Aim of Corrective Exerciser
Corrective exercises, except in a few instances, are not unique or peculiar movements, but are merely ordinary move¬ments given in a special way. The construction of the joints limits the number of movements that can be made, and those which are possible must be modified and combined as neces¬sary in order to constitute corrective exercise. In many de¬formities certain muscles are paralyzed so that they exert no pull whatever. The opposing muscles may then exert such a pull as to produce marked deformity, such as the various kinds of clubfoot, twisted arms, or extreme spinal curvatures. Naturally, such contracted muscles need relaxation more than exercise, though a moderate amount of the latter is valuable for improving the circulation and preventing them from losing tone. In these cases the chief attention is given to the weak¬ened or paralyzed muscles, passive exercise being used if active is impossible, while anything else indicated to remove the causes of the trouble is also done. All cases may not be completely correctable, hut improvement is always possible.
There may be some cases, especially of compound spinal curvatures, in which it will be best to avoid certain movements entirely, but as a rule the corrective exercises are merely added to general exercise. The latter are required for their physiological benefits and for maintaining general symmetry, and the former for building up the weakened muscles which have permitted the deformity to develop.