Slowing The Progression Of Osteoarthritis - Osteoarthritis: Arthritis

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Slowing the progression of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a disease that progresses slowly over many years (see "More than wear or tear"). If you've already been diagnosed with osteoarthritis, you can take steps to slow its progression and reduce your discomfort. These measures are most effective if you begin them in the earlier stages of your condition. But no matter how far your osteoarthritis has progressed, you can benefit from the following.

Stay active

For people with osteoarthritis, regular exercise has been shown to reduce pain and stiffness and to improve balance. Exercise helps people perform such basic activities as walking. It also helps build or maintain muscle tone, which is necessary for joint stability.

There are three types of exercise beneficial for someone coping with osteoarthritis. Range-of-motion exercises can maintain or improve flexibility. Strengthening exercises with weights can build muscles to support affected joints. And aerobic exercises can help improve endurance and prevent weight gain. (See "Exercise" for more information about all of these.)

One study that compared walking and weight training suggests that exercise may help prevent disability. People with knee osteoarthritis who exercised regularly were less likely to need help with daily activities such as getting out of bed, bathing, using the toilet, or getting dressed. The improvements most likely reflected a general improvement in health and functioning, rather than a change in the arthritis itself. The reported improvements were nonetheless substantial.

Try to work your way up to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise — slow walking, biking, or swimming — at least four times a week. Add in some resistance or weight-training exercises three times a week.

Protect your joints

When exercising, protect yourself from joint injury. For example, if you have osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, foot, or ankle, don't run, especially on roads. Walking is a much gentler form of exercise, although it, too, puts full, weight-bearing stress on some joints. Other good alternatives are non-impact aerobic activities such as swimming or biking.

Invest in a good pair of exercise shoes, which will absorb some of the impact. Avoid repetitive, weight-bearing motion. If you can't avoid such joint stress altogether, take frequent breaks. Remember to bend your knees when lifting heavy objects. Use the largest, strongest joint to complete a task. For example, open a jar with the palm of your hand instead of with your fingers (see "Joint protection strategies").

Control your weight

Osteoarthritis and excess pounds often go hand in hand. For one thing, arthritis promotes inactivity. For another, it affects older people, who tend to be less active. But studies have shown that weight loss reduces osteoarthritis pain. It does so by taking some of the pressure off your joints, especially the weight-bearing joints such as the knees and hips. Losing weight also allows greater ease of movement.

Exercise is the first step toward weight loss. A healthy, well-balanced diet is another. Concentrate on replacing empty calories from desserts and junk food with nutrition-packed calories from whole grains, lean proteins, and fruits and vegetables. Also be sure to control portion sizes. Most experts now agree that virtually any diet program is effective for losing weight when it encourages people to reduce their calorie intake and increase calories burned. Whatever diet strategy you choose, the bottom line is that to lose weight, you have to consume fewer calories than you burn.

Last updated:	September 05, 2008