Muscle Relaxants: Therapeutic Exercises

* Relaxes the muscles – enables the therapist to work on the muscles without causing discomfort to the client

When a muscle is overworked, the muscle can run out of all natural energy. Without energy, the muscle, or muscle pairs, can no longer contract. This condition is known as muscle fatigue. During a state of muscle fatigue, the muscle tissues loses oxygen, and the muscle is left with little to no air.

Individuals who suffer from heart conditions, particularly adult and aged athletes are those who have had previously suffered from high blood pressure, experienced a heart attack or any other heart problems. Prescribed exercises for individuals within this group demonstrates low risk during participation and considerable health benefits. Health benefits through exercise reduces blood pressure levels, however in order to gain full benefits exercise must be linked with a balanced diet (low fat and low salt intake)

One of the most effective competing responses is progressive relaxation, or skeletal muscle relaxation. Progressive relaxation is generally a guided process of focusing on specific muscle groups and relaxing them one group at a time until one’s whole body is relaxed. Progressive relaxation can be done alone or with the guidance of a therapist. There are two types of progressive relaxation that are used in exposure therapy: tension and relaxation, and relaxation only. Both the tension and relaxation as well as the relaxation only method are carried out by taking deep breaths and focusing on one muscle group, of the 16 groups, at a time. The only distinction between the two types is that

After doing the progressive muscle training exercise, I was definitely more relaxed, my body did not feel as tense. Personally I think that learning about stress management techniques is very beneficial. Like it is stated in the book, “More than 60 studies have found that relaxation procedures an also help alleviate headaches, hypertension, anxiety and insomnia” (Myers, 2014, p. 409). For example, maybe you are sitting at work and you have an unbearable headache, doing these exercises can help alleviate the pain, and relax you at the same time. Another example, is when I’m just lying in bed and have insomnia, to me this is very frustrating, but now that I have learned about these exercises. This will help make the long sleepless nights disappear.

Many patients’ who present stressed and anxious often have a fast respiratory rate and often after a while their breathing becomes compromised. By guiding the patient through a deep breathing exercise there can present a better outcome. Deep breathing can soothe and ease anxiety along with pain and stress. It can also help to deviate the patients’ mind to different, less stressful thoughts and times (Selimen, 2011). One of the many reaction’s the body has to stress and anxiety is muscle tension. Tension can lead to aches and pains in the muscles and can lead to more problems that can be prevented. Muscle relaxation is easy to learn and can be particularly helpful in cases when an anxious patient needs to release some tension or stress (Selimen, 2011). These techniques can help a patient to relieve anxiety and guide them on the road to health and

The two forms of relaxation therapy that are noted in this week’s research article and are utilized in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder are progressive relaxation technique and applied relaxation technique, (Siev & Chambless, 2007). Progressive relaxation is, just as I sounds, a method that gradually trains the body to relax by first learning to tense and then relax muscle groups (Siev & Chambless, 2007). Next, the subject eventually, learns to relax without having to tense the different muscle groups (Siev & Chambless, 2007). Progressive relaxation is the actually first stage of applied relaxation (Siev & Chambless, 2007). Applied relaxation takes progressive relaxation, one step further, by applying the method in stressful situations, (Siev & Chambless, 2007). Applied relaxation involves exposure, however, the goal is not to stop the anxiety through habituation, but to apply the skills in vivo (Siev & Chambless, 2007).

Massage can give you all the benefits of medication - but without the nasty side-effects.

First, we take 1 of the hot towels. Before placing it on the clients back, we test it on our arms to make sure it is not too hot.

Sarcopenia (Greek ‘sarx’ or flesh + ‘penia’ or loss) used to describe this age-related decline of muscle mass ( Cruz-Jentoft et al., 2010).

When considering whether or not yogic relaxation is better than meditation, it's best to remember that it all depends. Each process can bring different benefits for those who need them. It all depends on the specific need of the person.

A massage can calm your mind and relax your muscles. It can also boost your immune system. When you visit a day spa, you can receive a variety of spa services. A masseuse can use a variety of ancient techniques. If you are recovering from an injury, a massage therapist can use specialized techniques on your sore muscles.

Three of the four studies suggested that massage therapy reduces postoperative pain in cardiac patients as compared to patients receiving only standard care. One study did not identify any benefits of massage therapy regarding to pain in cardiac patients.

With interest in alternative medicine on the rise, there is an increasing demand for evidence based research to support the professional practice of Massage Therapists. Massage can offer pregnant or laboring women an alternate or complimentary form of relaxation and pain management to conventional care. Currently, there are numerus resources on pregnancy massage available to therapists; but more research is required to support and promote the benefits of including a Registered Massage Therapist in labor. The authors of this study acknowledged this substantial gap in clinical knowledge and created an innovative study to assess the efficacy of Massage Therapy on active labor pain. Furthermore, the researchers hypothesized that the use of Massage

When dealing with stress this week, the first technique I tried was taking a walk in nature. For this technique, I walked around the walkway in the park behind my house and tried to relax and forget about what I had to do when I got home. The idea behind using nature for stress relief is to enjoy the beauty that was created by God. The only problem with this technique for me, is that I am someone that does not enjoy the outdoors, so walking around outside and trying to find stress relief in nature was very difficult for me. According to Emily Main from the Prevention website (2012), “[w]ide open spaces mean more opportunities to boost your health. For one thing, getting outside forces you to get a little exercise, and exercise is the best natural mood booster there is…there’s just something about being in our natural element that’s hard to beat…” While there may be many health benefits, this technique is something that possibly does not work for everyone, myself included. Growing up I have always had to stay around home for my sister, and I have gotten to used to being inside that I am not used to going to nature for solstice.