Have you ever wondered why your body can sometimes cramp up hours after you have gone through a rigorous exercise regimen? It is because excessive sweating, such as the kind of sweating you do when you work out, causes a drop in blood volume. If you do not drink water to replace the fluids you lost and the increase the production of blood, then the drop in blood causes muscle cramps and other problems that normally occur if you do not hydrate yourself properly after a workout.
Most people do not understand the complex relationship between drinking water and your body's health, but there are plenty of situations where drinking water is critical. You must drink water before, during and after a workout to prevent the side-effects of fluid loss, and you need to drink water during the course of the day to replace the fluids you lose from daily activities such as sweating and urination.
What about physical therapy treatments? If you have ever used the expert physical rehabilitation services at Advanced Physical Therapy in Gilbert, Arizona, then you may remember your therapist reminding you to drink plenty of fluids after your session. What does sports injury physical therapy, or any kind of physical therapy, do to require you drinking water? Once again, the answer is more complex than most people expect, but it is important to understand how important water is to recovering properly from your physical therapy treatment.
The Soft Tissue Workout of Physical Therapy
People looking for physical therapy in Gilbert AZ go to Advanced Physical Therapy for the expert way in which the therapists manipulate soft tissue. The ability to relieve tension from soft tissue helps to relieve all of the surface pain that people are feeling from their routine daily activities.
But when a therapist works on the soft tissue, or when you do basic stretching exercises, there is a release of fluids from that tissue into the muscles. While this is a normal process that occurs throughout the day, the act of a therapist working on the soft tissue accelerates the release of fluid and leaves your soft tissue depleted.
This is one reason why it is extremely important to hydrate yourself after a physical therapy session. Your soft tissue has an abnormally low amount of fluid and needs to be replenished to maintain your good health. Dehydrated soft tissue tends to bruise easier, and it can lead to muscle cramps. If your soft tissue is dehydrated, then so are your muscles. This leads to cramps, sore muscles and sore joints. All of this can be avoided if you hydrate after your physical therapy session.
Removing Metabolic Waste
As your muscles function all day long, they are releasing metabolic waste that must be removed by your circulatory system. One of the reasons that people go to physical therapy is to relieve the tension and tightness in their muscles. That tension and tightness is cause by constrictions in the muscles ability to move waste. Throughout the course of the day or over time, the waste builds up and your muscles feel sore.
The release given by physical therapy removes that stiffness and gets the fluids flowing through the body again. The problem is that the buildup of metabolic waste is more than the water and other transporting fluids in your muscles can handle. That is why you must hydrate after a physical therapy session. The added water comes in and clears out the metabolic waste and helps your muscles to feel strong and healthy again.
Keeping Your Body Healthy
There are simple steps you can take each day to help maintain good health. Drinking plenty of fluids is one of the most important things you can do, but it is not the only way to maintain good health.
Get Some Exercise
If you do not get some exercise every day, then your body is not getting the kind of blood and oxygen circulation it needs to be healthy. Instead of taking the elevator at work, you should give the stairs a try. If your corner store is only a block or two away, then walk instead of taking the car. The more activity you give your body, the better you will feel in general.
Get Plenty Of Rest
When you sleep, your body replenishes itself and rebuilds tissue that has broken down throughout the day. Sleep is also when your body delivers extra oxygen to your internal organs, and prepares your body for the next day. If you want to maintain good health, then you need to get plenty of rest every night.
Watch What You Eat
These days, it can be difficult for a person to eat a completely healthy diet all day, every day. If you are able to buy natural foods and eat well, then you will go a long way towards keeping yourself healthy. But if you are in a situation where healthy foods are not always accessible, then there are a few things you can do. You should get used to reading food labels and watching what you eat. Avoid processed sugar, sodium (salt) and to many unnatural food flavorings. If you can eat healthy, then you will start to feel a lot better.
At Advanced Physical Therapy in Gilbert, AZ, we have the experts who can develop and deliver the right therapy program for you. Give us a call and let our professionals explain our programs, and help you to get on the path to better health.
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