A study completed recently offers some interesting insight into the benefits of exercise on people with degenerative arthritis. The old notion that arthritis pain is probably a result of excessive weight which causes premature wear on the joints is true, but not the whole story. We’ve known for a long time that losing weight has tremendous benefits and significantly reduces knee osteoarthritis. For every one pound of weight that you lose, it is the equivalent of 4 pounds of pressure removed from each knee.
Here’s the neat part. Recent research at Duke University set out to study this a little more and found that even in people who lost little or no weight, there was a significant improvement in the symptoms of painful arthritis. It appears that exercise has an anti-inflammatory effect which even in the presence of obesity can do wonders for your arthritis. So, if you start an exercise program which you can handle, even with a little bit of discomfort, there’s a good chance that it will improve your arthritis pain in the long haul. Start slow, be regular and prepare for less pain–That’s the exercise secret to reducing arthritis pain!