Exercise or stop?

Nickyc

I was wondering whether it is better to keep walking for as long as possible to help keep muscles strong and so support the joints, or when it hurts to walk should you stop and be more sedentary to slow down wear and tear on the joints?
I'm not sure of the best course of action.
Thanks for your help.

Mike1

I would say stop if it hurts, it means that something is wrong!

Nickyc

Thanks again Mike1

DebbieM

Hi @Nickyc

You might find some of our information on the website useful when it comes to exercise and pain, including how to know when you've overdone it :

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/exercise/about-exercise/

Hope you find it useful :)

Debbie

Lilymary

I really struggle with this. I've got severe OA in my left hip, which is very painful, and moderate OA in my right hip (but no pain). I suspect my knees are rubbish too, but they only really hurt on long descents when fell walking (which is now out of the question anyway due to my hip!)

My hip is basically too painful to allow any exercise. I sometimes do local gentle walks round the fields for an hour or two, but it's really painful all the way round, even on pain relief. I do it anyway as it I doubt it can do much more damage to the joint, and it does the rest of me some good, but boy am I worn out when I get back, and my hip is screaming by then. Going upstairs, or doing squats, is acutely painful on any occasion. Running is an impossibility, as would be dancing etc, so no chance for aerobic exercise, and my gentle pilates and yoga classes are now also too painful for my hip. I'm not sure how I would be for swimming, as the pools are all closed at the moment, but I suspect breast stroke would hurt too much as I have so little lateral movement in my hip.

On occasions my work requires me to be on my feet all day, and boy do I know it the next day. At any time it is impossible to walk without a limp, and using a stick doesn't make a lot of difference, although is occasionally necessary just to walk round the supermarket. I used to be a super-fit fell walker until a few months ago when a minor fall landing on said dodgy hip set everything off, and now I can do is .... "very little at all" (polite version). The x-rays showed no trauma injury, just awful OA.

So getting any aerobic exercise feels beyond reach, and I tried all the hip exercises I've downloaded from this site yesterday, and gave up after a few minutes because of the pain. I've read through the very detailed link on this thread, but it all feels unachievable at the mo.

I know getting exercise and staying active is really important, not least to get me in shape for when the replacement op eventually happens (who knows when), but I am despairing of being able to do any. 😥 Any suggestions would be so gratefully received.

Nickyc

I am going out for walks doing around 2 miles although I did manage 6 miles last week. My hips complain as I also have OA in them and my knees hate going down hills, I have pseudo gout in them, but I hope that by using the muscles I'm helping support the joints. I have just been prescribed amitriptyline and weight gain is a possibility, I'm already overweight so I can't afford any more strain on my hips and knees so I'm hoping walking will help.
Thanks for all your advice x

Lilymary

Didn't realise amitryp causes weight gain. That explains a lot. 😕 Have been trying to lose weight, but have only lost half a stone. When I look at some diets they're actually more than I eat now.

Nickyc

I found that when I joined slimming world I ate so much, I lost 4 stone though. Unfortunately I put it back on when I stopped going.