Submitted on Thursday August 27th, 2015
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. It afflicts more than one-third of American adults over age 65.
This arthritis comes on slowly with age and is more common in women. If your loved one has complained of joint stiffness or achiness, make a doctor's appointment for a diagnosis. Although osteoarthritis has no cure, the pain can be managed.
Motion is lotion! Surprisingly, the key to living well with osteoarthritis is to keep moving. Research shows that regular physical, whole-body activity reduces arthritis pain over time.
- Take a warm shower each morning to reduce stiffness and make it easier to get moving.
- Do some stretching before you exercise to get the body more limber, especially those joints with arthritis.
- "Start low, and go slow." Find an activity that is low impact (easy on the joints). Examples include walking, water aerobics, swimming, and bicycling. No twisting or hard pounding. Even 5-10 minutes at a time, twice a day makes a difference. Increase time slowly.