Walking and pain

tanette13

Hi all. I am obese and lately I have been walking for exercise. Unfortunately, every night that I walk, I have had swollen ankles and terrible pain in my knees. Any suggestions on what to so to avoid or lessen the pain?

PPumpItUp

Do you have access to a pool? You can walk in the water to reduce impact.

manderson27

Firstly it is important to get a diagnosis from you doctor as to what exactly is causing the pain as different issues will need different solutions/medications/physiotherapy etc.

I have Arthritis in my knees and hips. I have exercises I do in bed before I get up to flex the joints. I have two hiking poles I use when walking, they are surprisingly helpful to take a bit of the strain off the joints, I can walk much further when I use them.

As PPumpItUp suggests any water activity is good. Aqua Aerobics is a really good workout it burns a good amount of calories and does not stress the joints.

But probably THE most important thing you can do to reduce the pain is what you are already doing. Lose some weight and keep mobile.

I hope you get this sorted out soon it is miserable being in pain, please don't let it put you off walking though as it is such good exercise. You may need to reduce your distance a bit then build up slowly.

Tried30UserNames

Pool exercises are a great idea. I'd see a doctor to find out if anything serious is wrong and to make sure it is safe for you to exercise. Also, make sure you get some good walking shoes. I had a friend who was morbidly obese and walking was uncomfortable for her, but she loved to ride her bike.

BrianSharpe

I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on the Internet but swollen ankles after walking can be a sign of much more serious health issues.......see a doctor.

jemhh

Definitely see a doctor.

How much are you walking and how often? In addition to being a medical issue, it could be a matter of doing too much too soon. Depending on how out of shape you are, you could just be pushing yourself too hard.