Joint Self-Mobility 101
Self-applied ankle mobility for joints missing windows of motion is the newest rage.
Welcome to learning how to help you stay healthy!!
As a clinical aside before we get started, we have many new techniques that we are excited about not only sharing but also teaching about.
This new paradigm shift is here. Help us to keep you well by working with us on self-care before you feel pain. Instead of expecting us to fix it when it’s ‘broken’, we would rather have you understand and work on the build up that occurs before you feel that it’s broken. In this way, we can work together to fix your injuries before they begin.
Prevention is the new pattern, and we are here to help.
For those working on old injuries that they think might be at the limit of their improvement, or for who know they can benefit from additional joint mobility, we can now show you how to work on yourself from the comfort of your own home. Working with us to achieve goals set in the office, this is a great way to accelerate your recovery and to help us keep up on your maintenance. In this way, we can truly achieve full body wellness (not just the area we are working on in the office).
Let’s begin to teach you HOW to go hunting for these missing windows of motion and also give you some beginning information on how to restore these missing windows of motion with just a few self-care tools. When we are talking joint mobility, we are usually talking about the joint capsule itself and the muscles and tissues that surround it. Tight and contracted for a long period, these joints will fully lose their ability to move in dynamic situations… this could be a cause of injury in itself!
As all joint work is done with pain as a guide and listening to ones body to ensure it LIKES the care, we can create a controlled environment to ensure that you receive the most out of your time spent. But first, a baby lesson on regions needing mobility. From the chart below (that I had an illustrator personally make for us), you can see that specific regions are designed with a particular use in mind. The neck is designed to be stable and to hold up the head (except for the top vertebrae or two, which are designed to rotate), the shoulder and hop are designed to be mobile and to bend and flex to your every need. The elbows and knees are hinge joints, designed to bear load but not to give out upon such motion, and the hands and feet are designed to adapt so nicely to the ground or to tools we are using during our every day activities. This body is one that is perfectly in balance with stability and mobility. Comparing your and my body to this format, we quickly see patterns of immobility or rigidity that throw off the normal motion and loading of the human frame.
What Areas can Benefit from Additional Mobility?
Almost all regions can benefit from mobility, however we focus on the regions who are designed to be mobile. The low back and neck are designed to be stable, and pain in these regions often occurs from nearby regions forcing them into abnormal motion and loading. For this reason, we focus our care mainly on the regions below:
Mobility Banding is Perfect for:
-Shoulders
-Wrists
-Ankles
-Hips
-Feet
As you might notice, these regions are designed to be flexible and to move in many ranges. Restoring motion to these areas will decrease the burden on your neck and back.
PHOTO LEFT:
An athlete using RockTape's RockBand for increased internal rotation of the shoulder. Concurrently, we're stretching the hip at the same time!
How To Use Mobility Banding:
Using soft or firm banding depending on the joint in question, we can now restore joint motion in several ranges:
Axially
Horizontally
Rotationally
With the end goal of restoring any missing ‘windows’ of motion to these stiff rigid areas, we can give you the ticket to restoring your own body outside of our office. First, we must ensure you cannot hurt yourself and that your body will benefit from these exercises, just to be safe!
Come on in and let’s discuss where you are in your self-care progress and where you’d like to be. Missing mobility due to good old joint stiffness, scar tissue, or capsular contraction is very common and treatable. Letting pain be our guide, we can gently restore your joint motion back to normal, decreasing wear and tear and restoring normal biomechanics along the way.
Thanks for reading!!
PS- A Quick Note: Appointment Booking and Time Regulations.
While I have you here, if this sounds like something you might be interested in learning about, please book yourself in for a physiotherapy visit (NOT a plain old chiropractic visit… there is a difference, the biggest being time!). As we are about to hit the busy summer season, we cannot go over in appointment time as there will most likely be someone waiting after you for their appointment. With that said, if you feel that you need more time, please book the 45 minute all-inclusive sessionso that we can ensure proper care and treatment AND answers to all of your questions!
This type of care is NOT for those patients who have overly mobile joints OR for those who have sustained an injury or have pain that we have not discussed. If this isn’t you, pfew… We can proceed!
Best,
Dr. Lisa
