Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis continued – 5th rule for protecting your joints
This article is the seventh in a series. There are 6 rules to protect your joints – the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th rule were covered in previous articles. In this article, we will talk about the 5th rule of protecting your joints.
5. Exercise in a pain-free range
Fear of pain can lead to unnecessary inactivity, while total disregard for pain can lead to unnecessary joint damage. When you hurt, it’s hard to persuade/motivate yourself to move. However, protecting your joints and doing exercise actually work together. Making the muscles around your joints stronger helps to support the joints, which mean you are less likely to develop deformities. Exercise also helps you to maintain your range of movement. If you do not move your joints, they can stiffen, and your muscles can waste away.
• Try doing hand exercises in warm water as this can help relax your hands, making the exercises easier to do.
• Balance rest and exercise.
• Do not do strengthening exercises when you have a flare-up (increase n pain and inflammation/swelling).
• If you get any pain that lasts for longer than 1 hour after exercise, it means the exercise is too stressful.
• Progress slowly and cut back on activity if your joints become warm, red, or painful.
• Listen to your body. Never force a movement if you’re experiencing sharp pain or more discomfort than usual in a joint.
• Exercise within a comfortable range of motion. If an exercise or movement causes significant pain, stop doing it! Discuss your options with an occupational therapist or hand therapist.
• If you work at a computer, do hand and thumb stretches for 10 seconds every hour, to relieve those joints.
If your arthritis is painful, you may not feel like exercising. However, being active can help reduce and prevent pain. As long as you do the right type and level of exercise for your condition, your arthritis won’t get any worse.
Moving your hands and fingers can help keep your ligaments and tendons flexible (refer to the second article in Arthritis series – Functional Implications of Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Hands) and increase the function of synovial fluid – each of the joints in the human body contains synovial fluid. This fluid is a thick liquid that lubricates the joint and allows for ease of movement. Try regular hand exercises to strengthen muscles and relieve stiffness and pain. Simple exercises like making a fist and an ‘O’, flexing (bending) and extending (straightening), fingertip touching (with thumb), and finger lifting (from a flat surface) may help keep your fingers limber.
Take care of your hands, do the exercises above in a pain-free range.
