Yoga for Arthritis – 8 Tips to Help Relieve Symptoms and Stay Active
After years of teaching high-impact aerobics, I found myself in the office of an orthopedic surgeon discussing knee surgery. I was frustrated and scared and told my doctor it wasn’t fair because I’d always been active and exercised.
“Well, dear, your knees aren’t as young as they used to be,” he said. “Arthritis is beginning to set in.”
What? I think my doctor just called me old. And said I have arthritis.
I was 43 that day in the doctor’s office. How could I possibly have arthritis? Well, I did.
Activity with Osteoarthritis
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the onset of osteoarthritis—the painful degeneration of joint cartilage—is gradual and usually begins after the age of 40.
Thankfully, yoga has allowed me to stay active and relatively pain-free with some minimal modifications.
The causes of osteoarthritis (OA) include genetic factors, old injuries, unhealthy postural habits, and even repetitive work movements. More than 52 million people in the United States are affected by arthritis, making it the most common disability.
In a 2015 New York Times article by Jane E. Brody, Keep Moving To Stay A Step Ahead of Arthritis, the author related how the pain of OA affected her ability to play tennis and discussed how adjusting to the needs of her body allowed her to find new activities that were both enjoyable for her and kinder to her joints.
Finding the right physical activity is important because the pain of osteoarthritis often leads to decreased physical activity, which can lead to diminished quality-of-life and a consequent decline in overall physical health.
In a 10-year study of more than 2,000 men and women with arthritic knees, Jungwha Lee and her colleagues found that fewer than 10 percent met the national guidelines of doing 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity. However, if they improved their physical activity, “they functioned better and had less disability,” said Dr. Lee, a biostatistician at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
A study by Pamela A. Semanik, Dr. Lee, and colleagues published in the American Journal of Public Health, noted that the more time people with arthritis spend in sedentary behavior, the greater their loss of function over a period of two years. “They went from bad to worse,” she said in an interview.
“People control their pain by doing less physical activity,” Dr. Lee said. “But being more active can delay the functional decline that accompanies aging. Any activity is better than being sedentary.”
More recent research is filling in some of the blanks on how, why, and what specific types of movement are most effective in managing OA. This literature review for example points out the importance both of exercise as a tool in managing OA and in clarifying the effect of various exercise modalities on joints, both healthy and arthritic, in order to determine the best approach.
In the introduction the authors write, “This review mainly expounds the mechanism that exercise alleviates the pathological changes of OA by affecting the degradation of the ECM, apoptosis, inflammatory response, autophagy, and changes of ncRNA, and summarizes the effects of different exercise types on OA patients. … different exercise types, exercise intensity, exercise time and exercise frequency have different effects on OA patients. At the same time, suitable exercise prescriptions are recommended for OA patients.”
In her article, Brody encourages finding alternative forms of movement to replace former high-impact activities such as running or group exercise classes. She suggests walking, swimming, water walking, and cycling as activities that are softer on arthritic joints yet still provide cardiovascular benefits.
Yoga and Osteoarthritis
In my experience working with more mature bodies in yoga classes, students often report a reduction in their arthritic symptoms. Maintaining functional fitness, simple things like climbing stairs or opening a jar, allow someone with arthritis retain their independence.
Osteoarthritis is progressive and has no cure as of yet, but the symptoms can be managed over time. And movement may delay its progression. The slow, gentle movements of yoga, combined with the ability to easily modify the asanas, make it an ideal exercise for people living with OA. The fluid movements of yoga can also help stabilize or, at the very least, increase more optimal range-of-motion in affected joints.
In his book Yoga as Medicine, Dr. Timothy McCall maintains that yoga is ideally suited for handling the long-term effects of dysfunctional movement patterns, bone misalignments, lack of body awareness, and poor posture that can lead to osteoarthritis. He points out how asana practice can take the joints through a wide range of motion, effectively resetting the negative body patterns accumulated through the years.
When joints move safely, the surrounding cartilage and bones become lubricated with synovial fluid. Think of synovial fluid as WD-40 for your joints. When cartilage is well lubricated, the joint surfaces glide smoothly across each other, reducing wear and tear, therefore increasing range of motion and decreasing pain.
The stress relief aspects of yoga are also beneficial to those with arthritis. When people become stressed, they tend to tighten their muscles by hunching shoulders or making fists with their hands. The pain from the tight muscles increases the arthritic pain, leading to more stress and distress. It’s a vicious cycle that can lead to further decreased physical movement and deeper depression.
Meditation and pranayama exercises can be employed to relax the muscles and stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for lowering blood pressure and calming the mind and body. Meditation has been proven to help those dealing with chronic pain.
8 Ways to Help Ease Arthritic Pain with Yoga
To help get the benefits for arthritis from your yoga practice, consider these tips:
- Find a certified yoga teacher or yoga therapist familiar with osteoarthritis.
- Modify the asanas to fit your body. Use bolsters, blankets, blocks, straps or even a chair to make yoga more accessible.
- Know when to say no. Just because you were pain-free yesterday doesn’t mean you can practice flow vinyasas today. Begin each practice by tuning in to your body and noticing what you are feeling.
- A Restorative yoga class might be more beneficial than a traditional Vinyasa class. Try both, depending on your pain level.
- If arthritic pain hinders your daily life or becomes less manageable, focus on isometric moves that do not involve moving your joints while placing a load on them. (This is where a skilled teacher comes in handy!)
- Incorporate small motor movements into your practice. Simple exercises like circling one finger at a time, making gentle fists, then opening wide, or touching each finger to your thumb loosen the stiffness in arthritic hands, making it easier to pick up buttons or open jars.
- Initiate a home meditation practice to help relieve stress and decrease pain. There’s no rule that says you have to sit on the floor to meditate. If a chair or even the bed is more comfortable, that’s fine. Doing the meditation is more important than where you meditate.
- If you are new to meditation, try an online meditation video or guided imagery DVD. YogaUOnline has a wide assortment of classes for every level on their premium practice channel.
Osteoarthritis is a chronic and progressive condition. But with consistent practice of physical activities that are suited to your needs–and that you enjoy doing–on any given day, you can become an active member of your care team.
Jennifer Williams-Fields E-RYT 200 is passionate about writing, yoga, traveling, public speaking and being a fabulous single momma to six super kids. Doing it all at one time, however, is her great struggle. She has been teaching yoga since 2005 and writing since she first picked up a crayon. Although her life is a sort of organized chaos, she loves every minute of the craziness and is grateful for all she’s learned along the way. Her first book “Creating A Joyful Life: The Lessons I Learned From Yoga and My Mom” is now available on Amazon. She has featured her essays on Yahoo! and Dr. Oz’s The Good Life. She is a regular writer for Elephant Journal Magazine, YourTango, and YogaUOnline. See more from Jennifer at jenniferwilliamsfields.com