Is Stretching in the Morning Better Than Evening

Most people who stretch regularly have a favourite time of day for it, and most of them will defend that time strongly. Morning people say stretching first thing wakes the body up and makes the whole day feel easier. Evening people say stretching after dinner helps them let go of the day and sleep better. Both groups are right about their own experience, and that is the first thing to understand about this question. There is no single best time to stretch that suits everyone. Morning and evening stretching feel different because your body is in a different state at those two times, and the benefits you get from each one are different too. This article explains those differences in plain words, so you can choose the time that fits your body, your schedule and your goals, or use both times for different reasons.

Stretching means gently lengthening your muscles and moving your joints through their normal range. It is not exercise in the hard sense. You do not need to sweat, you do not need equipment, and you do not need a large space. A few minutes on the floor beside your bed, or on a mat in your living room, is enough. What stretching does is simple and useful: it helps your muscles feel looser, it helps your joints move more freely, and it gives you a quiet moment to notice how your body feels. Those things matter at any time of day. The question is only which time gives you more of what you need, and the honest answer is that it depends on what your day looks like and what your body is asking for.

Why Your Body Feels Stiff in the Morning

If you wake up feeling stiff, you are not alone, and there is nothing strange about it. During the night you lie still for six to eight hours, and your muscles and joints spend that time in one position. Your body temperature drops a little while you sleep, and your muscles cool down and tighten slightly. The fluid that keeps your joints moving smoothly also moves more slowly when you are still for a long time. When you first get out of bed, your back may feel tight, your shoulders may feel heavy, and your legs may feel unwilling to move. This is normal for most people, and it usually eases within half an hour or so once you start moving around.

Age makes morning stiffness more noticeable, though it can happen at any age. A person in their twenties may wake up and feel fine within minutes. A person in their fifties or sixties may need longer before the body feels ready. How you sleep matters too. A mattress that is too soft or too hard, a pillow that holds your neck at an awkward angle, or sleeping in a curled-up position all night can leave you stiffer than usual. Cold weather can add to the feeling, because muscles tighten more in the cold. None of this means something is wrong with you. It means your body has been resting, and it needs a gentle start before it is ready for the day.

This is where morning stretching earns its reputation. A few slow stretches soon after waking help your muscles warm up, help blood move around the body again, and help your joints loosen after hours of stillness. You are not trying to force your body into new positions. You are simply reminding it how to move. Reaching your arms above your head, rolling your shoulders, bending gently to touch your knees, and twisting slowly from side to side are all small movements that tell your body the day has begun. Many people find that after five minutes of this, the stiffness fades and the day feels easier to face. That is the main benefit of morning stretching, and it is a real one.

What Morning Stretching Actually Does

Morning stretching works best when it is gentle and slow. Your muscles are cool when you wake up, so they are less ready for deep or forceful stretching than they are later in the day. Think of it like warming up a car on a cold morning. You would not push the engine hard in the first minute. You would let it warm up gradually. Your body is the same. Start with easy movements, hold each stretch for only a few seconds at first, and breathe normally while you do it. If a stretch hurts, ease off. A stretch should feel like a mild pull, not pain.

One of the clearest benefits of stretching in the morning is that it wakes up your mind as well as your body. When you stretch, you breathe more deeply, and deeper breathing brings more oxygen into your body and helps you feel more alert. Many people who stretch in the morning say they feel less groggy and more ready to work. That is partly the movement itself and partly the few quiet minutes of paying attention to your own body before the phone, the news and the demands of the day begin. It is a small pocket of calm at the start of the day, and for people with busy mornings it can be the only quiet moment they get.

Morning stretching also helps your posture for the rest of the day. Most of us spend the day sitting, leaning forward over a desk, a phone or a steering wheel. That forward position tightens the chest and shoulders and weakens the muscles in the upper back. A few morning stretches that open the chest, pull the shoulders back and lengthen the spine can set a better pattern for the hours that follow. It does not fix posture on its own, and it will not undo a full day of sitting, but it gives your body a better starting point. People who stretch in the morning often find they sit up straighter without thinking about it, simply because their muscles remember the open position from the morning.

