Re: when to exercise?

[Guest guest]

Rhonda,

My physiotherapist has told me that it's important to keep the joints

moving while also listening to our bodies. She said pain is not

necessarily an indicator for us of whether we are hurting something

more. She told me first off to be careful with any joint that is

swollen as that is when and where the damage is occuring. She said ice

should be applied as frequently as possible to swollen joints to get the

swelling down (I also use magnets and find them very effective, too) and

the swollen joint should be put through a range of motion but in a

gentle manner. As for joints that are not swollen but still hurt, she

said it's perfectly fine to exercise those areas without fear of causing

further damage. In fact, she has me doing knee exercises that I find

quite uncomfortable to do but the idea is that they'll build up the

surrounding muscles, providing more support and hopefully less pain for

the joint. She also told me to watch my recovery time following

exercise. Anything from 30 to 60 minutes is acceptable but if I'm still

feeling really sore more than an hour later, then that means I'm

overdoing it. On top of my physio exercises, I make myself walk 2 km.

every day and I'm literally dragging myself home by the end and can

barely make it up my front steps but I rest for a half hour after that

and am usually ready to stagger around again at that point.

rhonda@... wrote:

>

> From: rhonda@...

>

> Hello all, and Happy Thanksgiving!

> I have a question about exercise, and when you should or shouldn't do it.

>

> Before I started having joint problems back in June I was very active,

working out daily on a treadmill, step, trampoline, weights. I had to stop that

in a hurry because it made my pain so much worse, and I was so weak and tired

anyway.

> Now I have started physical therapy by swimming. I HATE swimming in

chlorinated water, but it seems I have no choice. I have to move or I'm going to

stiffen up.

>

> The physical therapist told me I also can walk slowly on my treadmill,

provided my RA is not flaring. There's the problem. As far as I can tell it's

always flaring. There are times it's worse, but I always have at least some pain

and heat in my feet and ankles, elbows, shoulders and often hips and wrists. Is

that normal for RA, and does it rule out any exercise except swimming? It's very

discouraging, because if I could lose 10 pounds I know it would take some

pressure off my poor feet, yet it's hard to lose weight when you can't work out.

I eat very little but stay 10 pounds overweight.

>

> I am only on Minocin and the NSAID Relafen.

>

> Tnanks for any feedback,

> Rhonda

>

>