To move or not to move?

Cree51

I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts and views on the following
I have chronic arthritis in both knees (surgery hopefully at the end of the year) in the meantime I broke my toe a week ago so I've not been going out and I've been resting my foot as much as poss. During this time I've had some really good nights sleep with little or no pain. Today I got a bit active, did a bit of shopping and took my dog on a very short walk. Tonight I'm in the usual agony. Does this mean pain will be relieved if I become a couch potato? Seriously should I be moderating my movements? Sorry for the long post, thanks for sticking with it.xxx :P y

dreamdaisy

Hello, it's nice to meet you and that was so not a long post! It told us all we need to know so now to answer with my take on it.

I have two kinds of arthritis, an auto-immune one (psoriatic) and the joint damage from that has led to OA in both ankles, both knees and both hips so I can understand your feelings about moving. It is tempting to stay fairly still but that won't get life done because there are always chores to be performed. We also need to move to help our joints and muscles - yes, help our joints even though they don't co-operate. :roll: You say you will be having surgery, what kind? If it's replacements then you need your muscles to be as strong as possible to help your post-op recovery. I use my pain levels as feedback so I know when to ease up. I have also altered the way I do many things to help ease the strain on my knees and ankles.

We teeter along some very narrow tightropes at times, it is very tempting to not do so much so as to lessen the pain but it isn't really possible because life rolls on regardless. It's not on, is it? I hope the toe repairs itself and that the surgery goes well; please let us know, yes? Good luck! DD

bubbadog

Hi & Welcome to Arthritis Care Forum, It's can be hard when the pain is bad and resting up to help your body recover is a good thing. As DD said it can be hard to balance it all out. What I say is listen to your body it will say when it's in pain and when it is in pain then you need to rest to help it heal. But don't go mad when you feel a little better because you could go and over do it and end up feeling as bad as you did before!! Also I find when I wake in the morning I will know whether it's going to be a good day or not!! Hope your toe doesn't give you to much trouble for too long!

barbara12

Hello Cree51
And welcome from me, it is hard when exercising causes pain,but the alternative is the joints will just get stiffer and stiffer..gentle exercise every day just to keep them moving and to help the muscles you will need after your op..good luck with everything..

Cree51

Hi Guys
Thank you so much for your supportive responses. It is about finding the right balance of exercise and rest, but cos I live on my own that's not always easy. I'm getting better at it tho. I think if I'm honest, although I've had problems with arthritis for the last 15 years or so, I still don't want to admit that's what's wrong with me along with getting older. In my head I'm till in my 20's!!! In reality add another 40 years to that arrgghhh! Lol
I'm hoping to get replacement joints of both knees at the end of this year so I realise now that need to strengthen my leg muscles. I don't swim but i do go to the swimming baths and walk up and down in the water, I probably need to do that more regularly. I really appreciate bring able to talk to others with arthritis, cos no matter how sympathetic friends and family are, they can't understand the problems that the pain and stiffness create. So thanks for your lovely advice.
Hugs to you all

Chris xx

hileena111

Hi
Welcome to the fourm
I agree with the others.....you have to exercise. Physio exercises not your own Certain exercises {high impact can make joints much worse}
Its tough going.....I've got OA in hips, back, neck and ankle so I know what it feels like to be sore and not want to exercise.....been there

Love
Hileena

Cree51

Thanks Hileena,
Does everyone think I should ask my Dr to refer me for physio? Xx

Francie7532

Welcome,

I believe that exercise is the fountain of youth. Having said that, I know how hard it is when you are in pain. With arthritis, our joints are effected by weight bearing activities so these really hurt us. When our joints hurt, we don't want to move, this weakens our muscles over time. My suggestion is to find some less weight bearing activities to do. Swimming/aqua fit or biking are two that come to mind. This is especially important if you are having a surgery in future, you need to keep strong and do your rehab. Good Luck!

justinbarrow

I am always being told to keep moving as much as possible - Night-time is worse for me as I get loads of pain and find that when moving to the bathroom the pain eases after around 5 or ten mins then I can get a bit of sleep again before waking up.

I was advised just to do little exercise just to keep the joints a bit more loser otherwise they will stiffen up.

Good luck with the op and hope things get better for you

Cree51

Thank everyone, Justin that's me as well, night time is worse, I cry with the pain and restless legs. Then as you say ..off to bathroom, I live in a bungalow so I have a walk round the house, look out the window, do a bit of tidying up, then back to bed for another couple of hours sleep before the pain kicks in again! What a glorious life....not!

bubbadog

You are lucky to live in a Bungalow and not a house like myself it's getting to the point that it's taking a good 5 minutes for me to get upstairs now as the pain is awful. We are thinking it maybe time to get a stairlift as I don't want to move. So you do have a plus living where you do, I do agree night time is worse for me as well. We should set up a club for all us night sufferers!!!

Slosh

A night time club sounds good to me too. I have OA in my neck which also gives me pain in my shoulders and arms. I find I can only sleep on my left hand side and even then wake up frequently with pain and pins and needles, that's once I've got sleep that is. At the moment I'm on sick leave post op but dread it continuing once I'm back at work. I guess I'm not the only one who sometimes dreads going to bed.

Cree51

Hi Bubbadog and Slosh, what a great idea, a night time club, I bet we'd get loads of members, at least it would be something to do and maybe we could cheer each other up!
And believe me I thank my lucky stars a very day and every night that I have a lovely cosy bungalow to live in. I never take it for granted.