There is also a practical benefit. Morning is the one time of day that belongs to you before other people start asking for things. Once the workday begins, meetings, messages and chores take over, and the stretching you planned for later often never happens. People who stretch in the morning are more likely to actually do it, because nothing has had a chance to get in the way yet. If you are the kind of person who always plans to stretch in the evening but keeps skipping it, moving your stretching to the morning may be the simplest fix. A short routine you actually do is worth far more than a long routine you keep putting off.

What Evening Stretching Actually Does

Evening stretching has a different feeling and a different purpose. By the end of the day your body is warm, your muscles have been moving for hours, and they are more flexible than they were in the morning. This means you can stretch a little deeper in the evening, and the stretches often feel easier and more comfortable. If morning stretching feels tight and awkward, evening stretching may feel smooth and satisfying. Many people find they can reach further and hold a stretch longer in the evening, and that is simply because the body has had all day to warm up.

The main benefit of evening stretching is relaxation. After a long day of sitting, standing, working or worrying, your muscles hold tension without you noticing it. Your shoulders creep up towards your ears, your jaw tightens, and your lower back aches. Gentle stretching in the evening helps release that tension. Slow stretches, held for twenty or thirty seconds, with deep breathing, can calm the body down and prepare it for sleep. This is why many people stretch as part of their bedtime routine, in the same way others read a book or drink a warm drink. It signals to the body that the day is over and it is time to rest.

Evening stretching also gives you a chance to undo the effects of the day. If you spent eight hours at a desk, your hips and lower back will be tight. If you spent the day on your feet, your legs and feet will be tired. Evening stretches can target exactly the parts of your body that worked hardest. Stretching your hips after a day of sitting, or stretching your calves after a day of standing, is a direct way to look after the places that hurt. Morning stretching cannot do this, because the day has not happened yet. Evening stretching is a response to the day you actually had, and that makes it feel more useful to many people.

There is one more benefit that people often forget. Evening stretching is a good time to notice how your body feels. In the morning you are in a hurry, thinking about the day ahead. In the evening you have time to slow down and pay attention. You might notice that your right shoulder is tighter than your left, or that your lower back feels different from yesterday. That kind of attention helps you look after yourself better over time, because you learn what your body needs instead of guessing. It is a quiet, simple habit, and it costs nothing.

Morning or Evening: Which One Suits Which Person

There is no winner in the morning versus evening question, because the right answer depends on who you are and what you need. Some people suit the morning, some suit the evening, and some suit both. The best way to decide is to look at your own day and your own body honestly, and to try each time for a week or two before deciding.

Morning stretching suits people who wake up stiff and want to start the day feeling loose and alert. If your back aches when you get out of bed, if your shoulders feel heavy for the first hour, or if you sit at a desk all day and want to set a good posture before you start, morning is probably your better time. It also suits people who are busy in the evening, who come home tired and know they will not have the energy to stretch later. For them, the morning is the only reliable window. Morning stretching also suits people who want a routine they can stick to. Doing it at the same time every morning, before breakfast or after brushing your teeth, turns it into a habit that runs on its own, without needing willpower or planning.

Evening stretching suits people who carry tension through the day and want to let it go before bed. If your shoulders are tight by late afternoon, if your lower back aches after sitting, or if you find it hard to fall asleep because your body feels restless, evening stretching may help more. It also suits people who are slow starters in the morning, who need time to wake up and do not enjoy moving much before breakfast. For them, forcing a morning routine feels like a chore, while an evening routine feels like a reward. Evening stretching suits people who enjoy taking their time too. In the morning you are watching the clock. In the evening you can hold a stretch longer, breathe more slowly, and enjoy the feeling of relaxing.

Some people do both, and that is often the best answer of all. A short, gentle stretch in the morning to wake the body up, and a longer, slower stretch in the evening to relax and undo the day, gives you the benefits of both times. The morning session can be as short as five minutes. The evening session can be ten or fifteen minutes, done while you wind down. Neither session needs to be long or complicated. The point is not to do more stretching than other people. The point is to do the stretching that helps your body, at the times when your body needs it most.

If you can only pick one time, pick the time you will actually do. That sounds too simple, but it is the most honest advice in this whole article. A stretching routine only works if you do it regularly, and regularity comes from fitting the routine into your real life, not from following someone else’s ideal schedule. Try mornings for two weeks. Then try evenings for two weeks. Notice which one you look forward to, which one you keep skipping, and which one leaves your body feeling better. Then choose that one. Your body will tell you the answer if you listen to it.

