Moderate and balanced exercise is key to the long term management of osteoarthritis as well as many other rheumatology conditions. Despite advice to stay active patients often worry that by exercising with aching joints that they will accelerate the arthritic process and lead to increased symptoms of pain and discomfort.
It just doesn’t work. We can say definitively that lower back pain and sciatica are not improved, even in the short term, by bed rest.
It seems like a simple question, and seasoned runners couldn’t contemplate it, but it’s one that’s encountered in clinic quite often.
Whatever you do – don’t immobilise it. In the past acute ankle injuries such as sprains and strains which commonly affect the ligaments on the outside of the ankle joint were treated with heavy strapping and taping. Now management of the condition involves much less immobilisation and much more active rehabilitation. Let us explain why.
