Tai Chi for Rehabilitation: A Biomechanical/Physical Therapy Perspective

Tai Chi exercise has been shown to have both physical and psychosocial benefits for the general population (Wang et al., 2004). However, considerable scientific evidence also supports the health benefits of practicing Tai Chi in various populations, such as the elderly and individuals with chronic diseases or disabilities. This presentation reviews the health benefits of Tai Chi exercise for individuals with cardiovascular diseases, balance problems and disabilities. Province et al. (1995) conducted a meta-analysis to examine how regular exercise and Tai Chi exercise could reduce the risk of falling among people age 60 or older. The results demonstrated that performing regular exercise may reduce the risk of falling by 13%, however, by practicing Tai Chi, a group of people age 70 and older showed a 25% reduction in falls when compared to a peer control group. Tse and Bailey (1992) investigated the effect of Tai Chi in promoting postural control of the well elderly through comparison of performance on five balance tests and the results showed that the Tai Chi participants had significantly better postural control than the sedentary non participants. Barrow et al. (2007) studied the effect of Tai Chi on exercise tolerance in patients with moderate heart failure (a randomized parallel group study was balanced for baseline cardiac variables), and the results indicated that Tai Chi exercise was safe, with no adverse exercise related problems for moderate heart failure patients and led to significant improvements in symptoms and quality of life. Cheung et al. (2008) examined the effect of Tai Chi exercise on the cardiovascular function, pulmonary function, and shoulder range of motion of persons with lower-limb disability, and the results demonstrated that improvements in cardiovascular and pulmonary functions were not significant between the Tai Chi exercise group and the control group; however, the shoulder flexibility and muscle strength were significantly improved in Tai Chi exercise group. Why does practicing Tai Chi have such benefits for the human body? It has been speculated that the slow, graceful, relaxed, condensing and expanding movements with deep diaphragmatic breathing provide a total body exercise; biomechanically, the slow, graceful movements may allow the body to move with less tension than higher paced movements, which require fast and forceful muscle contractions, and allow the lungs to be more relaxed, therefore, increasing the intake of oxygen; and therapeutically, practicing Tai Chi may help decrease stress, improve sleep, and regulate immune and endocrine systems.