September is Osteoarthritis Awareness Month, so let’s talk about how you can manage your arthritis symptoms at home!
Self management of a chronic condition like osteoarthritis is not just about pain reduction; it’s about ensuring you have the knowledge and tools to safely perform your daily activities, stay active despite your limitations, manage symptom flare ups, and maintain your quality of life.
So, what can you do to manage your osteoarthritis?
1. Stay Active
Maintaining physical fitness levels and gradually building your capacity for activity is important not only for osteoarthritis management, but also for your overall health and function.
Low-impact activities like walking, cycling, and swimming are great for osteoarthritis.
Not only can these activities improve physical function, like walking ability or balance, but they can also reduce pain and stiffness in the affected joints. The best daily exercise for someone with osteoarthritis one that is accessible and can be performed comfortably and consistently!
2. Build Muscle Strength
Strengthening is strongly recommended for individuals with osteoarthritis to improve both pain and function. Why? Because gradually building up your joints’ and your muscles’ tolerance to load can make everyday tasks easier and more manageable.
The evidence shows many different types of strengthening can be effective; whether it is bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, resistance bands, or weight machines, strengthening can be beneficial as long as it provides an appropriate challenge to the muscles.
3. Modify Difficult Activities
With osteoarthritis, certain daily activities can become more difficult. Pain, restricted range of motion, or strength deficits can all limit your ability to perform certain tasks. But just because an activity is difficult doesn’t necessarily mean you should avoid it.
Modifying a movement or activity can help you maintain independence and function while reducing the likelihood of aggravating your symptoms or experiencing recurrent flare-ups.
Examples include:
- Taking the stairs: You might try to reduce how many flights you do per day by getting everything done upstairs while you are already there. You could also take the stairs one step at a time or avoid carrying a load on the stairs so you can use the handrail for support.
- Walking: If a 30-minute walk is painful, modifying that activity might mean reducing to two 15-minute walks, or combining a 15-minute walk with some swimming or cycling. It also could mean changing your route to avoid hills or stairs, using walking poles, or simply reducing your speed.
- Gardening: If it is difficult to get down to the ground, you might use a gardening stool, or switch between kneeling and standing. You could also break your gardening into smaller sessions throughout the day.
4. Manage Flare-Ups
Having a flare-up plan can be helpful so you can manage symptoms before they get out of control. This plan can include modifying activities more when you are sore, pacing your day, and using pain management strategies.
These strategies include:
- Medication or topical pain relievers as recommended by your doctor or pharmacist
- Use of heat or ice during acute flares
- Gentle mobility exercises that help with swelling management, maintain movement, and reduce stiffness.
5. Pace Your Day
We love the Red/Orange/Green Light System, which can help you break up the day and prevent overdoing it.
🔴 Red: Aggravating activities
🟠 Orange; Tolerable in small quantities, but can become aggravating if done too much
🟢 Green: Generally not aggravating, and may even help reduce symptoms
Ensuring your day is balanced between red, orange, and green light activities and incorporating restful moments throughout the day can help minimize flare-ups.
It may sound obvious, but it can be easy to get stuck in eight hours of gardening or housework and then wonder why you are sore that evening. Pacing can help prevent this!
6. Seek Help!
If you are feeling overwhelmed or unsure about how to manage your pain…we can help!
Education is a big part of your physiotherapy session. We can help you understand your symptoms and create a plan that is specific to your needs, goals, and daily activities.