Excerpt from: Exercise and Nutrition
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| August 30, 2005 | | Get out of that chair. You can do it, get up out of bed, off the sofa and get moving - albeit slowly. | Jason, I know you have severe pain in the morning when you first get up. Before you head down the stairs, or for that matter get out of bed - bend, move, and stretch your knees and legs to loosen and warm the joints helping to make the synovial fluid lining the joint less viscous. This will help ease the pain and prepare your knees for the stresses to come. For those with orthopedic limitations, including arthritis and joint pain, they still need to maintain movement in order to limit further deterioration. In the morning, when the pain is the greatest take it easy and try it out - bending and moving your knees before getting out of bed and in particular before going down stairs (which places a load of two-to-three times your body weight on your joints). And that is if you are taking it easy and aren't in a rush. Activities I would recommend for you, and others with degenerative joint diseases, to try include; non-weight-bearing activities such as stationary cycling, seated chair exercises and ergometry, water exercises along with simply stretching of your lower extremities. | | |
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