Exercising Your Arthritis

At this point you're probably thinking "exercise my arthritis, you've got to be crazy it already hurts enough as it is!" But what a lot of people don't know is that exercise is good for almost anyone when used properly. For many years, it was thought that people with arthritis should not exercise because it would damage their joints. Now, doctors believe people with arthritis can improve their health and fitness through exercise.

Benefits of Exercising Your Arthritis

• To keep your joints from becoming too stiff.
• To keep the muscles around your joints strong.
• To keep bone and cartilage tissue strong and healthy.
• To improve your overall fitness.

What Could Happen if You Don't Exercise

You may not feel like exercising if your joints hurt. But without exercise, your joints can become even more stiff and painful. This happens because exercise actually keeps your joints, bones, and muscles healhty.

When you have arthritis, it is important to keep your muscles as strong as possible. Because when the muscle and tissue are stronger around your joints, the better they will be able to support and protect those joints - even if already damaged from arthritis.

Many people with arthritis keep joints in a bent position because it's more comfortable. If these joints stay in that position for too long, they can become stuck in that position. Exercise moves these joints and keeps them as flexible as possible.

Exercising Tips

Before Exercising:

• Massage the stiff of sore areas or apply heat and/or cold treatments to the area.
• Heat relaxes your joints and muscles and helps relieve pain. Cold also reduces pain for some people.

• Take a warm (not hot) shower before you exercise.
• Apply a heating pad or hot pack to the area that is sore.
• Sit in a warm whirlpool.
• Wrap a bag of ice or frozen vegetables in a towel, and place it on the sore area.
• Heat should be appied for about 20 minutes at a time and use cold for 10 to 15 minutes at a time.

Other Things That Can Help

Many things can be done to help control arthritis. Your care may involve more than one kind of treatment. It may change over time and for different types of arthritis. Treatment may involve medicines, exercise, rest/relaxation, use of heat or cold, surgery and joint protection. You and your doctor can work together to find the treatments that work best for you.

Remember exercise keeps you fit and healthy. If you have arthritis, it will help to keep your joints and muscles strong, your bone and joint tissues healthy, which will give you more energy to keep up with daily activities.

Your doctor or other health professionals can help you design a fitness program that meets your individual needs.