I have a confession to make: I wake up with morning stiffness these days. It’s not yet a major concern, and I wake up early enough to do some stretches to safely get my day going. I’m in good company. Millions of people wake up with stiffness—you don’t even have to be old to experience stiff joints and muscles in the morning. Add in medical considerations such as arthritis, and morning stiffness can be profound.
Stiffness doesn’t always get all the credit it deserves for being a troublemaker, but it is unfortunately excellent at limiting our safety and independence in functional tasks and self-care activities, and can also put us at risk of muscular sprains and strains or outright falls that can cause severe injuries.
