During the pandemic, we were all forced to get creative with how to productively spend our time. For some of us that meant working more, reading more, binging old Netflix shows, or spending more time with our family. For most of us, however, it meant that we were forced to move a lot less.
In a study published in June 2020 by the ACP journals, a group of researchers set out to find out if there was a change in daily step count from before and after the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic. After looking at over 19 million daily step count measurements from across the globe they found that there were significant declines in steps per day. In some places, a decline of more than 50% was found within a 2-month span after the World Health Organization’s March 11 declaration of the global pandemic.2
Fast forward to the present, life is getting back to normal and summertime activities are in full swing. Your body, however, may not feel as ready as your mind to partake in all the fun that “Summertime Chi” has to offer. As the saying goes, “motion is lotion” for our joints. Movement pumps fluid through our joints and, without an adequate amount, our joints do not retrieve enough nutrition from the surrounding blood supply. This lack of nutrition can lead to restricted, or painful, joints and early degeneration of the bones and tissues in the area.
Dr. Peter Kinsella, DC
How can our Chiropractic team help?
- Chiropractic adjustments help increase the range of motion in a restricted/hypomobile joint.
- Research shows that adjustments can also help decrease pain in the area1
- Individualized rehabilitative exercises will empower you to utilize these new ranges of motion.
- Additionally, we aim to break down common compensation patterns and build strength from function
- Soft tissue therapies will help relieve muscle tightness and tenderness.
- We primarily utilize the pin and stretch technique and massage therapy
RECAP: Our office utilizes a multimodal approach of chiropractic adjustments, rehabilitative exercises, and soft tissue therapies. To keep our joints healthy and feeling good they need to be able to move through ample ranges of motion. Things that can decrease joint ranges of motion are prolonged periods of immobility, pain, trauma, or injury. Some of the things that can increase these ranges are stretching, consistent movement, or chiropractic adjustments. When you come in for a treatment our goal is to utilize the adjustment and soft tissue techniques to reintroduce movement into your joints and to teach you specific ways to maintain and improve these increased ranges at home.
Sources:
1) Provencher B, Northon S, Gevers Montoro C, O'Shaughnessy J, Piché M. Effects of chiropractic spinal manipulation on laser-evoked pain and brain activity. J Physiol Sci. 2021 Jun 24;71(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s12576-021-00804-2. PMID: 34167458.
2) Tison, G. H., Avram, R., Kuhar, P., Abreau, S., Marcus, G. M., Pletcher, M. J., & Olgin, J. E. (2020). Worldwide effect of covid-19 on physical activity: A descriptive study. Annals of Internal Medicine, 173(9), 767–770. https://doi.org/10.7326/m20-2665
