Stretching therapy : for sport and manual therapists

1. General Joint Physiology 2. Concepts 3. Joint types 4. Factors affecting joint mobility 5. Factors affecting muscle tension 6. Stretching during immobilization 7. Physiotherapy treatments prior to stretching - superficial heat/deep heat/application of cold/massage/vibration 8. Stretching in sports - warm-up/cooling down 9. Circulation during stretching 10. Effect of stretching on muscle pain after exertion 11. Effect of strengthening exercises on muscle stiffness 12. Effect of stretching on muscle strength 13. Effect of stretching on tendons 14. Importance of back flexibility to body function 15. Factors affecting flexibility - body structure/age/heredity and gender/time of day 16. Muscle-tendon system structure 17. Physiology of stretching - effects on fascia/effects on joint ligaments/effects on tendons/effects on nerves 18. Neurophysiology of stretching - nerve supply to the muscle-tendon system 19. Stretch research - electrical activity in muscles during stretching/viscosity and resistance in connective tissue during stretching 20. Active stretching 21. Static stretching - repetition and duration/ankle flexion/hip flexion/application of static stretching technique 22. Active assisted stretching 23. Contract-relax stretching technique 24. Contract-relax and agonist tension stretch 25. Dynamic stretching 26. Ballistic stretching 27. Comparison of stretching techniques 28. Conclusions of stretching research 29. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation - PNF 30. Muscle energy technique - MET 31. Strain and counter-strain 32. Functional stretching 33. 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 pain 34. 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 fracture 35. Stretching as prevention 36. Factors affecting effectiveness of stretching techniques 37. Measuring stretch sensation 38. Measuring stretch force 39. Subjective and objective muscle tension 40. Motivation * Index to stretching techniques * Muscles and their stretching techniques * References * Index