What You Should Know About Living With Arthritis

In this guide from MVM Health in Pennsylvania, we discuss how you can cope and thrive as you manage your arthritis.

What Are Some Things You Should Know About Living With Arthritis?

1. You Should Respect Your Body’s Pain Signals
2. You Can Reduce Pain With Joint-Friendly Physical Activity
3. You Can Employ Good Body Mechanics
4. You Have Treatment Options

1. You Should Respect Your Body’s Pain Signals

One of the best ways to help yourself is to understand that pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. Pay attention to your body and how you feel during and after an activity or exercise. If pain increases, then you’ve done too much. This is especially true for pain that lasts for over two hours after an activity. It’s alright to do a little less next time or find another way that takes less effort. Remember that you can ask for support from your friends and family, and make daily activities easier with self-help devices, such as tools or appliances to use so that you don’t risk straining your joints.

2. You Can Reduce Pain With Joint-Friendly Physical Activity

Research shows that regular exercise can help expand your range of motion and reduce pain from stiff, unused muscles. Joint-friendly activities including walking, bicycling, dancing, or water aerobics boasts a low risk of injury and do not twist or over-exert the joints. Be gentle with yourself and observe how your body tolerates any new level of physical activity. If helpful, you can start off by doing a small amount of physical activity every day and work your way up to more time so your body can adjust. For your safety and well-being, it is important to consult your doctor before beginning a new exercise routine.

3. You Can Employ Good Body Mechanics

When it comes to living with arthritis, integrating good body mechanics can greatly help reduce pain. Good body mechanics is defined as using your body parts wisely so that doing everyday activities are less stressful to the joints. Ways to incorporate good body mechanics into your life include:

1. Good posture to protect your knees, hips, back, and neck. Poor posture can contribute to pain.
2. Stand with your shoulders back. Give your knees a slight bend and stand with your feet slightly apart or with one foot in front of the other to help keep balance.
3. In order to support your spine when you sit, you can use a rolled-up towel or pillow for support. Your hips, knees, and ankles should be at a 90-degree angle, and your shoulder should be tucked back.
4. If you experience pain in the joints of your fingers, wrists, or elbows, consider carrying things in a backpack or bag with a shoulder strap to help distribute the weight of the load.
5. Stretch and change positions often throughout the day. When muscles and joints remain in the same position for long periods of time, this can contribute to stiffness.

4. You Have Treatment Options

If you feel as though regular exercise and traditional medicine are not enough to treat your symptoms of arthritis, you have more treatment options. At MVM Health, we are glad to offer other treatment methods when conventional options fall short, in the form of joint injections or ketamine infusion therapy for chronic pain. If you are living with chronic arthritis pain, find that the pain is affecting your enjoyment of day-to-day life, and wonder if you are a good candidate for any of our treatments, it may be time to seek pain management.

For patients in Pennsylvania, MVM Health is glad to offer services in East Stroudsburg, Scranton, Wilkes Barre, and Lehigh Valley. The experts at MVM Health would be glad to offer guidance and a variety of treatment methods for chronic pain. Call 223-213-2084 to request an appointment.