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In this issue of HEALTHbeat:
  • Relieve arthritis pain naturally with exercise
  • Alternative forms of exercise


Harvard Health Publications -- Harvard Medical School HEALTHbeat
April 21, 2009

Relieve arthritis pain naturally with exercise

People with arthritis commonly discover that if they don’t exercise regularly, they’ll pay the price in pain, stiffness, and fatigue. Regular exercise not only helps maintain joint function, but also relieves stiffness and decreases pain and fatigue.

In 2007, a report in Arthritis Research and Therapy suggested that older women may be able to prevent osteoarthritis pain by getting as little as one to two hours of moderately intense physical activity each week. Feeling tired may be partly the result of inflammation and medications, but it’s also caused by muscle weakness and poor stamina. If a muscle isn’t used, it can lose 3% of its function every day and 30% of its bulk in just a week.

Work with your physician or physical therapist to develop your own exercise program. Most likely this will involve exercises with three goals.

1. Increase range of motion. These exercises aim to increase the mobility and flexibility of your joints. To increase your range of motion, move a joint as far as it can go and then try to push a little farther. These exercises can be done any time, even when your joints are painful or swollen, as long as you do them gently.

2. Strengthen your muscles. An excellent way to provide aching joints with more support is to strengthen the muscles surrounding them. Strengthening exercises use resistance to build muscles. You can use your own body weight as resistance. One example: Sit in a chair. Now lean forward and stand by pushing up with your thigh muscles (try to use your arms only for balance). Stand a moment, then sit back down, using your thigh muscles. This simple exercise will help ease the strain on your knees by building up your thigh muscles. Research has shown that strengthening the thigh muscles is just as effective as aerobic exercise and as effective as NSAIDs at reducing pain and disability. Just remember to avoid these exercises during arthritis flare-ups.

3. Build endurance. Aerobic activities such as walking, swimming, and bicycling can all build your heart and lung function, which in turn increases endurance and overall health. Be careful to pick activities with low impact on your joints, and avoid high-impact activities such as jogging. If you’re having a flare-up of symptoms, wait until it subsides before doing endurance exercise.

Alternative forms of exercise

Tai chi and water-based exercises have become increasingly popular in the United States. And with their focus on slow movement, postural alignment, and balance, they may be good choices for people with arthritis. In several small studies, people with knee osteoarthritis who practiced tai chi for 12 weeks had less pain than people who did not practice the slow-flowing martial art.

One such study included 152 people with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee randomly assigned to practice tai chi, engage in water exercise, or remain on a waiting list for these therapies. People who did tai chi improved their ability to function more than those who were on a waiting list. Those who did water workouts improved slightly more, and they were better able to stick with the program. Water-based exercise places less stress on the joints because it makes the body almost weightless.
FEATURED CONTENT:
  • What is arthritis?
  • Diagnosing arthritis
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Other types of arthritis
  • Physical and complementary therapies 
  • Special Section: Self-care strategies for coping with arthritis
Reprinted from Arthritis: Keeping your joints healthy, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School, © 2009 by Harvard University. All rights reserved.

** Get your copy of Arthritis: Keeping your joints healthy
Arthritis affects 46 million adults in the US — nearly one in five people. But treatments are better than they once were, and plenty of people age well without much arthritis. Arthritis: Keeping your joints healthy provides detailed information about diagnosis and treatment of the two most common types of arthritis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, along with a brief look at several other types. This report also includes information on established medical therapies as well as complementary treatments such as acupuncture, chiropractic, and massage. Click here to read more or buy online.

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