How to Stretch in the Morning Without Hurting Yourself

Morning stretching needs care, because your body is cold and stiff when you wake up. The biggest mistake people make is stretching too hard, too fast, first thing in the morning. They jump out of bed, bend down to touch their toes, and feel a sharp pull in their back or hamstrings. That is not stretching. That is forcing a cold muscle to do something it is not ready for. The rule for morning stretching is simple: start gently, move slowly, and let your body warm up before you ask more of it.

Begin with movement, not with holding a deep stretch. Walk around the room for a minute or two. Roll your shoulders. Turn your head slowly from side to side. Swing your arms gently. These small movements raise your body temperature slightly and get blood flowing to your muscles. After a minute or two of this, your body will feel more ready. Then you can move into gentle stretches. Reach your arms up high and stretch tall, as if you are trying to touch the ceiling. Bend slowly to one side, then the other. Twist your upper body gently to the left and to the right. Each movement should be slow and controlled, and you should breathe normally throughout.

Hold each morning stretch for about ten to fifteen seconds at first. That is enough to wake the muscle up without straining it. As your body warms up over the week, you can hold stretches a little longer, but there is no need to rush. Avoid bouncing while you stretch. Bouncing, where you push into a stretch with quick, jerky movements, can strain a muscle, especially in the morning when the muscle is cold. Smooth, steady stretching is safer and more effective. Also avoid holding your breath. Many people hold their breath without realising it when they stretch, and that makes the body tense up instead of relaxing. Breathe in slowly, breathe out slowly, and let the breath help the stretch.

Pay attention to your lower back in the morning, because that is where most people feel morning stiffness and where most morning injuries happen. Do not bend forward sharply to touch your toes first thing. Instead, start with stretches that keep your back in a neutral position, such as reaching up, arching gently backwards, or lying on your back and pulling one knee at a time towards your chest. These movements warm the back up safely. If you have a health condition that affects your back or joints, or if you feel pain during a stretch, stop and ask a qualified health professional before continuing. General information can explain stretching, but it cannot judge your individual situation.

A simple morning routine might look like this. After waking, drink a glass of water. Then stand beside your bed and reach your arms above your head for ten seconds. Roll your shoulders forwards and backwards five times each. Twist gently from side to side five times. Bend slowly to each side, holding for ten seconds. Then sit on the edge of the bed or on the floor and stretch your legs out in front of you, reaching gently towards your feet. Finish by standing up straight, taking three deep breaths, and walking around for a minute. The whole thing takes about five minutes, and it is enough to make a real difference to how the morning feels.

How to Stretch in the Evening to Wind Down

Evening stretching is best when it is slow and calm. Unlike the morning, you do not need to wake anything up. Your body is already warm, and your goal is to help it relax. This means longer holds, slower breathing, and a quieter pace. If morning stretching is like opening a window, evening stretching is like closing the curtains. Both are useful, but they feel very different.

The best time for evening stretching is usually an hour or so before bed, rather than right at the moment you are about to fall asleep. Stretching too close to bedtime can wake you up slightly if you do it too energetically, but gentle stretching an hour before bed gives your body time to settle. You can do it in your living room while the house is quiet, or in your bedroom with the lights low. You do not need music or any special equipment. A mat, a rug or a carpeted floor is enough. Wear comfortable clothes that let you move freely.

Hold each evening stretch for twenty to thirty seconds, and breathe deeply while you hold it. Slow breathing is the key to evening stretching. Breathe in through your nose for a count of four, hold for a moment, then breathe out slowly through your mouth for a count of six. As you breathe out, let the muscle relax a little more. You will often find that a stretch feels easier on the second or third breath than it did on the first. That is your muscle letting go, and it is the feeling you are looking for. Do not force it. If you push too hard, the muscle will tense up to protect itself, and you will get the opposite of what you want.

Good evening stretches are the ones that target the places that worked hardest during your day. If you sat at a desk, stretch your hips by sitting on the floor with the soles of your feet together and letting your knees fall gently outward. Stretch your chest by standing in a doorway and placing your hands on the frame, then leaning gently forward. Stretch your neck by tilting your head slowly to one side and holding it there. If you spent the day on your feet, stretch your calves by standing facing a wall, placing one foot behind the other, and pressing the back heel into the floor. Stretch your lower back by lying on your back, pulling both knees towards your chest, and rocking gently from side to side. Each of these is simple, and each one helps the body release the tension of the day.

