Today we’ll be talking about pain.
It’s natural to feel some pain when you have osteoarthritis and first begin exercising.
Generally, there are two reasons for this pain.
Reason 1
Osteoarthritis Pain
The first reason is the pain from the osteoarthritis itself.
As your protective cushion has worn down and your bones start to rub together, you will experience pain due to the body trying to protect itself.
This can worsen over time as the arthritis progresses, or stay consistent over time.
Keep up the good work!
This pain may make you feel like you should reduce your movement and activity.
However, reducing movement and keeping your joints in a single position can actually result in increased pain and damage due to reduced muscle strength from inactivity.
This is why it’s important to keep moving and perform the exercises!
Reason 2
Pain from DOMS
The second form of pain is something we call “delayed onset muscle soreness”, or “DOMS” for short.
DOMS is experienced as an achy pain in the muscles themselves rather than the joints.
Exercise will build up muscles to reduce the pain you have from your osteoarthritis.
However, when you first start doing exercises you’ll be using muscles you might not have used in a long time.
You're getting stronger!
This dull aching soreness is perfectly normal and a sign you’ve been performing the exercises correctly!
The soreness indicates that the muscles have been successfully worked and the body is healing itself to become stronger.
It’s important to stick to your exercise schedule and continue to build the muscles. It can take some time for your body to build up strength.
Have a rest day
It’s good to take a day off in-between exercise days to help spread the exercises out while reducing pain and giving your body time to heal.
Over time your body will become quicker and better at healing. Eventually you’ll likely experience no muscle soreness at all.
However, if you are experiencing any extreme or concerning pain in your joints or elsewhere, please contact your regular physiotherapist or doctor and get their advice.