I'm having a little inflamation in my knee and I wanted to do a little walking today not much just maybe 10-15 minutes or so. Anyone out there think it would make it worse? I'm trying to start an exercise routine for the summer and I thought I would start out with something simple like walking. Thanks everyone.
DX 1996 RA 12 years. Orencia, Prednisone, Methox, Fosamax, Folic acid
It would probably help... but this is a question best posed to your medical team.
As long as your doctor says its ok in general for your to exercise, I would think some mild exercise might help. You might try 5 minutes the first day to be sure, then 10 minutes the next day and work your way up to 15 minutes. Even though that may not seem like a long time, ramping up slowly will allow you to gauge your body's reaction hopefully without sending you into a full blown flare.small continuous movement will help keep the inflammation down...but I would be careful not to injure the joint by doing anything too strenuous. It's always a good idea to check with your doc before you do anything, though.
I don't see how 10-15 minutes of walking could hurt anyone!!!! We're all supposed to exercise a minimum of 30 minutes a day, aren't we?
My doctor told me to exercise as much as a I can. A sedentary lifestyle only makes RA worse, from what he told me.
Exercise also releases endorphins which raise your spirits and metabolism![QUOTE=cdndream]I don't see how 10-15 minutes of walking could hurt anyone!!!! We're all supposed to exercise a minimum of 30 minutes a day, aren't we?
My doctor told me to exercise as much as a I can. A sedentary lifestyle only makes RA worse, from what he told me.
[/QUOTE]
cdndream, that is true for many of us, but not all of us. Among just those of us here on these boards there is a wide variety in severity and duration of symptoms, types of symtpoms (pain vs stiffness vs swelling vs erosion, etc), as well as comorbidities...additional medical conditions affecting our health. Not everyone can safely walk for 10-15 minutes, much less exercise for 30 minutes. I can walk 10-15 minutes, with some assistance (such as a shopping cart), but it will leave me incapacitated for quite a few hours. More than one of my doctors has told me only to exercise in a heated pool, which is what I do for PT. Even that sometimes causes my symptoms to flare for as long as a week.
In general, a sedentary lifestyle does make RA worse. However for some individuals, sometimes even a small amount of activity can be counterproductive.
So true Innerglow. I find that even a walk through the store can be worse
when I am inflamed. But I do try to do my floor workout when I feel real bad.
It is amazing though that I can use my stepper and start to feel somewhat
better.
I never knew that walking could be so hard on the joints.
The heated pool is just wonderful, I could stay there all day.
Well put Maimi & InngerGlow
Well like everything else with RA there is never one answer fits all. For me the walking helps bring down my inflammation. You'll only know from trial and error. Good luck.I'd limit it to doing some gentle stretching exercises unless you and your doctor thinks it's ok to do more.
Well, when I have just a little inflammation in my knees and then walk thru wal-mart, by the time I get home my knees are way more puffy. Most times it does not go away, just lingers and gets worse over the days.
I had this question some time last year, and found an article that said when you have inflammation, stretching is the best exercise, because it will not aggravate the joint. And when you have inflammation, it said to rest the effected joint as much as possible.
with me activity causes more inflammation, heck even rest causes inflammation. I am just a big butter ball of imflammation!
Stretching is also good but do it through a pilates or yoga class taught be an instructer with training in adaptive methods. The worst thing for you is to do things incorrectly.
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