Finish your evening routine with a few minutes of lying flat on your back, arms at your sides, breathing slowly. This is sometimes called a relaxation pose, and it is a good way to end the day. Close your eyes, breathe slowly, and let your whole body feel heavy against the floor. After a few minutes, sit up slowly and go to bed. Many people find they fall asleep more easily after this, not because stretching is a sleep medicine, but because their body is looser and their mind is calmer. That combination helps sleep come more naturally.

Common Mistakes People Make With Stretching

Stretching is simple, but people still make the same mistakes again and again, and those mistakes are the reason many people give up on it. The first mistake is stretching too hard. People think that if a stretch does not hurt, it is not working, so they push until they feel pain. That is wrong. Pain is your body telling you to stop. A stretch should feel like a gentle pull, something you can breathe through calmly. If you are holding your breath, wincing or shaking, you have gone too far. Ease off until the feeling is comfortable again. Stretching should never hurt.

The second mistake is rushing. People do their stretches in thirty seconds, bouncing in and out of each position, and then wonder why nothing changes. Stretching works by giving the muscle time to relax and lengthen, and that takes time. A stretch held for five seconds does very little. A stretch held for twenty or thirty seconds, with slow breathing, does much more. If you only have five minutes, do three or four stretches properly rather than ten stretches in a hurry. Quality matters far more than quantity.

The third mistake is only stretching the places that feel good and ignoring the places that feel tight. It is natural to stretch the muscles that are already flexible, because those stretches feel pleasant. But the tight places are the ones that need the work. If your hips are tight, stretch your hips, even if it feels uncomfortable at first. If your shoulders are tight, stretch your shoulders. The tight places will not loosen on their own, and avoiding them only makes the difference worse over time.

The fourth mistake is stretching only when something hurts. Many people only stretch when their back aches or their neck is stiff, and then they stop as soon as the pain fades. That is like only brushing your teeth when they hurt. Stretching works best as a regular habit, done most days, even when you feel fine. The people who get the most benefit from stretching are the ones who do a little bit every day, not the ones who do a lot once in a while when the pain forces them to.

The fifth mistake is comparing yourself with other people. Someone else may be able to touch their toes easily, or sit cross-legged comfortably, while you cannot. That does not mean you are failing. Flexibility depends on your body shape, your age, your past injuries, and how long you have been stretching. What matters is your own progress over weeks and months. If you could reach your knees last month and you can reach your shins this month, that is real progress, even if someone else can reach the floor. Stretch for your own body, not for anyone else’s.

My Take:

If you ask me whether stretching in the morning is better than stretching in the evening, my honest answer is that the question itself misses the point a little. People ask it as if there must be one correct time, and as if choosing the wrong time means the stretching will not work. That is not how the body works. Stretching works at any time of day. What changes is what you get from it. Morning stretching wakes you up and loosens the stiffness of the night. Evening stretching helps you let go of the day and prepares you for sleep. Both are useful, and the best choice is the one that fits your life. I think we should stop treating this as a contest between morning and evening, and start treating it as a simple question about what your body needs and when you will actually do it.

For me personally, the morning stretch is the one I value most, and the reason is simple: it is the only stretch I never skip. In the evening I am tired. I tell myself I will stretch after dinner, and then dinner runs late, or there is something to finish, or I simply sit down and do not get up again. In the morning, nothing has had a chance to get in the way yet. I wake up, I drink a glass of water, and I stretch for five minutes before anything else begins. It is not a long routine, and it is not impressive to watch. I reach up, I roll my shoulders, I twist gently, and I bend to each side. But by the time I finish, my back feels looser, my breathing feels deeper, and my head feels clearer. That small change shapes the whole day. I sit up straighter at my desk. I feel less tired in the afternoon. I notice the difference on the days I skip it, and that tells me it is working.

That said, I do not think morning stretching is better for everyone, and I would not tell someone who hates mornings to force themselves into a morning routine. I know people who are slow to wake up, who need an hour before their body feels ready to move, and for them a morning stretch feels like a punishment. They stretch in the evening instead, and they love it. They come home, they change into comfortable clothes, and they spend fifteen slow minutes stretching while the house is quiet. It is their way of closing the day. They sleep better, their shoulders feel looser, and they look forward to it. Who am I to tell them they have chosen the wrong time? They have chosen the time that works for their life, and that is exactly the right choice.

