This look at arthritis and exercise is a look at exercise from the point of view of one who has suffered with arthritis and has studied the philosophy of Natural Hygiene, in relation to how our bodies were designed to function.
You have heard the saying "no pain no gain".
To a limited extent that is very true. As long as you don't do more damage in a day than your body can repair you can gain a lot by exercising.
As I have said in the article;
Arthritis has two main causes, inorganic minerals and uric acid.
Movement of the joints increases the flow of fluids in the joints. You could compare the difference between a sedentary lifestyle, and an active lifestyle, to that of a stream. When the stream is flowing rapidly, the sediment is washed down stream and the rock bed is fairly clean. When the stream gets backed up, the sediment settles out and the stones are covered with muck.
Exercise helps to flush out the uric acid and inorganic minerals from the joints. This will slow the brake down of cartilage and the formation of crystals in the joints.
If there are crystals in the joints, exercise will break them up and grind them down small enough to be flushed out.
Another benefit to exercise for the arthritic is that the increased flow of fluids to the joint brings more nutrients to the joints to aid in healing.
The author of the article "Does-Running-Cause-Arthritis"; http://www.runnersworld.com/article/printer_friendly/0,5046,s6-197-0-0-9247,00.html Points out that "exercise is a biomechanical process". It is not the same as a mechanical process.
We were designed to move. If we don't move our joints, like a stagnant stream, we accumulate a lot of garbage in our joints and connective tissue.
One caution. Start Slow.
We don't want to do more damage in one day, than you can repair in a night.
Before you start to run, if that is what you wish to do, I would suggest that you start with walking. Walk for a half hour. 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back. Keep doing that until you can walk 2 miles in that half hour before you try running.
If you have more pain the morning after you may want to slow down. However, Don'ts quit. Personally I would recommend the walking every day just to keep the fluids flowing in your joints.
If running is your goal you should work up to it. Don't try to run a marathon the first time out.
One final note; I have worked and exercised before and after overcoming arthritis. Before I stopped causing arthritis, it was easy to make it worse by overdoing it. I do not recommend taking painkillers, so you can hide the pain while you exercise. If you cannot feel the pain you can do great damage. I know from experience.
Since I stopped causing arthritis, exercise has never made the pain worse. It has only made it better the following day. You just have to be careful.
When I do too much of the things that cause arthritis, and the pain starts to return, exercise, along with removal of cause, always makes recovery time shorter.
