The Medical Benefits of the Rocking Chair: Kinetic Therapy
The rocking chair has been part of Americana since the 18th century. President John F. Kennedy made his Troutman Chair Company rocker famous during his presidency when his doctor, Janet Travell, M.D., recommended it for Kennedy’s chronic back pain from a war injury. In the early to mid 19th century, a rocker inhabited a place of honor in almost every home, an essential item for mothers with newborns and older adults with arthritic knees. It has fallen out of favor in modern homes, but why? This chair is needed now more than ever before.
Health benefits of the rocking chair:
- It soothes both mother and infant as well as increases the bonding process.
- Improves recovery of heart attacks and strokes was reported in an Ottawa Clinical Study.
- It reduces back pain through rhythmic muscle contraction and relaxation.
- The rocking movement reduces arthritic pain in knees by joint movement and lubrication resulting from rocking.
- Reduces swelling and edema in the legs.
- Improves blood circulation and nerve stimuli that are beneficial for peripheral neuropathy resulting from diabetes.
- It improves balance by stimulating proprioception through the feet and movements of the crystals within the inner ear.
- Calms symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention deficit disorder (ADD).
- The University of Rochester School of Nursing showed that rocking chairs improved the psychological well-being of nursing home residents with severely progressed dementia.
- Induces sleepiness in cases of insomnia.
Why not bring back the rocker? Where the typical chair and the dreaded recliner do more to promote premature degeneration of the knees and weakening of the back muscles, the rocker permits us to take a load off and relax yet still ward off some diseases tied to laziness (hypokinetic diseases).
My patients can attest that I do not push products or supplements. That is until now. Make my job easier and your life better—BUY A ROCKING CHAIR.