Resist the Temptation of Winter Hibernation
It’s the cold and rainy season, when the joints get tight, stiff and painful. The urge is to simply bundle up in bed or on the couch and drink a nice cup of hot chocolate. Sounds tempting, right? It is, but for joint pain management, exercise is one crucial key in reducing pain and increasing joint flexibility.
Think of your joints as engines that need good routine maintenance, especially during the winter season. Resistance exercises can build muscle tissues which will support and strengthen your joints. Exercises such as yoga and Tai Chi will increase your range of motion. Just remember, be sure to gauge your ability and slowly build up your stamina. Exercises also make the brain releases a happy chemical, called endorphin. A good dose of endorphins will make the dreary winter months seem much brighter.
What about if you just had a knee replacement? As it turns out, strength training actually helps speed up knee recovery too. A randomized controlled trial study, recently published in the Feb. issue of Arthritis Care & Research, demonstrated that patients receiving strength training showed much greater improvement in strength and function over the next 12 months — as measured by tests such as stair climbing and 6-minute walks — than patients who received conventional rehabilitation and home physical therapy. The study showed that patients who performed six weeks of progressive strength training two or three times a week starting four weeks after surgery showed knee function similar to that of a healthy adult of the same age.
“There are all of these old wives’ tales that strength training is a detriment to the patient and that the new knee should be treated delicately. Our study demonstrates that intensive strength exercise as outpatient therapy is critical to begin three to four weeks after surgery, ” said Dr. Lynn Snyder-Mackler of the University of Delaware, the senior author of the study.
