The Importance of Staying Active When You Have Arthritis

Living with a chronic inflammatory condition like arthritis can put a cramp in your daily plans, as you stop to cope with flare-ups of symptoms like joint pain. When your joints ache, it can be difficult to stay active, and you might find yourself clearing your calendar to spend more time resting.

However, moderate activity is important for patients with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Staying active and getting moving may actually work to relieve your symptoms, and may also reduce the frequency of your flare-ups. Low-impact exercise options let you move your body without pushing you too far, so you won’t risk more or worsened body pain.

At Pleasanton Arthritis and Osteoporosis Medical Center of Pleasanton and Turlock, California, our experienced and compassionate care team can help you put together a plan to stay active this fall and winter. With the professional support of rheumatologist Iraj Sabahi, MD, you can maintain your quality of life, despite your chronic arthritis.

Improving your strength and flexibility

Sticking to an exercise or activity plan protects your painful joints from inflammatory outbreaks. When you don’t stretch and exercise your joints and muscles, you might find your arthritis symptoms worsening, and your quality of life decreases. Over time, your posture might get worse as your muscles weaken, or you may start to struggle just to stand up.

With regular, moderate exercise, the muscles that surround and support your joints grow stronger, and can do more to protect your joints from jarring shocks. In addition to building up your muscle strength, exercise improves your bone strength, heart health, and circulation, as well. And, if you can lose a little weight, you might find that your joints ache a lot less. Every extra pound places more pressure on your joints, especially in your knees.

Low-impact options and extra support

For the best results, you should get active in a way that directly affects the areas of your body impacted by your arthritis. The Pleasanton Arthritis and Osteoporosis Medical Center can recommend the best exercise regimen to target your arthritis-related concerns. We aim to keep you from experiencing too much repetitive stress and look for ways to cushion painful joints if possible.

Depending on your personal health care and lifestyle needs, you could benefit from forms of low-impact activity such as:

• Taking regular walks, at least 3-4 times per week
• Swimming, a form of exercise that lets you get your cardio in without putting pressure on sensitive joints
• Cycling, especially helpful if you need to build leg strength while still keeping the pressure off your painful knee, ankle, or hip joints
• Yoga or tai chi, using slow, controlled motion to protect your joints and strengthen your muscles
• Weight training, a low-impact way to build up your muscle power

Dr. Sabahi may also be able to recommend targeted exercises for your arthritis, like rolling your shoulders.

To learn more about the best forms of activity to support and strengthen your joints and reduce your arthritis pain, get in touch with Dr. Sabahi at Pleasanton Arthritis and Osteoporosis Medical Center today. You can book your initial consultation appointment over the phone, or use the online tool to schedule.