When your knee joints are painful and stiff and you’re finding it hard to get around, it’s difficult to believe that physical activity is endorsed by medical professionals as an effective treatment for arthritis. Yet it is true, according to the Arthritis Foundation that physical therapy including exercise can actually help strengthen the muscles in the knees and improve the range of motion.
Arduous exercise should of course be avoided but seniors with arthritic knees who include regular exercise routines of a gentle nature into their days will find benefit in a number of ways. These include: improved flexibility and less pain and stiffness, improved endurance and mobility and reduced stress and anxiety.
Even moderate exercise will help reduce pain and control weight as extra weight means extra pressure on your knee joints which does not help the pain.
Before starting on any exercise program you should consult your GP or physiotherapist for their advice. Exercise is important but it is also important that you choose an exercise routine that suits you and your lifestyle. You might understandably worry about causing more harm to your already painful joints but the reality is that if joints aren’t used, they become stiff, sore and unstable. Following an exercise routine that suits you will keep your knees more flexible and help reduce the pain.
Your doctor might recommend low-impact aerobic exercises such as walking, swimming, riding a bike, dancing or yoga. Aerobic exercises help improve your cardiovascular health. The Mayo Clinic recommends that you should try to work your way up to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week.
Dance helps increase flexibility as well as maintaining normal joint movement and keeping pain levels low. Seniors with arthritic knees should choose a dance class that will keep you moving without damaging your joints such as ballroom dancing. Also be sure to tell your dance instructor about your arthritis.
Swimming can be an incredibly relaxing yet effective form of exercise. Mental health is as important as physical and according to swimming.org swimming can improve your mood and help you sleep better. Even a gentle swim can burn around 200 calories in 30 minutes.
Water walking is easy on the joints, according to Arthritis Today. You can walk in the shallow end of the pool or in deeper water which is more challenging. Lifting your knees higher as you walk will also help boost your work out. If you have any concerns, sign up on an aquatic program which offers a supervised workout by trained instructors.
Seniors with arthritic knees might feel a benefit from low-impact aerobic exercises such as walking, cycling swimming, dancing, yoga and Pilates.
According to kneepaintreatment.com cycling is the best way to move joint fluid in the knee around in order to deliver nutrients to the cartilage. Start with an indoor bike and build up your strength gradually. Eventually you might want to switch to an outdoor bike.
Tai Chi has been proven to be a successful and gentle form of exercise to help seniors with knee arthritis find pain relief. Researchers at the Medical Centre in Boston found that a group of people in their 60s with severe knee arthritis who performed tai chi twice as week for twelve weeks experienced greater improvements in physical and overall health and less pain than a similar group performing conventional exercises. The gentle and graceful movements of this ancient Chinese exercise can relieve arthritis pain as well as helping gain a greater sense of balance, strength and flexibility.
During flare-ups when there is more pain, swelling and stiffness, it is recommended that you should continue with gentle exercise. Try focusing more on giving the rest of the body a good workout, during these more painful periods, so as not to aggravate the inflamed knee.
Sources
http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/about_us/arthriti s_news/articles/exercise_safe_and_effective.aspx
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/10/26/us-arthrit is-taichi-idUSTRE49P0VB20081026
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/19877092