I think the evening stretch has one advantage that people do not talk about enough, and that is the quality of the stretch itself. In the evening your body is warm and your muscles are more flexible, so the stretches feel easier and you can hold them longer. In the morning, everything feels tight for the first few minutes, and you have to be careful not to push too hard. In the evening, the same stretch feels smooth. If your goal is to become more flexible over time, the evening is probably the better time to work on that, because your body lets you go further. If your goal is simply to feel less stiff and more awake, the morning is enough. So the answer depends on your goal as well as your schedule, and that is worth thinking about before you choose.

There is another thing I want to be honest about, and that is the size of the difference. The difference between morning and evening stretching is small. It is not the difference between stretching and not stretching. That difference is large. A person who stretches for five minutes every morning is doing far more for their body than a person who stretches for twenty minutes once a week in the evening, even if the evening is supposed to be the better time. A person who stretches gently every evening is doing far more than a person who plans a perfect morning routine and never does it. The time of day matters much less than the habit itself. I wish more people understood this, because I think the search for the perfect time stops many people from starting at all. They read articles, they compare morning and evening, they try to decide which is best, and while they are deciding, they are not stretching. Start now, at whatever time you can manage today, and adjust later if you need to.

I also think we should be honest about what stretching can and cannot do. Stretching can help you feel looser, it can help your joints move more freely, it can help you relax, and it can help you notice how your body feels. It cannot fix a serious injury, it cannot cure a health condition, and it cannot replace medical care. If you have pain that does not go away, if a joint feels unstable, or if stretching makes something worse instead of better, stop and ask a qualified health professional. That is not a failure. It is the sensible thing to do. General information in an article can explain stretching in general, but it cannot look at your body and tell you what is safe for you. Only a professional who can examine you can do that.

The mistake I see most often, and the one I most want to warn against, is treating stretching as a test. People watch videos of very flexible people, they see someone fold themselves in half or sit in a perfect split, and they think that is what stretching is supposed to look like. It is not. Those people have trained for years, and many of them have bodies that are naturally more flexible than yours or mine. Stretching is not a performance. It is a quiet, private habit that helps your body feel better in everyday life. The goal is not to touch your toes. The goal is to get out of bed without your back aching, to sit at your desk without your shoulders creeping up, and to fall asleep without your body feeling restless. If stretching helps you do those things, it is working, whatever it looks like from the outside.

I want to say something about consistency, because I think it matters more than anything else in this article. Stretching works slowly. You will not become flexible in a week, and you will not feel a dramatic change after one session. What happens is gradual. After two weeks of regular stretching, you notice that the morning stiffness fades faster. After a month, you notice that you can reach a little further without forcing it. After three months, stretching feels like a normal part of your day, like brushing your teeth, and you miss it when you skip it. That is how good habits work. They do not change your life in a day. They change it quietly, over time, and one day you realise your body feels better than it used to, and you are not quite sure when it happened.

If I had to give one piece of practical advice to someone starting out, it would be this: start with five minutes, and do it every day for two weeks. Do not start with a twenty-minute routine, because you will not keep it up. Do not buy special equipment, because you do not need it. Pick three or four stretches that feel good, do them slowly, breathe while you do them, and stop if anything hurts. Do it at the time that feels easiest, whether that is morning or evening. After two weeks, ask yourself how your body feels. If it feels better, keep going, and add one more stretch. If it does not feel better, try the other time of day. That is all there is to it. Stretching is one of the simplest things you can do for your body, and it should stay simple.

I also think it is worth testing both times properly before you decide, because a single try is not a fair test. If you stretch in the morning once and it feels awkward, that does not mean mornings are wrong for you. It means your body was cold and you were doing it for the first time. Give each time two full weeks. Stretch in the morning for two weeks, and write down, even just in your head, how your body feels by midday. Then switch to the evening for two weeks, and notice how you sleep and how your shoulders feel the next morning. After a month you will have real evidence from your own body, and that evidence is worth more than any article, including this one. People often skip this step and choose based on what someone else told them, or based on one bad morning. Your body deserves a proper test.

