How to Age Better: Exercising and Arthritis
When your body hurts, can you, should you, exercise?
Got achy, tender, stiff joints?
If you have arthritis, you’re hardly alone.
It’s estimated that 58.5 million US adults over the age of 18 - that’s one in four - have arthritis. (A new study thinks this number is too low!) And that number is estimated to climb to about 78 million by the year 2040.
Many might equate arthritis with being old, but that’s not necessarily true: Approximately 75 percent of adults with arthritis are younger than 65.
Arthritis affects the joints, tissues around the joints, and other connective tissues. You may feel joint pain or tenderness; stiffness or swelling - or all of these. The pain can be mild, but can be severe, too. Sometimes you might feel pretty good; other times, you may feel pretty lousy.
Arthritis knows no bounds, feeling free to attack your hands, back, wrists, knees, ankles, and feet.
Mornings are usually tough for people with arthritis. That’s partly due to your body’s natural inflammatory response. The other part? During the night you don’t move as much.
Which brings me to this: If you have arthritis, you need to move!
I know that might sound counter-intuitive to many; how can I move when my joints hurt??? (Hear me out, please!)
Why Move?
Humans are meant to move. Humans with arthritis need to move. That’s because if you keep an arthritic joint bent, rather than moving through its range of motion, your muscles can stiffen in that position.
Over time, what happens is not good: your muscles can actually shorten, which will further curtail your range of motion (not to mention cause other issues including weight gain, walking difficulties and poor balance).
You can do some moves even before you get out of bed with some gentle stretching. Stretching helps lubricate your joints, increases your range of motion and helps maintain your flexibility.
Here are a few good ones: (These are meant to be done one at a time, not all at one time :)
Reach your arms above your head.
Point and flex your toes.
Roll your ankles.
Gently move your head side to side.
Rock your hips left to right.
Bend and straighten one knee at a time.
Be careful, though, if you feel absolutely too stiff to stretch. In that case, a hot shower or bath or even a heated compress will get you where you need to be to get the most out of your stretching.
Will stretching hurt, you ask? It might feel uncomfortable (at first), but you should never stretch to the point of pain. Stretching should become easier over time, and you’ll be able to gradually hold each stretch for longer and longer. (Holding a stretch helps your muscles, tendons and nerve receptors to adjust and relax into the position).
Beyond Stretching
Sorry, but stretching is only the start. Regular exercise is important, as well as helpful, for people with arthritis.
With regular physical activity muscles around the joints stay strong. And, regular exercise helps decrease bone loss and may even help control your joint swelling and pain.
I have arthritis in my knees, but that doesn’t keep me from exercising; rather, it makes me want to exercise, because if I don’t move, my knees talk to me and complain that they are stiff and mightily unhappy and disappointed.
My exercise(s) of choice: treadmill or outdoor walking, biking (lately on my Peleton, but soon outside), and elliptical.
But exercise is not limited to just what I choose. Also beneficial:
Walking in waist-deep water
Water aerobics
Swimming
Golf
Pilates
Treadmill walking
Don’t discount the value of other exercises, like yoga, tai chi, even shuffleboard or bocce ball!
Here’s what the Arthritis Foundation says about exercise:
“Studies have shown that physical activity can reduce pain and improve physical function by about 40% in arthritis patients. One study showed that between 2008 and 2015, fewer people with arthritis met aerobic and muscle strengthening guidelines than people without arthritis. This may indicate that people with arthritis need additional strategies to address potential barriers to physical activity – those barriers include pain, psychological distress and inadequate medical support.”
A word about PREVENTION…
One of the most important preventive strategies is weight management. Excess weight puts extra weight on your joints (especially in your knees and hips), and it increases inflammation throughout your body. Every extra pound adds four pounds of force on your joints!
And two more things that can help prevent or slow the progression of arthritis?
Daily physical activity and eating a healthy diet
Some Things to Consider:
Gloves like these to keep your hands comfy.
Pain relievers for sore joints.
Knee braces for extra support.
Books to help you keep learning.
I remember this from my elementary school days, when we wore those lovely snappy white gymsuits and gym class was a requirement (and we thought, a chore). Hearing it now makes me miss those days!
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And if you love to engage in conversation or commiseration, I’d love to hear your thoughts!