Exercise - Physical And Complementary Therapies: Arthritis

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Exercise

Even the healthiest people find it difficult to maintain an exercise regimen. But those 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. 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.

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. For several examples of range-of-motion exercises you can do at home, see Figure 11.

Figure 11: Range-of-motion exercises for arthritis Hand Open your hand, holding fingers straight. Bend the middle finger joints. Next, touch your finger-tips to the tops of your palm. Open your hand. Repeat 10 times with each hand. Next, reach your thumb across your hand to touch the base of your little finger. Stretch your thumb back out. Repeat 10 times. Knee Sit in a chair that is high enough for you to swing your legs. Keep your thighs on the seat and straighten out one leg. Hold for a few seconds. Then bend your knee and bring your foot as far back as possible. Repeat with the other leg. Repeat 10 times. Shoulder Lie on your back with your hands at your sides. Raise one arm slowly over your head, keeping your arm close to your ear and your elbow straight. Return your arm to your side. Repeat with the other arm. Repeat 10 times. Hip Lie on your back, legs straight and about 6 inches apart. Point your toes toward the ceiling. Slide one leg out to the side and then back to its original position. Try to keep your toes pointed up the whole time. Repeat 10 times with each leg.

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. Avoid these exercises during arthritis flare-ups.

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. Just be careful to pick activities with low impact on your joints. If you have arthritis, you should avoid high-impact activities such as jogging. If you're having a flare-up of symptoms, wait until it subsides before doing endurance exercises.

Last updated:	September 05, 2008