There is one more situation worth mentioning, and that is travelling or being away from home. When you are travelling, your routine breaks. You sleep in a different bed, you sit in a car or a plane for hours, and your body feels stiffer than usual. This is when stretching matters most, and when people most often skip it, because they feel they have no time or no space. But a hotel room floor is enough, and five minutes is enough. A few gentle stretches after a long journey can make the difference between waking up sore and waking up feeling normal. The same applies on holidays. People think of holidays as a break from everything, including looking after themselves, but a body that has sat still for hours on a journey needs movement just as much at home as it does on holiday. A short stretch costs nothing and takes almost no time, and it helps you enjoy the rest of the day more.

I want to say one more thing about days when your body feels different from usual. Some days you wake up feeling loose and full of energy, and stretching feels easy. Other days you wake up feeling stiff and tired, and even a gentle stretch feels like hard work. Both days are normal. On a good day, enjoy the stretch and hold it a little longer. On a bad day, do less, move more slowly, and be kind to yourself. There is no rule that says you must stretch the same way every day. The routine should fit the day you are actually having, not the day you planned to have. If you learn to adjust like this, stretching will stay with you for years, because it will never feel like a punishment. It will feel like something you do for yourself, in the way that suits the day.

So here is my final view, in plain words. Morning stretching is better if you wake up stiff, if you want to start the day alert, and if you know you will not stretch later. Evening stretching is better if you carry tension through the day, if you want to relax before bed, and if mornings feel too rushed. Doing both is best if you have the time, because a short morning stretch and a longer evening stretch give you the benefits of each. But if you can only do one, choose the one you will actually do, every day, without a struggle. That is the time that will change how your body feels over the months, and that is the only measure that matters.

I would also add one last thought, about listening to your body. Your body changes from day to day. Some mornings you wake up feeling loose and ready. Some evenings you come home feeling exhausted and your body does not want to stretch at all. That is normal, and it is fine to adjust. On a tired evening, a shorter and gentler stretch is better than forcing a long one. On a morning when you feel stiff, a few extra minutes of slow movement is better than rushing through. The routine should serve your body, not the other way around. If you learn to listen to what your body is asking for on a given day, and you respond to it kindly, stretching will stay a pleasure rather than becoming another chore. And a pleasure is something you will keep doing for years, which is exactly how stretching is supposed to work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does stretching in the morning better than evening happen in everyday life?

Morning and evening stretching feel different in everyday life because your body is in a different state at those two times. In the morning your muscles are cool and stiff after hours of lying still, so stretching feels tighter but helps you wake up and loosen up for the day. In the evening your body is warm and more flexible after a day of movement, so stretching feels smoother and helps you release the tension the day has built up. Both times are useful, for different reasons.

Is stretching in the morning better than evening something most people experience?

Yes, most people who stretch notice a clear difference between morning and evening, because morning stiffness and evening tiredness are common parts of daily life. How strong the difference feels depends on your age, how you sleep, what kind of work you do, and how active your day is. Some people feel much stiffer in the morning, while others feel more tension in the evening. Your own pattern matters more than anyone else’s.

How long does stretching in the morning better than evening usually take to settle into a routine?

A stretching habit usually takes a few weeks before it feels natural. Most people find that after two or three weeks of stretching at the same time each day, it starts to feel like a normal part of the routine rather than something they have to force themselves to do. Flexibility itself changes slowly, over weeks and months, so the best approach is to keep the routine small and steady and judge it after a fair stretch of time.

What simple daily habits help with stretching in the morning better than evening?

The habits that help most are simple ones: stretching at the same time each day, starting gently in the morning and more slowly in the evening, breathing deeply while you stretch, and stopping if anything hurts. Drinking enough water through the day, sleeping at regular times, and moving around during the day also help, because a body that moves regularly stays looser than a body that sits still for hours.

Can stretching in the morning better than evening change with the seasons?

Yes, stretching can feel different in different seasons. In cold weather, morning stiffness often feels worse because muscles tighten more in the cold, so a slower warm-up matters more. In hot weather, evening stretching may feel easier because the body stays warm later into the day. The fix is usually a small adjustment, such as spending an extra minute warming up in winter, rather than a whole new routine.

When should I ask a health professional about stretching in the morning better than evening?

You should ask a qualified health professional if stretching causes pain that does not ease, if a joint feels unstable, if you have a health condition that affects your muscles, bones or joints, or if stiffness or pain changes suddenly or keeps getting worse. This article is general information only and cannot judge an individual situation. A professional can look at your own body and give advice that fits you.