescopically to create the movement], the corresponding [or antagonist] muscle lengthens to facilitate the movement. Failure for this to occur will result in joint dysfunction, as well as previously stated, pain. So, if resistance exercises exclusively create the capacity for muscle fibres to shorten, then what creates the capacity for the essential lengthening of muscle fibres to allow the joint to move? Of course, you are way ahead of me, and of course, it is stretching, provided, of course, it is done effectively.

There are actually a number of other reasons why stretching is essential. Stretching minimises the likelihood and predisposition of muscles tearing during rapid shortening or lengthening. Stretching also plays a major role in eliminating waste products from muscle fibres, especially waste products that have been deposited and remained within muscle fibres during exercise. When done effectively, stretching is also an effective tool in the detoxifying of muscles and the removal of adhesions.

When? Without stating the obvious, it is wise to reduce the risk of injury in sport, particularly in any form of contact sport or activities that involve more than a minor amount of jarring or weight-bearing. Upon investigation it is clear that stretching is vitally important in effectively preparing the muscle fibres for these sorts of activities. In light of that, and of the previous paragraphs, effective stretching should also be comprehensively performed at the conclusion of these activities but before the body cools down. This is equally relevant and essential for any non-sporting activity that is either strenuous or weight-bearing, including lifting or carrying. Possibly another potentially unnecessary comment, but if sufferers casts his or her mind back to their painful past, can it be said with confidence that stretching was routinely done each and every time it should have been? And if the answer to that specific question happens to be in the negative, might the sufferers not be currently suffering the pain now that has led to this frantic search for a way to recover? The other factor still to be covered in the when argument is that effective stretching should also be done both at the beginning and the end of each day, be that day stressfully demanding or otherwise.

A vital and fundamental function that needs to be stated categorically is the critical need for the spine to be de-compressed on a daily basis, and not surprisingly, effective stretching is the simplest and most convenient method to do exactly that. Daily spinal de-compression ensures that each day is relieved of the burden of accumulated spinal compression from all of yesterday’s and every other previous day’s compression being added to all of today’s demands for your already compressed and painful spine. Apart from the other physiological benefits, stretching is also one of the most, if not THE most crucial, essential, and self-enabling methods of achieving spinal de-compression, particularly when vertebral or disc degeneration is present. This process represents one of the most foundational pre-requisites for the recovery of any back and/or neck pain sufferer. De-compressing the spine, on a daily basis, is absolutely vital for any or all sufferers if they are to restore spinal function, and therefore to reduce pain.

The final factor is one that every other factor depends upon; the how factor. Many sufferers declare that they regularly include stretching routines, yet when asked to describe their routines, it generally unfolds that the stretches being done are either inappropriate for their recovery, AND/OR the stretches are being done in a way that cannot possibly bring about any benefit. To use an analogy; I might spread out all the parts for a brand new machine on a bench, but if I don’t know how to put the pieces together, then all I end up with is a collection of parts that don’t work cohesively the way they should.

If we are to have a body that works the way it has in the past before the problems manifested, we must have all, or at least most of the parts in good working order and arranged in a cohesive and organised manner. If any further convincing is required that stretching plays a fundamental and unique role in the process or recovery, we might like to take a look at the animal kingdom, for example at a dog, a cat, a horse, or any other animal we can think of, and the very first thing most of these animals do after waking up, is to stretch. And considering that most of these animals have horizontal spines, whereas our spines are vertical for most of the time, and especially considering that we often carry extra loads, the need for us humans to stretch regularly and do so effectively will probably leap vertically up our own priority scales. Add to this the lesson from the feathered species, and we learn that birds actually stretch almost continuously throughout the day and night, and not just when they wake up. So, please, remind me again who the intelligent ones are??!! Stretching, we should overwhelmingly conclude, is far more than just a trendy fad, and when done correctly, becomes an essential ingredient in any recovery regime for back or neck pain sufferers [or then again, possibly sufferers might opt for surgery, or lifetimes of medication dependency, or maybe an acceptance of hopelessness, but that’s unlikely the reason you have chosen to read this and other articles].