Stretching Therapy

1. General Joint Physiology2. Concepts3. Joint types4. Factors affecting joint mobility5. Factors affecting muscle tension6. Stretching during immobilization7. Physiotherapy treatments prior to stretching – superficial heat/deep heat/application of cold/massage/vibration8. Stretching in sports – warm-up/cooling down9. Circulation during stretching10. Effect of stretching on muscle pain after exertion11. Effect of strengthening exercises on muscle stiffness12. Effect of stretching on muscle strength13. Effect of stretching on tendons14. Importance of back flexibility to body function15. Factors affecting flexibility – body structure/age/heredity and gender/time of day16. Muscle-tendon system structure17. Physiology of stretching – effects on fascia/effects on joint ligaments/effects on tendons/effects on nerves18. Neurophysiology of stretching – nerve supply to the muscle-tendon system19. Stretch research – electrical activity in muscles during stretching/viscosity and resistance in connective tissue during stretching20. Active stretching21. Static stretching – repetition and duration/ankle flexion/hip flexion/application of static stretching technique22. Active assisted stretching23. Contract-relax stretching technique24. Contract-relax and agonist tension stretch25. Dynamic stretching26. Ballistic stretching27. Comparison of stretching techniques28. Conclusions of stretching research29. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation – PNF30. Muscle energy technique – MET31. Strain and counter-strain32. Functional stretching33. Stretching in physiotherapy – muscle injury/muscle cramp/recovery following fracture and surgery/burns/spasticity associated with brain trauma/joint inflammation/limited joint mobility/muscle shortening in lower extremity/tennis elbow/chronic back pain34. Complications of stretching and their prevention – pain due to irritation of joint receptors/strains/hypermobility/nerve trauma/autonomic hyper-reflex/damage to blood vessels/damage to vertebral discs/risk of fracture35. Stretching as prevention36. Factors affecting effectiveness of stretching techniques37. Measuring stretch sensation38. Measuring stretch force39. Subjective and objective muscle tension40. Motivation* Index to stretching techniques* Muscles and their stretching techniques* References* Index