Why is swimming good for arthritis

Sharon_K

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
• helps to maintain and build strength and cardiovascular fitness
• can help make your joints more flexible and the buoyancy of water reduces impact on your joints.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/october/why-is-swimming-good-for-people-with-arthritis/

Tell us about your experience of swimming with arthritis, is it something that you would recommend to other people.

Best wishes

Sharon

Mike1

I was referred for hydrotherapy but cannot do it due to the fact that the OA in my neck is too far gone; in any event it would have been a trial as I do not have my own transport and the only hospital pool where they do it is 26 miles away which can take over an hour to get to in the summer months due to holiday makers, with that and an hour home again any benefit would have been negated.

Lilymary

@Mike1 it's such a shame that those who need these therapies the most are often the least likely to be able to access them. 🙁

Sharon_K

Hi @Mike1

I wondered if you had thought about the geothermal pool, I was thinking about walking up and down in it rather than swimming

https://jubileepool.co.uk/

Best wishes

Sharon

LucyC

Hi Mike, so sorry to hear your pool is too far away. I have attended a hydrotherapy pool for 7 years and the benefits to my joint health have been tremendous. Unfortunately it is closed due to Covid restrictions and I’m struggling without it.

Could someone give you a lift to the pool? I don’t know if that would help you but I know through experience the water will.

kindest regards

LucyC

Mike1

Thanks Sharon, I had not thought of that so checked out their website, £8.20 for a session in the pool but they are all booked up till the end of November with no dates after that. Apart from that I would need a taxi there and back so that's another £34 and ideally someone to give me a hand so that limits it to a Monday or Tuesday morning which is when my baby sister is available. Then, as it it outside there is the weather to consider as my electric wheelchair can't be used in the rain. On the plus side they do seem disability friendly and have a water accessible wheelchair so that is something else which needs to be set up in advance. Reading through what I have just written does seem rather negative but I have not even mentioned how I feel about being stared at when out in my wheelchair, sometimes I can make a joke of it (my best retort to date is "this is what a Dalek looks like on the inside") but at other times it makes me want to disappear. However Sharon it is something I will keep in mind for when this pandemic is over, it may be easier then.

Lilymary

Not negative @Mike1 , just realistic about the obstacles you face. I hope you can find a way round them. That sounds hard going. Being ex forces, there’s some forged steel in there somewhere - if you want to do it, I reckon you could, somehow, but it’s up to you which challenges you choose to engage with.

Mike1

Lilymary

That’s the ticket Mike!

Tanya

I swim regularly 3-4 times a week. I do a combination of exercises recomended by a physio and some lengths of swimming. I have found it the best way to manage pain and strengthen muscles. I find exercise outside of the water very painful to do. I do stretches and have started the move with Leon programme, but it does flare up the pain. I experience lots of bone cliking when I do them too! 😣I have OA in my lumbar spine and knees. Also Fibromyalgia. Unfortunately the pool has shut for now due to Covid so I am worried about reversing the good that I have done already. But yes, I agree Sharon swimming / water exercise is really beneficial. 😉