The Importance of Exercising When You Have Arthritis

The old saying, “Move it or lose it,” is almost tailor-made for many arthritis sufferers. The problem is that this disease of the joints presents a relatively large hurdle to the very thing that can help you with the pain and inflammation that are part and parcel of arthritis — exercise. 

Internal medicine and primary care specialist Samuel Fink, MD, located in the Tarzana neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley, California, has extensive experience helping patients manage the many forms of arthritis.

His goal is simple: help you regain pain-free movement so you can lead a healthy and active life long into the future. When it comes to arthritis, an important step you can take to help stem this progressive disease and improve your quality of life through exercise. 

We’re not suggesting you hit the pavement every morning for a run, but some excellent exercise regimens will help you gain the upper hand on your joint problems. Here’s a look at how exercise is a crucial weapon in your battle against arthritis.

Arthritis 101

Arthritis is a catchall term for any condition that leads to inflammation in the joints. It affects more than 54 million people in the United States and is expected to rise to 78 million by the year 2040, thanks to an aging population. These numbers illustrate that arthritis is an exceedingly common condition, which means we’ve had plenty of experience helping our patients better manage the disease.

We say manage because there’s no cure for arthritis. Whether you suffer from osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or more than 100 other forms of the disease, the key to dealing with arthritis of any kind is to slow the disease and minimize its impact on your life. And exercise is a fantastic way to meet these goals.

Why exercise?

When it comes to combating arthritis, the importance of exercise can’t be overstated. Among other things, exercising:

• Reduces inflammation
• Strengthens your surrounding muscles to take the pressure off your joints
• Helps your bones maintain strength
• Gives you more energy
• Helps you avoid weight gain

Many of your joints are designed to move, and they work best when they’re in motion. It may help to think of your joints as metal components that can rust and freeze up if they’re not continually worked.

Through exercise, you initiate several important processes that help you maintain your mobility and range of motion, allowing you to participate freely in life. 

The first process is to kick-start your body’s own healing resources, which help with inflammation. Once your inflammation comes down, you can build strength in your surrounding connective tissue (muscles, ligaments, and tendons), helping spread the workload more evenly in your arthritic joints.

Once you start exercising, you have more energy, you sleep better, and you’re able to avoid the pitfalls of the weight gain that can come with inactivity, which only makes your arthritis worse.

No need to pound it out

When we talk about exercise, we want you to be mindful of placing too much stress on your beleaguered joints. If you have arthritis, you should avoid concussive activities like running, which can cause you more pain and inflammation. 

The goal with arthritis is to strengthen your joints and safeguard your range of motion, which you can do through:

• Weightlifting
• Swimming
• Yoga
• Stretching

And if you want to get your heart rate up, try an elliptical or hop on your bike.

A little help

Though there are no medications that target osteoarthritis, prescription medications are available for rheumatoid arthritis to help stop progression and help keep the disease in remission. 

For osteoarthritis, Dr. Fink may recommend topical medications like capsaicin or NSAIDs to relieve pain.

If you’re suffering from joint pain, and all your primary care needs, contact our Tarzana office today to request an appointment by phone (818-609-0700) or online.