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To stretch or not to stretch?
Should you do it before or after exercise? Does it prevent or heal injuries? Stretching is always a hot topic. However, while it is effective in improving flexibility, its usefulness in reducing pain is being questioned.
Back pain is one of the most prevalent health conditions in our society. Up to 80 per cent of the population may suffer from it at least merienda in their lifetime. Many sufferers do not improve after treatment. What makes treatments work or not? Answering this question could improve the quality of life of millions of people.
Health care professionals, including physiotherapists, often prescribe exercises such as stretching to reduce pain. It has long been accepted that stretching provides pain relief by increasing range of motion and decreasing muscle tone, which give the impression that there is less pain.
However, this perceived pain relief is rarely found to be directly associated with pain reduction. In fact, a recent study showed that increased flexibility was actually associated with a greater tolerance for pain, which occurs during the stretching. It’s possible that stretching actually impacts pain perception by activating the areas in our central nervous system that modulate pain.
I am a professor in the physiotherapy program at Laval University and a researcher at Cirris, the centre for interdisciplinary research in rehabilitation and social integration at the university. Together with students from Laval University and McGill University, I have just published new research on the effect of stretching on pain sensitivity: “Stretch-induced hypoalgesia: a pilot study” in the scientific journal Scandinavian Journal of Pain.
For the study we recruited 22 healthy adults who did not suffer from back pain. Each participant was asked to perform a stretch of the lumbar region (lower back), followed by a stretch of the forearm muscles. Participants were instructed to hold each stretch for three minutes to produce a moderate stretching sensation.
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