Majority of today’s population suffer from tight muscles that lead to postural issues and neck or back pain. Knowing what causes inflexibility and seeking out Muscle Inflexibility Treatment today, will help relieve pain and bring ease to performing daily activities.
Flexibility
Flexibility means a joint has the capability to perform a full range of normal motion without discomfort. Flexible individuals have a decreased risk of injury, improved posture, and well maintained muscle balance and function.
Flexibility is necessary for a majority of your daily activities. Cleaning, sitting, brushing your teeth, even eating are all daily activities that require some level of flexibility.
Range of Motion
There are four types of major joints in the body: pivot, ball and socket, hinge, and gliding. Each joint has a healthy range of movement and if not well maintained can have too much or too little mobility.
When the joints are incapable of moving, it puts a strain on the ligaments and muscles leading to injury. Some joints tend to be tighter than others, especially the hinge, gliding, and pivot joints. These joints are very susceptible to injury caused by a decreased range of motion.
Too much range of motion in the joints is rare and often occurs in those who are double jointed or perform activities which require large amounts of flexibility, like dance.
These individuals, although flexible, have loose ligaments which destabilize the joint unless the person also strengthens the muscles associated with the joints.
Risks of Muscle Inflexibility and Decreased Range of Motion
Muscle Inflexibility leads to a variety of issues, the first being postural. Every muscular movement requires strength from one muscle and flexibility from the other. If one is lacking, problems can arise.
For example, bad posture involving the shoulders slumping forwards means that the muscles surrounding the scapula are weak and the muscles in the front of your chest are tight.
Muscles are very susceptible to wear and tear especially during workouts. Tight muscles that are improperly warmed up are at high risk of tears and in severe cases complete ruptures. If the joints have a decreased range of motion, you may be performing exercises improperly to compensate, leading to potentially more damage.
The Semimembranosus Muscle starts at the bottom of the pelvis and travels all the way down to the head of the shin bone or tibia. It is especially susceptible to inflexibility from sitting for long periods of time, which leads to back pain and in some cases knee pain.
Arteriosclerosis
Decreased flexibility also puts you at risk for arterial stiffening or arteriosclerosis. In this disorder, the amount of effort your heart must exert to deliver blood throughout the body is affected. This leads to an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
Muscle Inflexibility Treatment
Learning how to maintain a safe stretching program is important to ensure that you do not do damage to muscles or ligaments. The American College of Sports Medicine, ACSM, recommends stretching at the end of a workout and to never stretch without proper warm up.
At Spine Plus Chiropractic we offer treatment for Muscle Inflexibility and Semimembranosus Muscle Pain in MI, that includes spinal alignments, massage, and assisted stretching.
Our specialists at Spine Plus Chiropractic will provide you with the information you need to increase flexibility and decrease your pain.