When Stretching Does More Harm than Good: Hypermobile? Get Strong
Many people may be shocked to learn that stretching can do more harm than good, but those who’ve experienced a hyperextension injury are all too familiar with the dangers it poses.
While you may look at yogis with their legs over their heads in awe, being too bendy can lead to significant problems. Stretching can lead to hypermobility in the joints or worsen genetic hypermobility, which can result in pain and an increased risk of injury.
Our MAT experts at Dynamic Fitness and Rehabilitation explain what it means to have hypermobile joints and why stretching isn’t (always) the solution.
Not All Bodies Are Created Equally
A common misconception is that everyone’s bodies respond to movement in the same way. In reality, there are a variety of factors that impact how people should train. What works for someone else may not have the same impact on you. One of the most notable factors to consider is joint mobility or hypermobility.
What is Hypermobility?
In many cases, people don’t even know that they have hypermobile joints. They may randomly injure themselves or feel pain without knowing why or how to address the problem.
It’s estimated that around 1 in 10 people is hypermobile.
Hypermobile joints have an unusually large range of motion without stability. Hypermobility can occur in any joint and may be the result of a variety of conditions, such as:
Heritable connective tissue disorders, such as Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, Marfan syndrome, Stickler syndrome, osteogenesis imperfecta, and others
Joint malformations, loose ligaments, or poor muscle tone unaccompanied by a connective tissue disorder
Conditions such as Down’s syndrome or Cerebral Palsy
Injury or repeated stretching and training from activities such as yoga, dance, gymnastics, or playing certain instruments
What Are the Symptoms of Hypermobility?
People with hypermobility may be able to move their limbs in ways other people can’t. However, once hypermobility presents with painful symptoms, it may lead to greater stiffness and difficulty with extension since the surrounding muscles contract to protect the joints. Symptoms might include:
Pain and stiffness in joints and muscles
Clicking joints
Joints that dislocate or subluxate (partially dislocate)
Fatigue
Recurrent injuries
Digestive issues, such as constipation or IBS
Dizziness and fainting
Thin or stretchy skin
Symptoms vary greatly between individuals as well as over time. Many people do not experience any symptoms of hypermobility, but this doesn’t mean they can never occur. It’s common for hypermobility to turn symptomatic after a shift in the body from being able to cope to not being able to cope. These triggers might include:
Injury
Illness (including COVID-19)
Pregnancy
If you suffer from any of the previously mentioned symptoms, you should connect with a medical fitness expert or physical therapist, such as a member of our team at Dynamic Fitness and Rehabilitation. There are steps you can take to manage your symptoms and return to a healthy, active lifestyle. We’re here to help!
How Stretching Can Make Matters Worse
Stretching, especially when performed without a proper warm-up, can exacerbate or cause hypermobility symptoms. When we lengthen our muscles beyond a comfortable point, sensory receptors in the muscle trigger neurons that tell the muscle fibers to contract and prevent tearing.
The ‘stretch reflex’ keeps us safe from injury and helps us maintain balance in our gravitational field.
However, when you begin to pull and lengthen muscles that are already tight, this ‘stretch reflex’ can cause the muscles to contract further, increasing tension around painful joints.
These muscles surrounding the joint aren’t able to turn off and stay stuck in a hypertonic state. This inability for the muscles to relax hinders the pumping mechanism in the muscles that remove waste through the lymphatic system and draw nutrition into the cells. It will also lead to further weakness, contributing to the cycle of pain and instability.
On top of that, you may overstretch ligaments and tendons that are already too loose!
What You Can Do to Restabilize Your Joints
When you’re in pain, your first instinct is probably to rest, massage your muscles, and stretch. For some people, these can be effective measures, but these protocols are usually unhelpful and can make matters worse for those with hypermobility.
Get Strong
The counterintuitive solution is to get to work. Get strong. Get tough. It is, of course, important to listen to your body. Sharp, stabbing, or electric pains indicate you should cease activity and should be evaluated by a practitioner. However, dull and achy pains from strengthening the joints are a hurdle you may have to overcome to see long-term relief of your symptoms.
Retrain the Nervous System
The nervous system is responsible for maintaining the programs that direct human posture, movement, and gait. You must reestablish this ‘motor control’ that initially develops in our early childhood years. This entails getting back to movement basics with rehabilitative exercises such as:
Lifting your head off of the ground while on your belly
Rolling
Crawling
Standing up from all fours
Squatting
And more!
Every mobility problem, tight muscle, or stuck joint is, at its core, a stability issue that needs to be addressed.
If just one muscle is dysfunctional, movement is compromised. For this reason, musculoskeletal issues must be addressed comprehensively; truly going back to the basic and integrative mind-body approach.
Learn More > 3 Functional Fitness Elements to Include in Your Workouts
Establish Stability with Dynamic Fitness & Rehabilitation
Joint pain is incredibly frustrating, and it can be demoralizing when you convince yourself you’ll have arthritis forever or you’ll need surgery to feel good again. Fortunately, there are so many things you can do to retrain your body and start to feel amazing again.
While hypermobility can’t be “cured” per se, it can be managed and stopped from getting in the way of your daily life. If you’re ready to feel stable and strong, schedule your evaluation with one of our knowledgeable team members at Dynamic Fitness and Rehabilitation!