Exercises for Arthritis in the back

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  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
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    Do you have access to a pool? My wife has arthritis on the back.and her doctor recommends walking in the pool. The buoyancy.takes some of the stress off the spine. The resistance from the water helps strengthen the core muscles.
  • TechAaronLoyd
    TechAaronLoyd Posts: 339 Member
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    Bike riding. I have a similar issue as him. It's about the only work out I could do. Until my back injury started effecting my leg. I do couch serfing now.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    edited December 2016
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    https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/heal-your-lower-back-pain-with-these-5-yoga-poses?page=0,1
    and...
    http://www.yogajournal.com/pose/upward-facing-dog/ (This one helps me the most because of previous disc injuries)

    I do the Sphinx and the Upward Facing Dog every morning when I get out of bed before exercise. Then I do it again before bed at night. Sometimes I'll do them again coupled with some of the others in the videos above during my circuit training workout. I have spinal stenosis, a disc that has been previously partially removed in my Lumbar spine, and several bulging (now healed thanks to these stretches) discs in the Lumbar area. These stretches have been the most beneficial for me. I also stay far far away from dead lifts and do no more than body weight squats. YMMV.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    Misssynth wrote: »
    Looking for exercise advice, not doom and gloom stories and presuming we go to some micky mouse doctor

    it's difficult to advise exercise for someone with an unknown condition and whose life we know nothing about, especially when it's about something as serious as the lumbar spine.

    i'll say these things though: strong glutes probably never hurt anyone much, so theraband walks will at least get/keep them activated. bridges might be okay, but to be honest when i tried doing them recently with a cranky s.i. thing going on, it didn't work out too well as it's harder than you'd think to do a bridge with NO movement in the lumbar spine. the 'dead bug' pose is one of my favourites and really good for activating the lower abs.

    and much as i hate anecdotal 'my uncle's ex-wife's cab-driver's cousin had that and he . . . ' type of stuff, i'll toss in the fact that i do know a few people with osteoarthritis who swear by glucosamine chondroitin type supplements. since inflammatory/immune-based types of arthritis can often be diagnosed by blood test or via empirical symptom clusters, it could be that his form is o.a. and that might be a thing to look into.

  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    Misssynth wrote: »
    How do some of you guys seriously think 'old and tall' is literally all the doctor said?! We have an excellent doctors surgery in our village, but i'm not exactly going to type out the entire conversation (which I wasn't there for anyway). Looking for exercise advice, not doom and gloom stories and presuming we go to some micky mouse doctor

    You said that you don't have access to a pool. The other posters plus myself are mostly saying--pool or yoga. Eliminate pool, and you have yoga which you said he doesn't like. So.................. For experienced arthritis and or back pain suffers on MFP-- those are your best shot.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    The yoga doesn't have to be done as a complete form of exercise, simply use it to stretch before the other types of exercise he likes. That's what I do. I spend maybe 5-10 minutes max doing yoga before my workouts.
  • serapel
    serapel Posts: 502 Member
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    Misssynth wrote: »
    My partner has had some lower back pain for the last few months and the doctor has said it is most probably arthritis because he's 'old and tall' (he's 41 and 6ft 6). He usually goes to the gym often, runs, deadlifts, hanging leg raises etc etc but he can't do that while his back is hurting and he's on his meds, but the doctor has said that he should stay active and won't damage his back more, just to be careful. Does anyone know any good exercises for him? He's currently just walking on the treadmill or using the cross trainer when it's not too painful, doing planks and glute bridges. Anything else that might be good?

    barbell hip thrusts have literally saved my back and hips. I can now do 205 lb hip thrust. They are fantastic. If you have a bad lower back...begin doing glute bridges and work up to elevated shoulders. they are AMAZING
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
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    Misssynth wrote: »
    How do some of you guys seriously think 'old and tall' is literally all the doctor said?! We have an excellent doctors surgery in our village, but i'm not exactly going to type out the entire conversation (which I wasn't there for anyway). Looking for exercise advice, not doom and gloom stories and presuming we go to some micky mouse doctor

    I'm guessing,but could be wrong,that you're in the uk? If so then I get that it's not possible to ask to be referred to another specialist and that there's likely to be a waiting list for an MRI!
    All back issues are different so it's hard to advise without a clear diagnosis. I suffer from degenerative disc disease (I'm also 20 years older than him so I really AM old :smiley: ).I've actually found exercises like squats,glute bridges and planks have helped because they've strengthened my core but don't know if they'd help with arthritis.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    comptonelizabeth wrote: »
    I suffer from degenerative disc disease (I'm also 20 years older than him so I really AM old :smiley: ).I've actually found exercises like squats,glute bridges and planks have helped because they've strengthened my core but don't know if they'd help with arthritis.

