Guidelines for Doing Stretching and Range-of-Motion Exercises

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HealthWiki > Disabled Village Children > Chapter 42: Range-of-Motion and Other Exercises > Guidelines for Doing Stretching and Range-of-Motion Exercises

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In this chapter:

 

In this chapter:

1. When doing these exercises, consider the position of the whole child, not just the joint you are moving. For example:
The knee will often straighten more (and you will be stretching different muscles) when the hip is straight	than when the hip is bent.
	OW!
This is because some muscles go from the hipbone to below the knee.
	To prove this, try to touch your toes with your knees straight. You will feel the muscles stretch, and the cords tighten here.
In a similar way, movement in the ankle is affected by the position of the knee, and movement of the fingers by the position of the wrist.

2. If the joints are stiff or painful, or cords and muscles are tight, often it helps to apply heat to the joint and muscles before beginning to move or stretch them. Heat reduces pain and relaxes tight muscles. Heat can be applied with hot water soaks, a warm bath, or hot wax. For methods, see How to Care for Painful Joints.

For a stiff, painful joint	apply heat for 10 or 15 minutes	before doing the exercises.

3. Move the joint SLOWLY through its complete range of motion. If the range is not complete, try to stretch it slowly and gently just a little more each time. Do not use force, and stop stretching when it starts to hurt.
Hold the limb in a stretched position while you count to 25.	Then slowly stretch the joint a little more and hold it again for a while.	Continue this way until you have stretched it as far as you can without forcing it or causing much pain.
	22, 23, 24, 25
The more often you repeat this, the faster the limb will get straighter.

4. Have the child herself do as much of the exercise as she can. Help her only with what she cannot do herself. For example:
Instead of doing the child’s range-of-motion exercise for her,	have her do the exercise using her own muscles as much as she can.	Then have her help with the other hand (or you help her if necessary).

Whenever possible, exercises that help to maintain or increase joint motion should also help to maintain or increase strength. In other words, range-of-motion, stretching, and strengthening exercises can often be done together.

This page was updated:04 Apr 2024