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Living with arthritis: How do you stay active?
Let's talk about trying to stay active while living with arthritis. More than 50 million Americans suffer from arthritis and it is the No. 1 cause of disability in the country. Arthritis can be painful and debilitating, preventing many who have it from being active or doing the things they once enjoyed. The changes in physical capabilities can also have an effect on mental health as well. If you have arthritis, what sort of activities have you had to give up and how has that affected you? Have you found ways to adapt your activities or found new ones?
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Movement! Walking, stretching, yoga, dancing...lots of days it hurts, but if you do something you enjoy you can ignore a lot of the pain. And I use my trusty Voltaren Gel on my knees and back before I dance, on my hands before I sew or paint.
The worst invention, I think, is either the recliner or the remote control - allows us to sit around and let everything "seize up"
Headed off now to line dance for an hour and a half with a group of retirees - most in our 70's & 80's with all the aches and pains and artificial joints usual in our age group. No jumps or high kicks anymore, but we do work up a sweat!
Sue
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4 ReactionsFoods with Cinnamon seem to be helping me lately I have found. I fell and fractured my hip in 1991 when my daughter was only 5 months old. I also fell backwards off the opposite side of the stairs at my parents outside basement stairwell when I was about 10. Falling about 10 feet and landed on my back onto a dirt floor and all it seemed to do was knock the wind out of me. I also just had surgery a few years ago to remove a large cancer growth on one of my thighs where they had to cut down to the tendon so my muscles on that leg have been acting uncomfortable on and off. I have lower back and hip and leg and ankle pain at times. I also have a flat foot on one of my feet so I wear a brace sometimes prescribed to me by a Podiatrist. So I am in a bit of pain at times. Mainly when I first wake up.
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2 ReactionsI'm glad you find cinnamon helpful.
We have been using curcumin (turmeric) - I have used it for a couple of years now and find it helpful. I got my husband to start it a month ago, and it seems to be helping the pain in his neck from arthritis which started almost 30 years ago with a neck injury - he reaches for his heating pad and Voltaren Gel much less often lately.
We each need to find what helps us keep on moving!
Sue
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2 ReactionsI am 82 and in pretty good health. I used to walk at least 3 miles a day and on weekends up to 7 miles with my husband. I have arthritis in my fingers, neck, back, one knee (fell off a treadmill 30 years ago) and toes. I do use Voltaren Gel once in awhile but, not a lot, as it's not great for older people. I look great, and have been asked if my 59 year old daughter is my sister. But the inside is crumbling. I have had one hip replacement, and now have bursitis in that hip. I have had one toe operated on, and now have pain in a toe on the other foot. I've tried doing some exercises but if I get on the floor I can't get up. We have fifteen inside stairs inside our house, and I have to go up one step at a time. Thanks for letting me vent.
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