    I also have Degenerative Disc Disease and do a ton of core work. I also have Spinal Stenosis, and can tell you that the core work does in fact help with that. The stronger my core gets the less pain I deal with on a daily basis. Sometimes I'm stiff getting started, but a few yoga stretches later and I feel great for my workout and even better after its done.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    Misssynth wrote: »
    He's been to the doctor, 3 times in all for the same complaint. The anti-inflammatory and heat help, which make it seem like it's most likely arthritis or a trapped nerve. He's not in constant strong pain. He's still at work, in fact the more he moves/walks and doesnt sit down the less the ache is. He only gets pain when he moves too quickly or twists a funny way. He had this before for a couple of months and then it went away again for almost a year. As I said, he's on the waiting list for an MRI. I have stated that twice.

    Hopefully the MRI will reveal the issue with the pain. Mine did. It ended up being two bulging discs with nerve impingement the last time coupled with spinal stenosis and likely degenerative disc disease. The only thing that helped me heal from it this last time was two things.. 1) Steroid shots (yes, it hurts horribly, but they work) 2) Yoga/stretching and rest (not to mention pain killers and muscle relaxers). Once healed start on the core exercise and strengthen the muscles around the injured area is the best solution. Ten years ago when I herniated a disc (L4/L5) the pain (traveled down my legs) was so bad I could not sit, stand, lay down, etc.

    As long as he deals with it before it gets that far he should be ok. After about two weeks of horrible pain that time (this was over 10 years ago), all the pain stopped... and so did the feeling and muscle control below my waist. At that point I had emergency surgery. That was 10+ years ago, this last time was late 2015 and it was from exercising too much too often, and likely lifting too much before my muscles were ready.

    He may not enjoy the yoga, but he can simply pick the stretches that help and do those. The rest will all be core work going forward. Pull ups, push ups, planks, crunches (once he's fully healed), hanging leg raises, etc. etc. Build a strong core and the back pain goes away.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    edited December 2016
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    http://www.essentrics.com/mirandaeducationalvideo.html

    Click under mini-workouts and it'll bring up a section of free stretches and types of workouts. Plus she's also got some Barre vids in the mix as well on YouTube. They range from frozen shoulder to back issues, to neck, to simple wanting to feel good about stretching out your entire body to feel alive and more.

    miranda esmonde white youtube full body workout
    https://www.google.com/search?q=MIRANDA+ESMONDE-WHITE&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=miranda+esmonde+white+youtube+full+body+workout
    Misssynth wrote: »
    My partner has had some lower back pain for the last few months and the doctor has said it is most probably arthritis because he's 'old and tall' (he's 41 and 6ft 6). He usually goes to the gym often, runs, deadlifts, hanging leg raises etc etc but he can't do that while his back is hurting and he's on his meds, but the doctor has said that he should stay active and won't damage his back more, just to be careful. Does anyone know any good exercises for him? He's currently just walking on the treadmill or using the cross trainer when it's not too painful, doing planks and glute bridges. Anything else that might be good?

    ha That is an odd statement from a doctor, I'm guessing he was joking around with you both. :laugh: I read you mention he's waiting to get in for an MRI, that's good so it'll eliminate anything else. If it's arthritis and your area allows it. perhaps PT can be done at area medical pool, a warm pool is best.

    I didn't continue to read the thread after it took a turn so I may be repeating a few things. In the meantime, warm showers, nice soak in the tub, Epson salts in the tub, heating pad, or ice if it feels better. Icy Hot Pads, creams that can be put on sore muscles can also work great on the back.

    One thing about Naproxen which your doc hopefully already mentioned often... definitely remind him to eat food with the pills and take only when really needed. Stomach and other organ issues don't show up right away unfortunately it's usually down the road a bit.

    It's a tough thing with inflammation pain, you want badly to get relief but what you have to take to get the relief is a huge trade off.

    I hope mine wasn't a dark daunting post... I certainly didn't intend it to be. I intended it to be a hopeful one. You'll love the stretches too... you can try doing them with him! :smiley:
  • swheate2014
    swheate2014 Posts: 22 Member
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    I have not read the other replies but I have major back problems myself. When I'm in pain and on meds I don't do any exercise at all except walking. The best rehab exercise when you're off your meds in my opinion is swimming. I would avoid deadlifts and anything that's super strenuous on the spine.

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