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Is Stretching Useful for People With Diabetes?

Is Stretching Useful for People With Diabetes? (0:56)

Stretching is useful for those with diabetes, since flexibility is key for the types of exercises patients should be doing regularly. Watch endocrinologist Reza Yavari, MD, explain how stretching can improve movement, circulation and balance.

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Stretching is often useful for people with diabetes for many reasons. People with diabetes often complain of stiff joints and poor circulation. Sometimes they have pain in their legs caused by neuropathy, and all of this results in a body, shape and form that is not amenable to exercises like yoga or tai chi readily.

Exercises that require flexible body. Flexibility is very important because it helps circulation in people with diabetes. It also helps a sense of balance which prevents falls, in particular in the elderly patients with diabetes who may have a poor eye sight. Therefore stretching the muscles as part of have an exercise routine, or simple as a form of relaxation is very useful for people with diabetes.