Posted by Jason Wells on January 27th 2023‍

We all know that to exercise is to future-proof our body from chronic disease particularly cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Depending upon the stage of life we are at, we may need to think carefully about how we exercise to minimise injury and reduce pain. In this new series ‘exercise through the ages’, I have highlighted several different points in our lives and key conditions that often hinder our movement. They are by no means an exhaustive list of significant conditions; however, these are the ones that often cause the largest burden in our society.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the largest disease burdening medical conditions in our western world. Once pain and swelling begins in our joints the pathway of reduced movement, loss of strength and balance, lowered confidence and agility may seem inevitable.

What is important to know is that it is normal to have AO or change in our joints. It is, however, the inflammation or “itis” in arthritis that is the real problem. Joint inflammation and swelling rapidly causes change across the involved joints, leading to cartilage degradation and underlying bony changes. The swelling is corrosive to our joints and therefore it is especially important to address this early in any “flare-up”. Accompanying pain and inflammation occurs in loss of strength to muscles that support the involved joint and reduced balance often leading to increasing disability and deformity.

In the early stages of a sore arthritic joint it is important to reduce the load stress across the joint by performing non-weight bearing exercise (mat work) or reduced load bearing exercise (bike or pool). Compression, elevation, and ice management is also often required and beneficial. Reformer Pilates is another great way of maintaining movement without the heavy load through the joints. During this stage of the condition you must let pain be your guide, as a “no pain, no gain” attitude will maintain a cycle of pain and inflammation.

Once the acute flare up has settled, gentle loaded exercise including walking, light resistance and increasing your bike or pool exercises are encouraged. During this phase, balance and agility exercises commence and may include sit to stand and single leg stance drills.

Functional strength training is the concept of training your body to a level to comfortably perform daily life activities. Getting off the floor, turning over in bed, bending to pick up an object and lifting bags of groceries are some of the routine activities that require a medium level of fitness. Unless these skills are targeted during your recovery program, it is not a given that they will return. Medical research has consistently highlighted the need to retrain your body like an everyday athlete to allow the recovery of some of these fitness attributes.

Staying fit for life with OA requires investment of time, effort, and some finances. Remaining proactive with tackling flare-ups and in-between these times, maximising your recovery and developing good habits that encourage movement, agility and balance skills.

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