Muscles are bands of tissue that contract and allow you to move. The muscles are located throughout the body including your heart, esophagus, blood vessels and pelvis. Sometimes, muscles become inflamed or you inherit a muscle disorder. In some...
A stroke is a blockage of blood flow to the brain either because of a blocked blood vessel or a bleeding blood vessel. The brain is sensitive to a disruption of blood flow and brain cells can die, causing permanent damage. According to Medline...
Long-term immobility in persons disabled by paralysis or physical conditions that prevent them from moving an arm, a leg or other part of the body, may result in increased disability and complications. If you don't move your muscles, they...
Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to control muscle movement and coordination. Most signs of cerebral palsy are evident in infancy. Common symptoms include rigid, stiff movements, involuntary movements,...
The shoulder is formed by the bulbous head of the humerus and the shallow glenoid fossa to create the glenohumeral joint (GH). In conjunction with glenohumeral joint, the shoulder blade provides extra range of motion for the shoulder. Of all the...
The Merck Manual Home Edition defines autoimmune disorders as a condition in which the body assumes it is under attack by foreign antigens. The body goes to work to ward off the antigens by producing a response of antibodies--an overgrowth of...
Tight tendons not only limit movement and function, they also may be painful and more prone to injury. In addition to regular resistance exercise, stretching your tight tendons will lengthen them, increase flexibility and improve your level of...
The muscles in your body make it possible to move. Muscles cover your bones and make up the bulk of your heart. In fact, your heart is the most important muscle in your body because it pumps blood to your organs. Even your blood vessels contain...
The rotator cuff consists of four muscles that function to hold the head of the humerus in place and rotate the arm in different planes of motion. Massive rotator cuff tears are lesions greater than 5 cm, and affect more than one tendon. The...
Motor vehicle accidents, falls, high contact sports accidents and acts of violence are the most common causes of paralysis. These traumas can cause a broken neck or broken back and damage the spinal cord, which in turn causes paralysis. The...
Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that causes impairments in motor function and in some instances, mental retardation. Individuals with cerebral palsy can have a wide variety of impairments, including spasticity, decreased coordination,...
Individuals who are too weak to exercise their own muscles or those who are paralyzed may require your help to keep their muscles and joints healthy. While range of motion exercises won't build new muscle, such exercises will help prevent joints...
Cerebral palsy affects brain and motor function, with the muscles and brain unable to communicate properly. Quad cerebral palsy, known as spastic quadriplegia or quadriparesis, is the most severe of all types of cerebral palsy. Performing a number...
Although there are many different kinds of massage, with various names, massage can be divided into three basic types. Acupressure refers to massages from Asia that focus on pressure points and the movement of energy through the body. Swedish...
Muscle cramps can result from excessive exercise, dehydration, muscle injuries or sometimes just from sitting in a certain position for a long period of time. Some medical conditions such as diabetes, anemia, mineral deficiencies, kidney or...
According to a 2004 article in "IEEE Transactions on Bio-Medical Engineering," the accepted explanation for injuries related to electrical shock is cellular rupture caused by an electrical field. At times the severity and locations of injuries...
Deep tissue massage referrs to a specialized style of massage focusing on the connective tissue of the body. It is called “deep tissue massage” not because the pressure is deep, although it sometimes is, but because the therapist is...
Doing range-of-motion exercises is a simple way to maintain or improve joint mobility in people who are immobile or handicapped, according to "Basic Nursing" by Patricia Potter and Anne Perry. Permanent shorting of the muscles and contractures can...
Muscular dystrophy is a group of genetic, hereditary diseases that are progressive in nature. These diseases generally involve more than your muscles; in fact, they may affect your cardiovascular, nervous, gastrointestinal and endocrine systems....
Cerebral palsy can be classified as a group of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood. The disorder is caused by abnormal development in parts of the brain that control muscle movement. This permanently affects body...
Physical rehabilitation following stroke may help stoke patients regain partial or full function of the injured body part as well as maintain muscle strength and growth and development. The type of stroke experienced may also determine the depth...
Tension in your neck muscles may lead to tension headaches. According to the National Library of Medicine, tension headaches are the most common form of headaches. The National Center for Emergency Medicine Informatics notes that tension, in this...
The nature of the connective tissue disorder, scleroderma, can vary widely in those with the condition. In some, it only affects the skin while in others, it affects internal areas such as the organs and digestive tract. Exercise can help with...
When a taser gun is fired, two probes shoot out and attach to the subject, sometimes at distances up to 25 feet away from who is firing the weapon. The probes then deliver an electric shock either directly to the skin or through clothing,...
Exercise is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle at any age. A person is more at risk of being bedridden if she is elderly because of the more frequent occurrence of certain diseases that can limit movement. For example, Alzheimer's disease,...
The effects of a stroke differ with every individual, ranging from little functional deficits to major deficits in speech and movement. The most common disability resulting from stroke is decreased motor control or paralysis. The inability to...
Future complications of having a stroke vary depending on the type and severity of stroke experienced. Many complications of stroke occur as a result of immobility. The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation emphasizes that early...
Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, LGMD, is a genetic group of disorders that affects the muscles in the shoulders and hip girdles. These muscles slowly lose strength over many years. Generally weakness occurs first in the hips and legs, followed by...
Getting your child into physical therapy as soon as he is diagnosed with muscular dystrophy (MD) is an important step in caring for him during the early years of the disease. Learning what type of exercising your child can do at each stage of MD...
