Would exercise lessen or make your arthritis pain worse? Learn how to exercise while dealing with additional issues that are frequently raised by arthritis symptoms and pain.
The most common cause of pain and impairment in the world is arthritis. There is a wealth of information available on relieving arthritis and other forms of pain with exercise, medicine, and stress management. How can you tell what will be effective for you?
To help you figure things out, consider the following Dos and Don’ts
Basics
Despite your condition, staying ahead of your pain will be simpler if you:
- Find out as much as you can about your illness, such as the type of arthritis you have and whether any of your joints have already sustained damage.
- Use your doctor, family, and close friends to help you manage your pain.
- If your pain changes, let your doctor know.
Daily Routines
When sitting, standing, or exercising, pay close attention to your joints.
- Maintain joint motion. Perform mild daily stretches that extend the range of motion in your joints.
- Pose properly. You can learn the proper ways to sit, stand, and move from a physical therapist.
- Know your boundaries. Don’t overdo it; strike a balance between work and rest.
Changes in lifestyle are also crucial for reducing pain.
- Control your Weight. Being overweight can exacerbate arthritis issues and make it more painful. Most generally, the best way to control weight is to make small, long-term lifestyle adjustments that lead to steady weight loss.
- Give up Smoking. Smoking stresses connective tissues, which can exacerbate the discomfort of arthritis.
Exercise
Movement can help people with arthritis feel less pain and stiffness, have better range of motion, build stronger muscles, and have more endurance.
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Things to do
- Choose exercises that strengthen the muscles around your joints without endangering the joints themselves. You can create an exercise regimen that is suitable for you with the aid of a physical or occupational therapist.
- Put an emphasis on range-of-motion exercises, stretching, and gradually increasing your strength. Incorporate low-impact aerobic exercise in your routine, such as walking, cycling, or swimming, to boost your mood and aid in weight management.
What Not to Do
- Avoid engaging in repetitive motions with high impact, such as:
- Tennis High-impact aerobics Running Jumping
- repeatedly doing the same motion, such as a tennis serve,
Medications
There are numerous pharmaceutical options for treating arthritic pain. Although the majority are generally safe, all medications might cause negative effects. Formulating a pharmaceutical regimen for your particular pain problems will require discussion with your doctor.
Things to do
Acetaminophen (Tylenol, among others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, among others), or naproxen sodium (Aleve) are over-the-counter painkillers that can help with occasional pain brought on by physical activity that your muscles and joints aren’t used to, like gardening after spending the winter indoors.
Painful joints can be comforted by applying a cream containing capsaicin to the skin there. Use both alone and with oral medications.
If over-the-counter drugs don’t help you feel better, talk to your doctor.
Overtreatment is something to avoid. If you frequently use over-the-counter painkillers, speak with your doctor.
- Undertreatment
Don’t attempt to ignore persistent and severe arthritic discomfort. It’s possible that you have joint injury or inflammation that needs regular medicine.
- Solely on the Discomfort
Those with arthritis are more likely to experience depression. Antidepressants and other therapy for treating depression have been reported to lessen not only the symptoms of depression but also the pain associated with arthritis.
Integration of the physical and emotional
It should come as no surprise that treatments for arthritis pain can make you feel down. If going about your daily business hurts you, you’ll inevitably become demoralised. Yet when these commonplace emotions spiral out of control and turn into a nonstop stream of anxious, depressing thoughts, your discomfort may actually worsen and become more difficult to control.
Things to do
The following therapies prevent harmful mind-body interactions:
The cognitive behavioural approach. You may recognise and end patterns of self-defeating attitudes and behaviours with the help of this well-researched, powerful combination of talk therapy and behaviour modification.
- Treatment for Relaxation- Do whatever calms you down, whether it is yoga, deep breathing, music, being in nature, or journal writing. Relaxation has no drawbacks and can be effective in reducing pain.
- Acupuncture- Through acupuncture sessions, when a skilled acupuncturist inserts hair-thin needles at particular locations on your body, some people get pain alleviation. It can take a few weeks before you see progress.
- Cold and Heat- Using heat, such as soaking in hot baths or showers, putting heating pads to sore joints, or soaking aching joints in warm paraffin wax can all temporarily lessen pain. Take cautious to avoid burning yourself. Spend no more than 20 minutes at a time using heating pads.
- Massage- Temporarily, massage may help with pain and stiffness. Make sure your massage therapist is aware of how your arthritis affects you in those areas.
- Smoking should be Avoided- If you have a tobacco addiction, you can utilise it as a means of coping with your emotions. Yet, it is ineffective: Smoke toxins put stress on connective tissue, which results in increased joint issues.
- An Unfavourable Outlook- Negative thoughts are contagious. If you keep thinking about them, they’ll get worse, which will make you more painful and more likely to become disabled. Instead, engage in enjoyable hobbies, spend time with supportive friends and family, and think about speaking with a therapist.
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