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Cycling can be a really healthy and enjoyable activity for those suffering from arthritis. However, a lot of folk reckon that it might be good for your hips, but not exactly suitable for the knees.

Having said that, a lot of the problems that arise with the knees are often caused by having the saddle or handlebars not properly adjusted, or by trying too much at the beginning, before your muscles have had time to adapt to the exercise. Of course, it could aggravate your knees—if you try it, and you think it might cause you problems, then it’s best to get off your bike, as it were.

Modern day bicycles can be adapted very easily to individual needs, as the handlebars, saddles, operation of gears and brakes can be adjusted. Bikes with many gears offer more options, especially to the arthritis sufferer. The gears are there, of course, to help give you an energy advantage. By using them properly, you can have the same amount of legwork whether you’re on an even surface, or on a very steep hill.

The racing bike, which was very popular in my younger days, has thankfully given way now to ones such as touring or mountain bikes. They are much more comfortable, especially for those with arthritis, as you are sitting straight up instead of hunching over the handlebars, and then craning your neck up to see the way ahead.

Safety is very important when it comes to cycling. If you can find a quiet lane, a cycle path, or a park, so much the better, with the amount of traffic on our roads nowadays. A cardinal rule, though—wherever you happen to be riding your bike, make sure that you always wear a helmet. Even if you always travel at a slow pace, remember that the unexpected can crop up, and often does. Only last week, we’ve had the tragic death of a champion cyclist here in Scotland. If you’re riding at night, or even during twilight, make sure that you have tail and headlamps, as well as reflectors on your helmet, bike, and clothing.

For added comfort, try a padded seat cover, and also padded gloves. Those can be used indoors also, as I haven’t mentioned that you can carry out your cycling in the comfort of your home as well, using stationary exercise bikes. You can set the tension on those to anything you like, usually starting with the easiest, and gradually working your way up to a higher degree of difficulty.

Cycling helps to develop greater strength and endurance, and joints are often less swollen and painful after you’ve got yourself into a regular routine.

More similar articles can be found here: Tips on Arthritis Pain Relief

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Ankylosing Spondylitis is a rheumatic disease that causes degeneration in the spine and sacroiliac joints. During the autoimmune response the body believes it is attacking foreign cells between the vertebrae causing inflammation, swelling, pain and loss of mobility. The disease can also cause inflammation to the eyes, lungs and heart valves.

This disease can vary from an intermittent episodic condition that causes back pain throughout life to a severe chronic disease that attacks the spine, peripheral joints and other body organs.

Ankylosing Spondylitis is a member of spondylarthropathies, a group of arthritic conditions with similar patterns. The cause of Ankylosing Spondylitis isn’t known but the group of spondylarthropathies share a common genetic marker, HLA-B27. In some cases Ankylosing Spondylitis will occur after the predisposed person has had a bowel or urinary tract infection, potentially triggering the autoimmune response.

This condition affects approximately 130 out of 100,000 people in the United States. These are typically young adolescents and young adult males. There is a cultural link as it is most prevalent in Native Americans.

The first symptoms are usually a dramatic loss of flexibility in the lumbar spine. Doctors also may find arthritis present in the shoulders, hips and feet. Delay of the initial diagnosis is common because the symptoms often mimic those of other more common back problems. In other more severe cases people show up at the doctor’s office with progression to the inflammation of the eye, fever, fatigue, weight loss or anemia.

With early diagnosis and treatment people are able to decrease the amount of functional loss and pain caused by Ankylosing Spondylitis.

Two strong developments in the diagnosis and treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis have been discovered through research. Earlier diagnosis is possible that will prevent the structural damage that results in less loss of function. Both developments are available at most hospitals.

The first is the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to visualize the inflammatory changes in the sacroiliac joint. The MRI gives a much better view of the earlier changes that happen in the sacroiliac joint early in the progression of Ankylosing Spondylitis. This gives physicians a better chance to begin therapies and treatments to slow the loss of function and mobility.

The second new breakthrough is the use of tumor necrosis factor blockers. These treatments, usually reserved for patients with tumors, show a high effectiveness in reducing the spinal inflammation and slowing the progression of the disease as shown in x-ray. Unfortunately research has also shown that once the treatment has stopped most patient’s relapse. The study used this treatment over four years with little problems with toxicity for patients.

Patients and physicians have found that the simplest treatments for Ankylosing Spondylitis, such as exercise and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug therapies still give good relief from the degenerative response. The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications used are often Indomethacin and sulfasalazine. Patients with problems in their peripheral joints, arms and legs, may respond well to methotrexate.

Even with optimal therapy patients may develop a stiff back but if fusion happens in the upright position they are more functional for the remainder of their life. The goals of therapy are to increase joint flexibility and enhance lung capacity.

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If you are dealing with arthritis, one of the hardest things to deal with is the insomnia. The sleeping disorder is going to prevent you from getting the rest that you need to stay healthy and this will in return make your arthritis worse. It can be a terrible cycle that you are dealing with. There are many things that you can do to take on arthritis and it is important to consider all of the options so that you can get a better night’s rest every time you go to bed.

Insomnia is determined by a number of problems. You first have difficulty falling asleep. Many people will experience this at some point in their life. However if you are frequently finding it hard to drift off to sleep, you may want to talk to your doctor about it. If you are waking up often through the night for no good reason, this is a symptom too. This will usually happen to everyone and more so to people if they are new parents. If you are finding that you are constantly tossing and turning more than once a week, you are probably dealing with insomnia. Some with insomnia will sleep throughout the night, their problem may be that they wake up too early or they do not feel refreshed after many hours of sleep. It will depend on how frequently insomnia happens for you and if you can be diagnosed with short-term insomnia, intermittent insomnia or chronic insomnia.

Anyone that suffers from arthritis will also find that they have chronic insomnia or insomnia that does not go away and occurs for a long time period. There are many reasons that chronic insomnia is found in people that do have arthritis. The pain will keep some awake at night and will occur with illness but some of the patients find that their joints are painful and inflamed after they do activity. A second reason of insomnia due to arthritis, is a high level of stress that most patients with arthritis have. Worrying about an appointment with a doctor can cause a person to stay awake all night long. There is no difference whether a patient is young and just recently
diagnosed, or older and has had the problem for many years. Insomnia can be a side of effect of the medicine that is used to treat arthritis. These medicines may rid the pain but can make you stay up all night. Without taking the medication, you may also be awake all night with pain.

There are a number of alternatives for a person with insomnia and you will need to talk to your doctor about any medications that you are taking that keep you up all night. There are going to be side effects of drugs and they can be addicting as well. Taking the right steps to take the stress out of your life is going to help you sleep better at night too. You and your doctor are the only people that can take the right course of action to fix the insomnia in your life. Talk to them and get a good night’s sleep because it is essential for healthy living.

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