Can exercise ease pain?

[SunsetRunner]

It may seem like a contradiction, but I’ve found the best way to ease the pain of severe degenerative arthritis is to move the joints. I exercise my wrists, hands and fingers before I even get out of bed. Then as I enjoy my coffee, I spend 30 minutes moving my bad knee by peddling an under table elliptical.  I was very surprised to see it really helps! 

[WendyB]

I think it also depends on the pain. Sometimes it helps me other times it does not

[DramaQueenDiva]

Heck  yes!  Before I started losing weight, I would frequently have days where I either had back or knee pain.  Since I started losing the weight, I don't have that pain anymore.

[Baltoscott]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

It may seem like a contradiction, but I’ve found the best way to ease the pain of severe degenerative arthritis is to move the joints. I exercise my wrists, hands and fingers before I even get out of bed. Then as I enjoy my coffee, I spend 30 minutes moving my bad knee by peddling an under table elliptical.  I was very surprised to see it really helps! 

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That makes a lot of sense @SunsetRunner.  I’ve read that with joints in particular, movement helps relieve pain over time.  

[SebWotan]

The community of rheumatic disease specialist is also coming to this conclusion. This was sort of known for years and there are more and more study about it, as well as recommendations from regulatory agency (NICE in UK for example) to include exercises as part of the treatment for rheumatic disease (osteoporosis, inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis, ...). 

I exercise since 3 years to help me with my inflammatory autoimmune arthritis (stretching, flexibilty, strengthening and cardio) and this help a lot. 

I think now we will see more progress on helping people with those issues. 

[cathm]

Hi @SunsetRunner 

I have found the same thing as you 🙂

I have rheumatoid arthritis.  If I don't move my body enough, the pain gets worse.  However, I have also found it to be a double edged sword - if I overdo it, I cause a flare that knocks me down for awhile.

[SunsetRunner]

I’ve also found the need for balance, @cathm . The Fitbit really helps me in this effort. I know where my sweet spot is ... under 6,000 steps offers little relief. But over 9,000 and I will pay the next day. I also watch my sleep reports and use the Fitbit relaxation app. If I go thru the 5 minute relaxation process in bed before falling asleep, my sleep will likely be more restorative. And a more restorative sleep makes everything better in the morning. I’ve learned a lot using Fitbit devices over the years.  

[BronTon6467]

For me , yes  On advice from my Doc I've  kept moving  and  a few months later  improving daily. I'm  exercising  more and regularly .In 2 months I've  lost 5kg on WW

I'm  excited about my progress  and  this is my new way of life 🙂 

Here's  to a positive  2020 🎉🙂

[DavideFitbit]

That's good news, I'm glad to see that exercise was helpful for you as well @BronTon6467, thank you for taking the time to share your experience with this.  😀

[WavyDavey]

Dr. Jonathan Sullivan is a big proponent of using strength training to alleviate joint symptoms and arthritis pain. The video goes on a bit, but if you have time to listen to the first 15 minutes or so, you may find it interesting.

https://youtu.be/dogMPUBwO5U?list=PLEB5rVJv_L5m_rkmPpCyKta7BlJjmzckw&t=382 

[DavideFitbit]

Excellent, thank you for sharing @WavyDavey!  

[potterybarn]

Depends on the pain I guess. But you should ask your doc. I also recommend that you try out some CBD maybe. I am pretty sure that you will find it interesting and working. Good luck with it!

[SunsetRunner]

Welcome to the forums, @potterybarn , and thanks for participating. You are right about the need to get your doctor’s opinion. Personally, I have a bad knee (nerve damage from replacement surgery). Working with my surgeon and physical therapist, together we determined how many steps/day are reasonable, how far I could try to push thru the pain, and how to listen to the signals my body was sending so as to know when to switch to non-weight bearing exercise. It’s working out nicely for me. At the risk of repeating myself in this thread, one of the most important things I figured out is this - mornings are the worst but 20 to 30 minutes on my under-table elliptical loosens the joints up nicely and leave me ready to start the day. 

I’m glad to see you are enjoying and contributing to these forum discussions! Hope to see more of you.

[KatKaty]

I also think that it's best to talk about this with your doctor.

[DavideFitbit]

Thank you for sharing @KatKaty! Definitely important to check with a doctor. Once we have an informed opinion and a green light from our doctor, we're free to try out new remedies and proceed with a certain exercise with caution to see some results. 😁

[Bower1991]

Thanks for the advice, but it seems to me that this is a very bad idea for me. If during severe pain I try to move my joints, then I just lose consciousness from the pain. I try to train in the gym when I have no joint pain and it helps me but the effect is pretty weak. My doctor is surprised that my joints hurt, when I am 35 years old. This is really very strange. He even suggested that I use weed to relieve pain. I heard about the benefits of CBD but I did not know about kratom. Many consider Kratom to be a real panacea, and I have not tried it yet. I want to buy a kratom rack but first I would like to hear your opinion.