New to the group

JoH
JoH Member Posts: 2
edited 28. Nov 2023, 14:07 in Living with arthritis

Morning, All,

I'm new to this. I have arthritis in almost all my joints and I'm not having a good day today. I keep reading that exercise is good for those with arthritis, but how can you if everything is aching so much that you want to cry? Everytime I move, even slowly, something is creaking , grating or sending out sharp, stabbing pains. How do you exercise with that?

I have an appointment at the end of the month with the Pain Clinic. I really hope they can help me.

Comments

  • Ellen
    Ellen Moderator Posts: 1,835

    Hello @JoH

    I am very pleased to welcome you to the Versus Arthritis online Community. I can tell today is not a good day for you so I am very glad you have chosen to join us.

    Although you are quite right that exercise is good for those of us with Arthritis (this article will explain why):


    you should not be feeling under any pressure to exercise - in fact for some of us all we can manage are stretches (sometimes called range of movement) like here:

    I am so pleased you have an appointment with a pain clinic coming up this month and very much hope they will be able to help you with your pain.

    Do keep us posted and in the mean time take a look around and join in wherever you feel comfortable.

    Best wishes

    Ellen.

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 30,004

    Hi @JoH

    I am so sorry you are having such a rough time of it.

    I am not very good at explaining, but I think the theory is that if we don't use our joints at all they get worse? The key is to only do what you can manage and if you can maybe build it up over time. Some find swimming or 'moving' in warm water a real help.

    The pain clinic should be able to help you feel less pain in the meantime I found this useful


    I am sending you some ((())) and hope you will decide to stay here and join us all.

    Take care

  • wazz42
    wazz42 Member Posts: 233

    Hi @JoH

    Welcome from me too. The first thing to say is, this is a bad time for you so it's not appropriate for you to be worrying about doing exercise at all yet. When we are in a state like you, lots of us call it a flare, our medical team understand that too. In a flare you are trying to control the pain, see link above so distraction/heat/cold to name a couple and working out how to keep yourself on an even keel. The pain clinic will be great at that too, jot down what you need before you go and take a friend if you can so you can remember what they say

    Once you feel 'in control' then you can think about stretches and movement in general.

    You are probably grieving, I know I was, so give yourself some tlc - I imagine what I would tell my best friend at this stage and then apply it to myself. Take it slowly, there is a light - you cant see it yet, but it's around one of those bends up ahead and tiny steps will get you there. Keep posting so we can be with you on the journey.

    xx