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Knee Arthritis, Should I Stop Doing Exercise?

Blog, / By Shi Qi Yap

When we talk about knee arthritis or joint degeneration, the patient’s first question is always, “Should I rest and stop doing exercise to avoid further degeneration?”. The answer is, “Keep as active as you can, as long as it isn’t exacerbating your joint pain”.

In today’s blog, we will discuss why you shouldn’t stop exercising and explain how exercise can help with your knee arthritis.

Why You Shouldn’t Stop Doing Exercise?

Right exercises and appropriate volume of it would help with your knee arthritis. Let’s see how it works,

  • It Helps Easing Arthritis Pain

    Exercise can keep your joint nourished and through exercises, our body will release some chemicals called endorphins, which help you to relieve stress, improve mood, reduce anxiety thereby helps you feel better.

  • It Helps with Your Knee Stiffness and Swelling

    Specific aerobic exercises such as swimming and cycling can improve your blood circulation, therefore helps in ceasing your knee swelling. Besides, cycling and swimming are good exercises for knee arthritis patient, as they both are not putting too much stress towards your knee joint.

  • It Disperses the Load That Apply to Your Knee

    Appropriate volume of strengthening exercise can strengthen your knee surrounding muscles, thereby distributing the direct stress that goes to your knee joint.

  • It Prevents Your Bone from Losing Density

    Bone is a very dynamic tissue. Wolff’s law stated that, “Bone is laid down in areas of high stress and reabsorbed in the area of low stress”. In simple words, your bone needs you to keep active in order to maintain their density and therefore slowing down the degeneration process.

Do’s and Don’ts for Knee Arthritis

Do’s

  • Stay active by doing the right exercises.
  • Losing Weight if you need to
  • Apply heat

Don’ts

  • Prolonged knee bend or Deep Asian Squat
  • Overdoing the exercises
  • Kneeling on floor for extended period

I would recommend you discussing your exercises regimen with your doctor and therapist. They can work together with you to find out the exercises that give you the most benefit and least aggravation of your joint pain.

If you have any more questions or would like our physiotherapists to assess or treat your problem, feel free to drop us a question or talk to us. Do check out our Instagram page too.

Yap Shi Qi

Rehab Therapist

Sources

  1. Mayo Clinic. (2020, December 1). How do exercise and arthritis fit together? Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/arthritis/in-depth/arthritis/art-20047971.
  2. Vann, M. R., Upham, B., Levine, B., Anders, G., & Rauf, D. (n.d.). Things that worsen knee osteoarthritis. EverydayHealth.com. Retrieved from: https://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/osteoarthritis/surprising-things-worsen-osteoarthritis-pain/.
  3. DeVries, C. (n.d.). When I’m in pain, should I exercise or rest? Retrieved from https://www.arthritis-health.com/blog/when-im-pain-should-i-exercise-or-rest.
  4. Marco Funiciello, D. O. (n.d.). Exercising with arthritis. Arthritis. Retrieved from: https://www.arthritis-health.com/treatment/exercise/exercising-arthritis.