How Low-Impact Exercise Can Help Reduce Pain

This article is on How Low-Impact Exercise Can Help Reduce Pain. By now, it’s pretty much common knowledge that regular exercise is a central pillar of a healthy lifestyle. When you’re experiencing chronic pain, however, exercising may well be the last thing on your mind. If every move you make sends shockwaves of discomfort throughout your body, your instinct, inevitably, is to sit down, to be still, to do all you can to avoid those agonizing currents.

It’s entirely natural, perfectly understandable. Unfortunately, though, it’s also often entirely counterproductive, because the pain you’re trying to prevent by resting your body is probably only going to be prolonged and exacerbated by your being sedentary.

The good news, however, is that you can still reap the health benefits of exercise even in the face of chronic pain. Not only this but, with the right regimen, your daily exercises can actually help to reduce your pain, often substantially. The key is to select a low-impact activity that will serve both your physical needs and keep you interested, motivated, and engaged.

Why Low-Impact Exercise?

As the name indicates, low-impact exercises are those which are specifically suited for minimizing the strain, stress, wear, and tear that physical activity can cause to bones, joints, and muscles. This reduces not only the risk of injury but also the likelihood that the exercise regime itself will cause you pain.

Fortunately, you have lots of options when it comes to finding a low-impact activity that will protect your musculoskeletal system while also providing the immense cardiovascular, metabolic, and psychological benefits of exercise.

Some of the most beneficial forms of low-impact exercise include swimming, cycling, horseback riding, walking, tai chi, and gentle yoga.

The Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Exercise

There are many ways in which a low-impact exercise regimen can help to reduce your chronic pain symptoms. Among the most important of these, perhaps, is the anti-inflammatory effect of regular exercise.

Chronic inflammation has been found to be a leading contributor to severe, persistent pain. Exercising regularly, though, has been shown to help reduce chronic inflammation.

Though the mechanisms of the anti-inflammatory properties of exercise aren’t yet entirely clear, what is certain is that stress plays a key role in increasing inflammation levels.

Exercise, on the other hand, has been shown to significantly reduce stress and increase one’s overall sense of well-being. Not only does this appear to derive from the physiological benefits that come with getting the heart pumping, the blood flowing, and the cells oxygenating, but also from the reality that, the more you move, the stronger you become.

When you feel better and move better, you are going to be less anxious and, consequently, you’ll have less pain-inducing inflammation.

Weight-Management and Muscular Strength

In addition to chronic inflammation, loss of muscle mass and an increased body mass index have also been linked to the worsening of persistent pain symptoms. Being overweight, for example, has been attributed both to the onset and worsening of a vast array of pain conditions, including chronic knee, hip, and back pain.

The good news, though, is that regular, low-impact exercise can help you reduce body fat while increasing muscle mass. Strong, supple muscles, moreover, will better support your bones and joints and can help improve balance and flexibility.

This is why, as you begin your new exercise regime, it’s a good idea to learn how to track your body and muscle mass at home. This is often a far more accurate way to determine if your exercise plan is working for you than by simply relying on your weight alone.

Because muscle weighs more than fat, you may find that the pounds are not dropping, but that you’re still becoming leaner, stronger, and more toned.

A Body in Motion…

If you have been diagnosed with a chronic pain condition, such as a back injury or degenerative disc disease, simply getting out of bed can feel like an impossible feat.  However, there is vast and growing evidence that regular exercise, including physical therapy, low-impact aerobics, or other forms of physical activity, is far more conducive both to recovery and to pain relief than is the old standard prescription of bed rest.

As your joints, muscles, and tissues begin to move more freely and frequently, your body will be better able to resist forming painful contractures and spasms. Your muscle fibers and joint cartilage will be lubricated and well-nourished by the blood and fluids your gentle exercise has helped to get flowing.

The Takeaway

Exercising every day isn’t always easy, even without a chronic pain condition. When you have persistent pain, though, exercising regularly can seem like an insurmountable challenge. Low-impact exercise, however, can not only help you enjoy the wide-ranging health benefits of regular physical activity, but it may also significantly reduce your chronic pain symptoms. The key lies in determining what kind of low-impact exercise is right for you!

Author: Indiana Lee
Publisher: International Pain Foundation, iPain Blog