Dog walking, worth doing?

Gwennie

Hi all, thanks for having me. I was diagnosed with widespread OA five years ago at 53. It started in my MTPs and now is most places except my knees and my hips (I expect I have that joy to come!). Following joint fusions in my feet and pelvis (partially successful) I spent about nine months virtually housebound and consequently over the last five years my weight has increased by 30kg. My question is........I feel most of my stiffness and back pain is now caused by my weight and I’m eating healthily now but the weight isn’t really shifting. I have started to walk the dogs twice a day now but get very breathless (weight again!) and usually only manage between 0.3-0.8 km. is this small amount going to do me any good? Not just with weight but with general fitness? It’s seven days a week and lasts about fifteen minutes a Day? Any thoughts anyone?

[Deleted User]

Good morning Gwennie

Welcome to the forum. I am sure you will find support, advice, mutual empathy, friendship and light relief. There are several forum members who have osteoarthritis.

Arthritis Care and Arthritis Research have lots of information leaflets and booklets on various ubjects relevant to people with arthritis. You may be interested on the following:

https://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/living-with-arthritis/exercise-and-arthritis.
https://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/living-with-arthritis/healthy-eating-and-arthritis
https://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/arthritis-information/hints-and-tips/diet.aspx

If you feel you would like to talk to someone perhaps you might like to ring Arthritis Care's freephone Helpline on 0800 800 4050

I am one of the moderation team and we all have one or more of the Arthritis 'hanger's on' or look after family with the same.

Look forward to reading more about you in future posts

Best wishes
ChrisK

dreamdaisy

It doesn't matter how small the amount of exercise, it all adds up. Having a dog is the perfect reason for getting out and about, we don't have one so I have to make myself get out there and do something. I can now do nearly a mile unaided (I use crutches and a rollator) and my stamina is improving. I have also joined a gym but I don't force myself to do more than a few minutes on each piece of equipment. Although all of this activity makes things more painful, I know it is doing my overall health good. If I lose a bit of weight so be it, I know that will make no difference to the pain levels as my joints are too far gone so that is no incentive, however buying new clothes is. DD

dibdab

Hi Gwennie,

Welcome aboard. Keep going with the dog walking, every little helps not just to burn calories, but to build muscle health. I walk our daughter's little dog 3 or 4 days a week, I started with around 15 minutes a day of slow walking, and on a good day can now manage around 40/45 minutes of reasonably brisk walking. I have to admit a recent bout of ill health with a nasty chest infection stopped me for around 4 weeks, but I'm back in harness and have just come back from a 25 minute walk, with the aim of building up my stamina again.

Apart from anything else, being out in the fresh air, particularly on a fine day, is really good for our sense of well being, and each walk is a positive achievement. Focus on what you can do, not what you can't, and keep walking.

Deb x

daffy2

Hi Gwennie
Deb has posted just what I was going to say about the 'mind benefits' of getting out, which are so important in coping with arthritis, and makes it worth doing regardless of any effect(or not) on weight.
Little and often will likely be a better way to go, gradually building up fitness without putting undue strain on unhappy joints. It would be worth making sure that your shoes are helping rather than otherwise. If you pound the pavements then cushioning will be important to reduce jarring, and well-fitting(not always easy!) supportive shoes will help to ensure that joints move as much as possible in the way they should.
Re the weight problem; a healthy diet is obviously important but also check portion size.Apologies if you've already addressed this, but as 'normal' crockery is anything up to twice as large as it was even just 20 years ago, a correct portion may look small and mess with your perception of 'enough'(mind effects again!)

Gwennie

All good advice everyone. I used to be so fit, I had horses, mucked them out every day, walked the dogs for at least two miles a day and rode every weekend. I could eat anything I wanted and never gained weight, I suppose I continued eating habits when I became unable to do all the strenuous stuff. I wear Vionic orthotic trainers to walk in, so hopefully they keep my feet in the best position. My biggest concern is the lower back pain from my arthritic facet joints in L4&5. I cant take anti inflammatories or codeine because of allergies and I stopped the fentanyl patches six weeks ago (didn’t do a lot tbh anyway) so I’m down to paracetamol, warm baths, tens and moaning a lot. I suppose I want reassurance that the walks will get easier and I’m not doing further damage to my spine. 👍🏻

stickywicket

I think you've had good advice, Gwennie, and I think you're being very sensible about all this. One other thing comes to mind. People do worry about the potentially damaging effects of exercise but, strangely, not about the actual damaging effects of lack of exercise.

Start gently and carefully, preferably over even ground as that will put less strain on dodgy bits I hope the dogs don't pull on the lead. Build up slowly and gradually at your own pace. And good luck

dreamdaisy

We all used to be what we no longer are, including those without arthritis. DD

Airwave!

Sounds good to me! The hardest part of exercise is starting, next hardest part is keeping going! I bet the pooch appreciates it.

elnafinn

Definitely worth doing. Good for you physically and mentally. I like what Airwave has said to you.

You may like to try the walk three times a day in a while.

I have a pedometer, and I call it my silent best friend. If you had a pedometer you could then see how many steps you do on your walk and after a while, try to do a few more steps every day. You would actually see your progress with your steps. It can be great fun.

Anyway, well done you, do carry on, it can only be beneficial.

Gwennie

Thanks for the encouragement. In just a few days I have increased each walk to 1.5km, that’s up from about half a kilometres maximum. Back complains a bit, but a good sit down in my favourite chair soon helps with that. I have lost almost two kilos in weight and my little fat terrier, Brenda, seems more svelte!😊

elnafinn

You are doing good, Gwennie. Do carry on with this regime. You may find your back pain eases a little on your return from walking as time goes on. Even if it does not you know that a sit down helps it.

Wishing you and your little four legged friend, well.

I look forward to an update. m0150

dibdab

Well done Gwennie, keep on keeping on........and enjoy the fresh air, no doubt your little dog is thoroughly enjoying your endeavour. I hope that well earned sit down includes a cuppa to combat the dehydration- and maybe a sneaky digestive biscuit!!! For me one of the joys of the daily dog walk is watching the seasonal changes and listening to the birds even in the city. As an added bonus I usually have a little chat with other dog walkers, it's quite a social activity.

Deb x

dreamdaisy

It sounds as though you are both gaining rewards, I hope that is the motivation to keep it up! I think in terms of time spent walking rather than distance, the minimum is fifteen minutes, the most I've done is forty. DD

Gwennie

dreamdaisy wrote:

It sounds as though you are both gaining rewards, I hope that is the motivation to keep it up! I think in terms of time spent walking rather than distance, the minimum is fifteen minutes, the most I've done is forty. DD

Each walk takes about twenty minutes (we aren’t very speedy), so about 40 minutes a day in total!

stickywicket

That sounds good to me. Well done