Does cycling ease arthritis?

[shootingstar]

Just wondering. My boss complains occasionally of her arthritis --it's throughout her body.

She's only 7 years older than I.

The only exercise she engages in is walking her dog..which is good since she lives near a large park.

Just curious about anybody who may know if cycling ease arthritis? I know my dearie has it in his knee.. which for him, cycling is actually beneficial.

[sookiesue]

I just did a bike ride that was a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation and, while I don't have arthritis yet, several of the riders do suffer from arthritis and were still able to ride hundreds of miles down the Oregon Coast! Most spoke highly of biking as a form of exercise that helped get them active without aggravating their arthritis. Here's a link to the webpage about the ride, http://www.thepeoplescoastclassic.org/cause/ and here's a link to the arthritis foundation http://www.arthritis.org/chapters/washington/ Perhaps by poking around these sites you can get some more information that would help your boss. Hope this helps!

[TREKSTRONG]

Just wondering. My boss complains occasionally of her arthritis --it's throughout her body.

She's only 7 years older than I.

The only exercise she engages in is walking her dog..which is good since she lives near a large park.

Just curious about anybody who may know if cycling ease arthritis? I know my dearie has it in his knee.. which for him, cycling is actually beneficial.

I have arthritis in both of my knees, the left side is worse than the right although it can switch sometimes and the right may be worse than the left on some days.

I think cycling is no worse than walking at least in my experience because when you have to push really hard to go uphill you are putting tons of pressure on your knees. But I wear a patellar band on both knees which helps tremendously. On some days I even wear the bands around the tendons in my elbows because they get sore as well!

But movement and working them rusty 'ol bones is better than no movement or not enough movement. I was sedentary for a few years because of back problems and I have learned that you cannot let whatever ails you bring you down. You have to learn how to live with your health issues whatever they may be and learn to live with them and just keep doing what you love.

I have always been very physically active all my life in ALL sports. I went through a period though where I started falling apart after years of abuse on my knees and back from being a long distance runner. Now I've learned to accept that I cannot be a 'runner' anymore but I can cycle!!! I'm an endurance junkie and love going the distance and pushing myself physically. I just have to be more careful with training and stretching, staying hydrated ... etc. I got my patellar bands from Walgreens and when I wear them I can ride up to 2 hours longer than I could if I weren't wearing them.

Maybe you can motivate her to get into a new hobby!

[jetweb]

I think she can still do that, as long as it is not hurting for her. any exercise is good

[Trek420]

But movement and working them rusty 'ol bones is better than no movement or not enough movement. I was sedentary for a few years because of back problems and I have learned that you cannot let whatever ails you bring you down. You have to learn how to live with your health issues whatever they may be and learn to live with them and just keep doing what you love.

+1,000. Disclosure; I have arth alllllll over but especially knees, perhaps my back in the future. Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving.

Do I have to adapt? Yes; staying hydrated, staying warm (I wear capris on a bike always, no shorts), stretching before, after, during a ride. Bike fit which is always important is soooooo important when you have arth. You're body won't "just get used to" a poor fit. There's a real reason my bikes are steel. Hers does not have to be. Not necessarily expensive but good quality ride is important.

With arthritis your joint is just bone on bone, or bone near bone. Cartilage that cushions the joint in most cases is gone. It's not coming back.

Glucosamine, MSN other supplements may help but IMHO there is no quick fix or pill to pop. As my orthopedic surgeon said "they can't hurt, they can only hurt your wallet". But IMHO they won't do it all, there is no easy option. Just keep moving.

I have an active lifestyle with a sedentary body. My doc said "you can change your lifestyle to fit your body (he meant go sedentary not go straight ) or change your body to fit your lifestyle" The goal is rebuild my joints from the outside in.

You can strengthen the surrounding muscles to do some of the work, supporting the joints. And losing weight would help me a lot.

It is not easy to move, especially at first. Arth is painful. But if you can keep moving and getting stronger and more flexible it will ease the pain, I promise! Finding ways to adapt was key to me. Most of those solutions I found right here on TE.

I go on a cold ride, my hands hurt: is it posture, fit, gripping too tight, wrong gloves .... identify and solve the problem and ride more.

Now I'm walking the dog, hands hurt again; gripping the leash too tight, need to warm up, need jacket with pockets, lightweight gloves? solve the problem, walk again and more.

Keep moving. Find a way. If you give into the pain and stop it's an unending spiral down as joints freeze up. You have to push through daily and do more. If you have the disease it's hard to imagine that it gets better of you move.

When I was diagnosed I got to see the orthopedic surgeon for the 9'ers and Raiders (hey there, football fans) who said if he could put exercise in a bottle for joint problems he'd be one of the 1%

[TREKSTRONG]

But the key is to keep moving. If you give into the pain and stop it's an unending spiral down as joints nearly freeze up. So you have to push through that daily and do more I think.

Yes! Absolutely ... keep moving or your joints will freeze up. I also have arthritis pain in my neck, my low/mid back, my finger joints, and my shoulders mostly my left. I truly believe that 'exercise' is medicine for people who have arthritis, you just have to be active period!

TS

[shootingstar]

Thanks so much for these personal anecdotes! Helpful!

[lo123]

Just wondering. My boss complains occasionally of her arthritis --it's throughout her body.

She's only 7 years older than I.

The only exercise she engages in is walking her dog..which is good since she lives near a large park.

Just curious about anybody who may know if cycling ease arthritis? I know my dearie has it in his knee.. which for him, cycling is actually beneficial.

It really depends. there are over 100 different diseases lumped under "arthritis". Many of which are autoimmune diseases, meaning the body is attacking itself.
The autoimmune forms can strike at any age, including childhood. Many women are diagnosed in their 20s and 30s. Arthritis isn't just for older folks.
Often with autoimmune arthritis it's more than just the joints. In my case, my skin, eyes, lungs, tendons and ligaments are all affected too. Most of us take some major drugs (low dose chemotherapy, biologic response modifiers, immunosuppressants) to be able to do normal day to day things like dress myself.

Sometimes being active helps. Other times, it will cause pain for days/weeks/or longer. For me, cycling is one of the few things I can still do. However, when I'm in a flare like I have been for last several months, I have to be really careful or I will pay days later for going for an easy spin.