Exercise

[magnetta]

Hi all,

What exercise do you do? How often? How much?

Do you find that stretching helps your pain?xx

[rosewine]

I was given a series of exercies by the physio in october and to be quite honest I am sure they have actually made my conditon worse. I do find that stretching and massaging the joints and muscles is the one that helps me the most. I definately try not to sit for too long.

One given me by an Occ. Ther. was to stand near somewhere like the kitchen top. Steady yourself with one hand and then lift the foot of the one leg off the floor and balance and then do in reverse. It is so simple and you can do it whilst you are waiting for the kettle to boil. She says it strengthens the bottom of the back and helps the muscles around the hips and improves balance. I suppose when you get good at it you won;t need the help of the work top.

Alot of people find gentle exercise in a hydrotherapy pool works wonders or even in your local swimming baths has quite warm water and you can gently exercise there. I even do stretches and massage in the bath as I find it helps. Anything like jogging is a no no as you are jarring the joints. All the therepists and doctors i have ever spoken to keep on saying walk as much as you can but try to make it on a soft surface like grass.

I am sure masses of people will come up with their favourite ones. There is some good info on the Fibro Action site.

Good luck with it all let us know how you get on.x

[magnetta in reply to rosewine]

Thank you

That is so rubbish that they made it worse... How annoying! Have you tried yoga or anything?

I have just joined a support group in Swindon that gives me free hydrotherapy without a referral which is amazing. I will be going in 2 weeks time. Quite excited about that!

Walking definitely helps me. Unless I walk for too long then my hips get bad, but nothing a rest wont cure. Sitting down is my main pain trigger - no idea why!

I go to a Body Balance class which is great for balancing practice. I will take your advice and practice balancing at home though, thank you. xx

[rosewine in reply to magnetta]

You will love the hydro I managed to get just 6 sessions prescribed with a physio showing me what exercises to do with lightweight weights and tubes suitable for using in the water and it was fantastic. There were 6 of us and even though we all had different problems we totally gelled and in the last two weeks I really felt that I was starting to move better. I just wish I could have had more.

Llet me know how you get on, I am green with envy!xxx

[magnetta in reply to rosewine]

Oh that sounds lovely! The charity is called Foggy's. It might be worth checking there isn't one local to you...?xxx

[rosewine in reply to magnetta]

I've read about that one and seen it on the internet it seems to be a really vibrant group. Nothing in our area unfortunately i tried twice to contact what was supposedly a support group in my area but never got any reply so gave up.

I have found that there is a public hydropool in the next district which the local council refer people to, what a brilliant idea I say. Unfortunately, the only time it is open to outsiders is first thing in the morning about 7.30 and I am never up then or late in the evening and neither is a time I would be capable of even getting in and out of the pool let alone exercising unfortunately.

What makes it all worse is that the hydro pool at the hospital is supposedly according to the physio unused alot of the time. He would have been happy to do extra sessions and sometimes he said his sessions had only a couple of people in it - what a waste of resources is what I say as he was so calm and encouraging to all of us.

[magnetta in reply to rosewine]

That is so frustrating. Maybe you should write a petition!

That is poor about Foggy's. They are run by volunteers so maybe they can't find anyone at the moment. You can always start your own one!!x

[fenbadger]

My favourite:

I do tai chi. It's gentle. Remember we're only keeping the joints active, not training for a marathon in Antarctica. If it hurts, then stop. Moderation. Simples x

OMG simples got past the spell checker this time

I expect Foggy will tell me it's a proper noun. By which I mean a regular noun. By which I mean . . . oh, never mind

Is that the Foggy of the charity?

[TheAuthor]

I do gentle rolling exercises of my feet / ankles, knees and hips and neck. Also push ups of knees and ankles, (plus a few others). I do them really slowly and they take about 20 minutes every day.

Good luck if you are going ahead with exercising.

Ken x

[bluejeans16]

Hi magnetta. I have gone from being able to walk about 30 miles a week to only being able to walk about 10. My dogs have had to forfit their 4 mile walks everyday as I am not able to walk that far anymore but I am about to move to a cottage right by the river so that will make my life easier as I will be 10 minute walk from the park and not 2 miles away. ( the dogs will love me).

[mistymeana]

I swim and do a couple of hydro exercises while I'm in the pool. I try to go two or three times a week but when I'm feeling particularly rotten I have to admit I give it a miss sometimes. Was going to go this morning but felt so rough that I decided to give myself a break. It's been a tough few days and I'm hoping things will start to settle down soon. There's no doubt, I do feel the benefit when I exercise.

[magnetta in reply to mistymeana]

Sorry to hear you are having a rubbish few days. I'm sending a virtual hug!