Swimming, walking through a pool, and other water-based exercises are ideal for relieving the pain and stiffness of osteoarthritis. The water provides resistance that boosts your strength and range of motion. It also supports your body's weight, reducing stress on your joints.
Swimming breaststroke puts excessive side-to-side and rotational forces on the joints and may be difficult to do if the joint is unstable. The preferred direction of force is in flexion (bending), which is why a kick, as done in front crawl and backstroke, is recommended.
Swimming can be a good choice of exercise if you have arthritis because it: stimulates blood circulation and can reduce muscle stiffness and ease pain.
Lap swimming, however, is also great exercise for people with arthritis. It has little impact on joints, lengthens muscles, and improves cardiovascular fitness.
Swimming can keep your joints flexible, reduce stiffness, and increase mobility. When you were a kid, swimming was no doubt a favorite summertime activity. Now, it may be one of the best ways to keep your older joints healthy.
Swimming injuries are often caused by repetitive stress on a particular joint, and the location of the injury frequently depends on which stroke is used most. For example, breaststrokers commonly develop hip pain and neck pain because of the strong frog-leg kicks and repeatedly lifting the head to breathe.
Carrying extra body weight contributes to osteoarthritis in several ways, and the more you weigh, the greater your risk. Increased weight adds stress to weight-bearing joints, such as your hips and knees. Also, fat tissue produces proteins that can cause harmful inflammation in and around your joints. Joint injuries.
Physical activity is the best available treatment for OA. It's also one of the best ways to keep joints healthy in the first place. As little as 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise five times a week helps joints stay limber and strengthens the muscles that support and stabilize your hips and knees.
Aquatic exercises are particularly beneficial for overweight and older patients with osteoarthritis. The waves and buoyancy of water support the weight of the body, reducing the impacts on joints and the intensity of perceived pain [11].
Staying hydrated is vital when you live with arthritis. Hydration is key for flushing toxins out of your body, which can help fight inflammation, and well-hydrated cartilage reduces the rate of friction between bones, meaning you can move more easily.
If you're suffering from knee pain or injury, have you considered taking up swimming? This low-impact exercise builds up muscles around your knees and could help to ease your symptoms and have you feeling better all round.
But whether you have arthritis in the knee, have sore knees from running, or you just have aching knees, swimming is one of the best exercises to help knee pain. When you swim, your body is buoyed by the water. With the water supporting your body weight, you can exercise without adding stress to your body.
The more submerged your body is, the lighter the load on your joints. If you have arthritis in your shoulders or spine, keeping your upper body under water increases the fitness benefits, helping burn more calories while improving your mobility and range of motion. Wear a buoyancy belt to help you stay upright.
Walking, biking, swimming, tai chi, yoga, and water aerobics are all good aerobic exercises for people with osteoarthritis. Water exercise is especially ideal because of water's soothing warmth and buoyancy. It's a gentle way to exercise joints and muscles -- plus it acts as resistance to help build muscle strength.
Stay active, when you can
On the whole, the answer is "keep moving." Your joints were made to move. They need movement to nourish the joint and keep the muscles around the joint strong and limber. Doctors encourage their patients with arthritis to be as active as they can—as long as it isn't exacerbating joint pain.
The main treatments for the symptoms of osteoarthritis include: lifestyle measures – such as maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly. medication – to relieve your pain. supportive therapies – to help make everyday activities easier.
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) scientists have created a promising injectable cell therapy to treat osteoarthritis that both reduces inflammation and also regenerates articular cartilage.
Joint injury or overuse—Injury or overuse, such as knee bending and repetitive stress on a joint, can damage a joint and increase the risk of OA in that joint. Age—The risk of developing OA increases with age. Gender—Women are more likely to develop OA than men, especially after age 50.
Osteoarthritic joints have low levels of aggrecan, proteoglycan, type-II collagen, and runt-related transcription factor 1(RUNX1).
SWIMMING AND KNEE INJURIES
Medial knee pain does seem to be most common in breaststroke swimmers. This is most likely due to the specific kicking mechanics used in breaststroke swimming, which result in high valgus loads as the knee goes rapidly from flexion into extension with external rotation of the lower leg.
Swimming offers your joints mobility and exercise, without impact. A well-executed swimming workout will improve your range of motion and strengthen the muscles surrounding your joint.
Swimming has been shown to reduce inflammation, which can be helpful for those that want to exercise without increasing the stress and inflammation in their body. For the competitive athlete, swimming has been shown to reduce inflammation1 as well as reduce creatine kinase levels2.