Stretching is a great way to ensure you can stay loose and active during strenuous exercises and activities. Stretching is especially beneficial for young children with arthritis, and their muscles may not be able to handle the amount of stress without limbering up first.
Read on as we discuss 5 reasons why stretching is important for active young children and how it can help their arthritis.
1. Relieves Pain
Stretching your limbs out can be a huge pain reliever, especially if you're experiencing a cramp or tightness. Pain relief is often why so many high-level athletes turn to yoga during the off-season, as it can prolong their career by years at a time.
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Young children diagnosed with arthritis can experience the same pain relief through consistent stretching. In fact, it is best to start early because their young bodies will grow more flexible, which will help them down the line.
Stretching inflamed joints can be painful, so it's best to let the sensations subside before trying to fix them. This is where medication or light stretching comes into play.
2. Prevents Future Complications
An early introduction to stretching can prevent your young child from having any future pain, inflammation, or complications with arthritis. Depending on how active your child is in their formative years, they may need to do more or less stretching.
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However, general limberness will help your child cope with the daily stress of having arthritis and one or more joints. Teaching your five-year-old to do a quick 5-minute stretch every day after they wake up will set them in the right direction.
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3. Reduces Stress
Stress relief can be a great benefit from daily stretching. Stretching can reduce the pain you feel from your inflamed joints, diminishing pain-induced stress.
Lowering stress levels while experiencing arthritis symptoms gives you a better chance of dealing with the disease daily. Therefore, implementing a daily stretch routine that targets the most troubled areas of your body can have tremendous long-term effects.
Furthermore, the breathing exercises that often accompany stretching facilitate a level of calmness that will work wonders on any anxiety or pain you have. Stretching exercises are the best time to practice your breathing because they are so low-intensity, allowing you to breathe more easily and freely.
4. Can Make Muscles and Joints Stronger
Consistent limber exercises can lessen any existing arthritis pain your child is experiencing. Aside from reducing inflammation, it can also make the muscles more pliable.
Loose and flexible muscles significantly improve the range of motion, allowing them to dissipate any pain along the tissue. Additionally, it can oil up a child's joints and prepare those bones for a day of movement and potentially intense exercise.
Existing arthritis pain will not go away completely, but stretching can make sure it does not get any worse and strengthen your joints and muscles in the long run.
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5. Reduces the Risk of Injury
Pre and post-activity stretching is a massive favorite for many athletes and non-athletic people because of the reduced risk of injury. Injuries do not have to be sports-related either, as numerous arthritis-related injuries are also looming on the horizon.
Arthritis can often lead to falls or lack of cartilage in the bone, which may need to be fixed with surgery. Fortunately, the structures don't have to be too in-depth to prevent injury, but just enough to feel the bands in your muscle elongate.
Several physicians suggest that people warm up before they stretch, so keep that in mind, but your active young ones should be just fine with a quick stretch every now and again.
