“Just stretch it” is probably one of the most common pieces of “medical” advice people are given about how to fix their pain…and very often it’s bad advice.
This advice usually comes from people who have no professional background in dealing with people in pain and how the body moves.
Although sometimes, this advice even comes from your doctor. After talking to you for a couple minutes about your pain, they give you a prescription for a medication and hand you a generic sheet of stretches that they give people with )insert body part here) pain. This blanket approach is rarely successful as no two people can be treated exactly the same way.
Why You Should Stop Stretching
Simply put, if stretching was the answer to your problem, then you wouldn’t have your problem anymore. Think about it, if you’re stretching the same area over and over and you still feel tight….then stretching clearly isn’t helping and there is a different answer to your problem.
In some instances, stretching may be beneficial, but other times it could actually make your problem worse. Think about this – you tie a knot in a piece of rope and you pull on both ends stretching the rope. What happens?…the knot gets tighter. Think about that analogy the next time something feels tight and you try to stretch it out.
There are many reasons why stretching may not be helpful, most of which quite complicated and confusing.
So, if this article really hits home with you, I recommend you seek out a medical professional who specializes in movement and can view your problem from a different perspective. Because right now, the approach you’re taking is wasting time and energy…and potentially making the problem worse!