Vim & Vigor - Summer 2011 - Community Healthcare - (Page 20)

ACTION BY STEPHANIE CONNER If arthritis is a ecting your joints, try an exercise program to ease the pain ou might remember your grandmother walking with a cane or your grandfather wincing while holding his cup of coffee. The pain from their arthritis may have kept them from going on walks, and they certainly weren’t going to the gym. After all, who wants to exercise when they’re in pain, right? But today, medicine teaches us to think differently about arthritis and exercise. “Many expert groups and medical consensus panels have come out with treatment recommendations for individuals with osteoarthritis,” says American Council on Exercise (ACE) spokeswoman Robyn Stuhr, M.A., who created an osteoarthritis course for ACE. “And regular exercise is at the heart of those treatment recommendations.” PLAN WHY EXERCISE MATTERS Y It’s natural to want to stop moving when you feel pain, but forgoing exercise does more harm than good over time. “If you restrict your activity, you will lose strength, range of motion and stamina, which can actually increase joint pain and decrease your ability to perform a variety of daily activities,” Stuhr says. “Instead of accelerating joint degeneration, the right exercises can actually slow the progression of osteoarthritis and help you to maintain an active lifestyle.” Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis. It’s a degenerative joint disease and the type of arthritis that many of us associate with aging. Osteoarthritis typically affects the hips, knees, hands, lower back and neck. When the cushion between bones, called cartilage, breaks down, the bones rub against each other. This causes pain and decreased movement. Although arthritis is common among the aging population, age isn’t the only thing that can lead to joint pain. “The effects of being inactive and the effects of aging are exactly the same,” says Edward M. Phillips, M.D., who serves on the Exercise is Medicine task force. Ellen Shmueli, a ﬁtness instructor who has rheumatoid arthritis (RA), encourages people with this form of the disease to stay active. 20 Vim & Vigor · SUM M ER 2 011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Summer 2011 - Community Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2011 - Community Healthcare
Contents
Community Message
When Stroke Strikes, Seconds Count
Rays of Hope Fight Cancer
Girl Talk
Say What?
Action Plan
Like This? Try That!
Being George Clooney
A Day in the Life of Your Heart
Unexpected Heroes
Get in Gear
A Real Lifesaver
A Real Lifesaver
Spotlight on Community Hospital
Spotlight on St. Catherine Hospital
Spotlight on St. Mary Medical Center
A Safer Hospital Stay

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2011 - Community Healthcare