A body in motion tends to stay in motion and body at rest tends to stay at rest. Why do we always forget this? So often when people get injured all they want to do is rest. Rest is important and has a time and place but it is so important not to forget about movement and how essential it is to healing. More and more after surgeries or car accidents people are being encouraged to start moving around as soon as possible. No more neck braces for whiplash patients – let’s get those muscles loose and moving!
What do you do in the event of an injury? Depending on the type there are a lot of different things to do. First if you think you broke something, if you are bleeding profusely or have been in a car accident, see a physician. For those of you with an RSI, muscle spasm or a persistent pain that limits your mobility, here are a couple things to do.
Get a massage. Everyone has connective tissue that surrounds everything in the body, muscles, organs and cells. This tissue is called fascia. Fascia holds us together and helps keep us moving. When we don’t move fascia will thicken and can over time limit range of motion. If you were to hurt your shoulder and rest it for a day or two the next day you would be able to move it. If you were to not move your shoulder for a month when you went to move it again you may not be able to. No matter how far you are in this process massage can help loosen the fascia and relax the muscles giving the freedom you need to move and stretch. On top of relaxing muscles massage will improve circulation, bringing blood to injured areas and helping speed recovery.
Acupuncture like massage can help relax and reset muscles as well as improve local circulation. Because acupuncture uses a small tool it can be very good for injuries in tougher tissue such as tendons and ligaments.
If you decide to ignore the problem as so many of us do you may be okay for a little while. The problem with immobility is that it never stays confined to one are of the body. A stiff hip will cause tension in the back, which can cause tension in the neck, and result in headaches. Immobile necks can restrict breathing. Don’t let it get that far. If you are someone who is currently in pain, having trouble moving or would like to stay healthy give us a call or schedule an appointment now.
