When it comes to arthritis, there are two symptoms that if reduced can drastically improve the patients quality of life.
They can go through their day to day lives much more easily without them.
They can even reduce the pain greatly that comes with arthritis.
What are these symptoms?
Mobility and joint function.
Many who have arthritis notice over time that their joints don’t quite work the same way after their symptoms progress.
We accept this as just being a fact of the disease.. But does it have to be?
Can we lessen the effects of these symptoms without invasive surgeries?
Maybe even without treatments?
Quite a bit of research is pointing toward a solid “yes”.
It’s been found through multiple reports that those patients who stayed even somewhat active were able to keep much more of their mobility and function than those patients who led stagnant lives.
So, what kind of activity is best for keeping these symptoms at bay?
We’re going to give you three in this blog post that are very easy to perform.
1: Mobility Stretches and Yoga
Both of these activities are designed to improve your body’s ability to move, bend, and perform.
When performed consistently they give your body more and more mobility until you have the ability to bend like a contortionist!
While that being true, our goal isn’t for you to pursue a career in contortionism.
It’s to keep your arthritic symptoms at bay.
Below is a list of these common stretches that can be performed in your living room.
- The Lotus Pose
- Downward Facing Dog
- Head to Knee Forward Bend
- The Cobra Pose
- The Crane Pose
Choose just one of these at first and take 2 minutes to do it, morning and night.
You’ll see much more mobility and if done consistently hopefully you’ll keep that mobility.
2: Running
Maybe you’re already in shape.
Maybe not so much.
No matter. Start with a walk, jog, or if you can, RUN.
If you have serious arthritis in the knees we recommend going with an exercise much easier on your knees like the above stretches.
It has been shown that running and similar cardiovascular activities has helped arthritic patients keep function and mobility in tact well into the future.
If your symptoms aren’t severely advanced yet… Start now!
3: Swimming
Likely the best exercise on this list for one sole reason..
It’s very easy on your body.
There’s a reason why you see your county pools water aerobics class packed with everyone and their grandma.
It’s not demanding and does wonders for older patients joints.
The water provides just enough resistance to work their joints and muscles without destroying them.
Maybe water aerobics isn’t your thing, but going to your local pool and just paddling around weekly will do you a world of good.
There you have it.
Three activities you can perform today that if done consistently will can improve the mobility and function of your joints while keeping arthritis at bay.
Choose one today, and stick with it for a week.
Then try another week.
Keep pushing and you’ll see the results.
