Vim & Vigor - Fall 2020 - GMC - 30

Exercises to
Ease Pain
Try these simple
moves to loosen up
stiff joints:

I'm not your average arthritis
patient. Diagnosed at age 3 with
juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, an
autoimmune disease that affects
the joints, I've never known a life
without it.
As a child with JRA, I knew
I was different from other kids,
but I couldn't understand why,
since I looked the same as
everyone else. My parents did
an amazing job of advocating for
me to help me cope with my joint
pain and fatigue. For example,
I had an extra set of textbooks-
one set for home and one to keep
at school-so I didn't have to
carry a heavy backpack. But kids
can be mean. They thought I was
faking and would call me names.
And that made the pain that
much worse.
The pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis can range from
dull and constant to sharp and
localized. But the fatigue, my
other main symptom, is often
worse than the pain, especially
during a flare-up. I describe it
as bone-crushing-when walking, moving, thinking, even
breathing is monumentally
exhausting. Even worse, no

FALL 2020 VIM & VIGOR

Do deep belly breathing for 30 seconds.
Sit in a chair and place
a ball between your
knees. Squeeze for
five seconds and then
rest for five seconds.
Repeat for one minute.
Sit in a chair. Extend
one leg so it's parallel
to the ground and hold
for 30 seconds. Repeat
with the other leg.
March in place for
30 to 60 seconds.
Take 10 steps forward
and then backward.
Do backward arm
circles for 30 seconds.
Make circles with your
wrists, do wrist bends
(up and down), and
open and close your
fingers for 10 seconds each.
Source: Arthritis
Foundation

Above: Shannan O'HaraLevi and her dog, Stella.
Opposite: O'Hara-Levi
and her husband
advocate for people
with arthritis.

matter how tired you are, the pain
keeps you up at night.
I've never really been able to get
my RA under control. Then about
five years ago, I developed osteoarthritis, which is the wear-andtear type of arthritis most people
are familiar with. OA happens
when the cartilage between bones
breaks down, causing swelling
and pain in the joints.
OA is a different type of pain
than RA. With rheumatoid arthritis, I feel it throughout my entire
body-every joint is affected. But
with osteoarthritis, the pain is
more localized to specific joints.

Shouldering the Pain

The osteoarthritis really started
kicking in within the past few
years. Initially, I only felt it after
working out. I was pretty active,
doing power yoga, which requires
a lot of athleticism and endurance. I even got my yoga teacher
training certification. But I realize
now that I overdid it.
I started having a lot of pain
and stiffness in my shoulders. You
don't realize just how much you
use your shoulders in daily life
until you can't. And mine just sort
of stopped working. Some days, I
physically couldn't lift a glass to my
mouth. I was 32 or 33 at the time,
and every doctor I spoke to said
the next step would be shoulder
replacement. I was really scared,
but I knew it was the right choice.
I had both of my shoulders
replaced in 2018-the left one in
January and the right one in May.
It's been like night and day. I'm not
doing pushups or pullups or anything too strenuous-and I
probably never will-but being
able to dress myself without excruciating pain is an excellent win.
I'm not completely back to normal,
but I can do a lot more now.

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2020 - GMC

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