Using Exercise to Help Overcome Arthritis Joint Pain
Posted on Thu, Aug 05, 2010 @ 10:13 AM
When most people (especially those that do not suffer from the disease) think of arthritis, they are not likely to think about exercise as well. There is a general perception that the onset of arthritis somehow obliges the person in question to give up exercise in general, especially if the disease has begun afflicting the legs, hips and/or back.
Yet the reality is that not only can arthritis patients perform exercise, they should do it regularly to help keep the disease in check and to overcome some of its worst symptoms. Young people in particular, many of whom take the news of their arthritis with a heavy heart, should be aware of this and should do their utmost to just keep moving and to enjoy what still can be a very enjoyable life.
Undoubtedly there needs to be a certain respect for the limits imposed by the disease, and so a young person with arthritis should be aware of the fact that they won’t necessarily be able to exert themselves quite as intensely as some of their peers may. Yet that is by no means to say that exercise is out of the question.
It is perfectly OK for them to go ahead and to play a sport, join a team, as long as there is always a conscious effort to avoid over-exertion: it’s not OK to keep pushing if sharp pain surges nor should sports be played where heavy impact to the joints will be regular.
This leaves a lot of young people with arthritis wondering just exactly what forms of exercise it is okay for them to do. Ultimately this will depend on the type of arthritis, of which there are many, and the specific symptoms that it entails. What may be productive for a person with psoriatic arthritis may be counterproductive for a person with osteoarthritis, and so on and so forth.
Young people in particular are encouraged nonetheless to do a bit of all three of the major types of exercise: stretching, muscle building (mild on this one), and cardio. Stretching will help maintain the maximum range of motion in a person’s joints; muscle building helps provide support for the joints, alleviating them; while cardio exercises help maintain overall fitness.
There is one form of exercise that is, however, entirely beneficial for all patients of arthritis, whether young or old and regardless of the type of arthritis they have: warm water exercise, or hydrotherapy as some refer to it.
There are many key advantages to doing exercise in warm water. It is possible to do stretching, mild muscle building and cardio in the water for starters. Furthermore the resistance to body movements generated by the water makes every movement that much more productive, and the warm water itself relaxes both muscles and joints and provides the lower-gravity environment that arthritis patients find so comforting. If you suffer from arthritis joint pain and have yet to try out hydrotherapy, then you should definitely reconsider as the results have proven to be overwhelmingly favorable in a vast majority of cases.
About the Author: Victoria Crowdell works for SportsEquip.co.uk, leading suppliers of ‘capital’ sports equipment and wet pour safety surfaces.