Arthritis is a common condition which can affect people of all ages. Arthritis pain can lead to a number of debilitating symptoms that patients will want to try and avoid. The condition is known to make life much more difficult with simple, every day tasks becoming much more difficult. Sometimes the condition can greatly affect a person’s life but trying these easy two-minute exercise could help relieve some of the pain felt.

READ MORE

• How to live longer: Habits to stop to boost life expectancy

Arthritis Foundation said: “A study shows that just two minutes of exercise daily is enough to ease pain.

“In the study of 198 office workers with frequent neck and shoulder pain, those who completed two minutes a day of resistance exercise with elastic tubing experienced relief similar to those who completed 12 minutes of daily exercise.”

Duke University physical therapist, Cynthia Harrell, who specialises in arthritis said: “Short bouts of exercise can strengthen muscles and relieves pain and stiffness due to arthritis.

“And even two minutes can be broken up into smaller chunks of different types of exercise that can give your whole body a boost.”

Arthritis Foundation recommends some easy two-minute exercises

To relax and relieve stiffness in the joints: 

• Breathing deeply through your belly for 30 to 60 seconds
• Stretch hamstrings for 30 seconds
• Stretch calves for 30 seconds

• Strengthen muscles to support knees by:
• Squeezing a ball between your knees for five second squeezes for a total of 60 seconds
• Perform seated straight leg raises for 30 seconds each leg

To strengthen hips and thighs:

• March in place for 30 to 60 seconds
• Walk forward and backward 10 steps each way

To improve upper body range of motion:

• Circle arms backwards for 30 seconds
• Moving your arms on a tabletop as if you’re doing the breaststroke for 60 seconds
• Perform wrist circles, wrist bends (up and down) and open and close fingers for 10 seconds each

READ MORE

• Bowel cancer symptoms: Feeling a lump here could signal the disease

If worried about pain felt due to arthritis, monitoring your diet could also help with pain management.

In a 2009 study, it was found that decreasing the amount of wrong foods eaten could help to reduce inflammation and help restore the body’s natural defences.

Certain foods can either promote or suppress inflammation in one’s body.

By eating anti-inflammatory foods such as leafy green and colourful vegetables and avoiding inflammatory foods, a person could help ease their arthritis pain.

The NHS added: “There’s no cure for arthritis, but there are many treatments that can help slow it down.

“Osteoarthritis treatments include lifestyle changes, medications and surgery.

“Treatment for rheumatoid arthritis aims to slow the condition’s progress and minimise joint inflammation.

“This helps prevent joint damage.”

Source: Read Full Article