Have you considered how certain exercises could help you get rid of your aches and pains? Apparently, there are several exercises you can do to ease pain — but what are they?
Discover how effective movement is for pain relief and how you can do start easing aches today…
Movement and pain treatment.
For some time, experts have advocated moving the body to help treat pain. Improving function via movement has been found to reduce disability, lower feelings of depression and improve someone’s physical condition and quality of life. When it comes to a person’s wellbeing, exercise can help regulate sleep patterns and reduce stress levels. It’s clear to see that movement is not only about losing weight or keeping fit.
Best exercises for pain relief
There’s little worse than constantly being in pain. If you need help, check out these exercises for improving pain and getting back to normal quicker.
Pilates
With Pilates, you’ll learn how to control your breathing and build core strength, which will help with pain management. Pilates is often performed as a flow of movement rather than static exercises, which some people prefer to other types.
Pilates is enjoyed by people of many ages due to how simple it is to pick up and gentle it is on the muscles and joints.The specialised apparatus involved in the exercise can help treat chronic back pain and build muscle. Alternatively, the apparatus can be used to support someone with back pain to allow them to do certain movements. The performed exercises focus on improving your flexibility, strength and body awareness by working with your abdominal core muscles.
Regular Pilates helps people enhance their muscle strength, tone their body, improve posture and relieve pain. What’s more, it can help ease stress and tension.
If you’re experiencing knee joint pain, you can even bring Pilates to work!Find examples of desk exercises online — they’re all about controlled breathing and strengthening different muscle groups.
Hydrotherapy
Water therapy for pain management is a popular initiative in 2018. With hydrotherapy, you can keep it easy with simple routines in shallow water or take it up a notch with equipment such as underwater treadmills that help build core strength. The presence of the water counteracts gravity and helps support the person’s weight, making them feel lighter and able to move more freely. When it comes to those who suffer from back pain, water canreduce the axial load (weight on the spine) and allow them to do exercises that they may not be able to do on land. The viscosity in water also creates a resistance which allows people to do muscle strengthening exercises without a risk of further injury through loss of balance.
People suffering from osteoarthritis, advanced osteoporosis and muscle strain or tears can help ease their painful symptoms via this exercise method. Each person’s water therapy programme is different, some pain sufferers do solely water therapy exercises and others use a combination of land-based and water-based exercises to manage their pain or rehabilitate.
Yoga
Yoga is very beneficial for treating pain in the back. A study discovered significant differences between the brains of those who experienced chronic pain and the brains of those who regularly practised yoga. Researchers found that the sufferers of chronic pain had less of the kind of brain tissue in the regions that help us tolerate pain. On the other hand, those who did yoga had more of this brain tissue.
Yoga doesn’t have to be difficult and could be the ideal solution for you if you have aches and pains regularly. Through practising certain postures, you can help lengthen your spine, improve alignment, and stretch and strengthen your muscles.
Controlled stretching offered by yoga exercises can reduce stiffness and pain. Try a simple, gentle form of yoga, as opposed to more strenuous styles — you don’t want to make the situation worse by over-stretching. Always ask what sort of class it is before you sign up.
Of course, there are many different exercises in yoga — how do you know which are best? Some are especially good at lowering pain levels. The ‘extended child’s pose’, for example, lengthens the sides of the body while providing traction on the spine. And, the ‘cobra’ is all about stretching and strengthening the spine.
Have you considered the added health benefits of yoga, too? These include a lower heart rate, healthier blood pressure and reduced symptoms of depression.
Clearly, exercises can help manage physical pain. Speak to your GP about which will be best for you and keep active to improve your health.
