Exercise for knees and hips in PMR and OA

[PMRpro]

I thought a lot of you might be interested to read these articles that popped up in my inbox

medscape.com/viewarticle/do...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articl...

Easy exercises for knees that you can manage at home

versusarthritis.org/about-a...

And for hips

versusarthritis.org/about-a...

They show how you will benefit just with resistance exercises without the addition of aerobic exercise that you may find simply too much with the fatigue and muscle pain. Shorter sessions with greater load are sometimes better than longer ones.

You can use resistance bands while seated to do knee presses - don't HAVE to go to the gym! If you have a gym nearby with a pool you can walk in, and even better aquafit classes, and a few simple legwork machines, it could make a BIG difference to you - but you don't NEED a gym.

[Pixix]

Thanks very much…now I have trouble with knee & hips, this will be good.mi do have resistance bands that a physio dept gave me years ago…I will hunt them out! S xx

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Pixix]

If they’ve been hanging around for some time they may have perished…. but easy enough to buy if you cannot get freebies.😳.

[Pixix in reply to DorsetLady]

Found them in the bottom drawer of my bedside cabinet…they look fine, but I will check them out first!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Pixix]

Please do..🤣😂

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pixix]

Just make sure they are not TOO resistant to start with!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to PMRpro]

Good point, you need to start with the lower strengths initially especially if you haven’t used them before.

[Pixix in reply to DorsetLady]

Noted!! It will be a while before I get to start, see catchup above…too much damaged right now, but will need this someday! Thanks, S x

[Pixix in reply to PMRpro]

It looks like it will be a while before I can start…still on crutches, knee injury not improving, tendinitis in foot & tendon tear in shoulder, bursitis in hip, I’m working with a physio re knee, but we’ve taken a break (his choice) as he can’t do anything to help while my injury is so acute. Waiting to see specialist re shoulder & referred to ‘community physio’ for foot. Also waiting for gp to reply to my email (my reply to his entitled ‘analgesia’). Too much pain on left side to do much right now, seeking pain relief more than anything. Right now, im supposed to be spending days at rest with leg raised up. But David still improving from inpatient stay for pneumonia, so needs more care than usual. I had a flareup due to it all, & had to increase to 3mg from 1mg. The fatigue is awful. But hoping for improvement! S x

[bright-horizon]

Thanks for these articles. Very timely since my hips and knees are giving me grief and building muscle mass plus strength is top of the agenda at the moment.

[KnitSewPurl]

The hip exercises is what I am currently doing with my physio post hip Arthroscopy on week 3 currently now. Still got some slight weakness on the back and frontal muscle which is expected. Some of them is good with resistance bands to strengthen the muscles . You will find the muscles actually doing the work if you are doing it right.

[dancersize2]

Thank you for this link. I visit an osteopath and he has given me exercises. These seem simpler. I've found doing them in the pool is a great help. now needing a hip replacement as the arthritis in left hip is severe and advanced. Still managing to do ballroom dancing but not a full program as long as I take pain killers.

[Janet57]

I love my Aquacise classes. They make me feel good. They’ve also helped in the rehabilitation of my new knee. Walking is good too, if you can manage it. I think you’ve posted before about starting with very short walks and building up slowly. Movement, with breaks, is good. For those out there used to much more before PMR, listen to your body and take the advice of those on here. 😊

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Janet57]

The "Water Gymnastics" I do has varied a lot according to the instructor. I enjoyed the first, tolerated the second and wasn't sure about the current one. This week she was determined to use the bikes you can use in the pool - that really didn't agree with my hip and knee!! So I joined another lady in ditching the bike. She is very emphatic about position - shoulders right back, shoulderblades almost touching it feels like! However - to be fair, after slightly sore muscles the 24 hours after the class, I have had increasing time with almost no low back pain so something is working! Unfortunately its too expensive to book 2 courses to do it 2x weekly and it doesn't run through the summer and I will miss 4 or 5 with a trip to the UK - by the time I get back, it might be finished.

[Janet57 in reply to PMRpro]

I am lucky enough to do three different Aquacise classes a week (membership costs £30 a month) and there are other classes I could try which might work for me like Chair Yoga and Fit for Life. Your instructor sounds more demanding than all mine but I know that if I work hard at it I feel so much better. Could you find a swimming pool where you are going and just do exercises in the shallower end of the pool? If I can’t get into the class (they are always over subscribed) that’s what I do. Sometimes people look at me a bit strangely but I don’t care 😂

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Janet57]

No - that is the problem here, It is rural, tends to be rather tourist based and we don't have gyms or pools with moderate charges like that. I had a brilliant local gym in the UK, £30 a month for access to everything off-peak. Missed it very much when I moved here.

[icecreamlover50]

Thanks very much, very much needed as I have recently had a flare and this time it has had a painful effect on my knees especially left knee and left ankle, whether this is due to flare or osteoarthritis, I still don't know, I usually go to the gym and aqua fit but this has had to be put on hold due to the exhaustion caused by the flare.

It may have also been caused by tibial plateau fracture in 2018. I have had osteoarthritis and osteoporosis confirmed with dexa scans and other xrays and scans for osteoarthitis and osteoporosis (this was prior to the long current wait for appoinyments). I am now waiting for appointment for rheumie but told that this will not be before August despite my surgery upscaling it 3 times! Hospital have told me if I want an appointment before then I will have to pay for it!

Thanks again for all the useful advice on the website.