Did you know that swimming is one of the most effective, low-impact exercises to combat arthritis? It’s true! Swimming and water exercises have a variety of benefits that can help arthritis sufferers all summer long.
Let’s discuss the specific benefits of utilizing pool therapy such as swimming and water exercises to tackle your arthritis pain.
- Low-Impact: Because you are submerged in water when swimming, the buoyancy of the water helps to support your joints, relieving excess stress during your exercise.
- Natural Resistance: Working your joints and muscles against the flow of water provides a natural resistance, making it a very effective workout.
- Muscle-Building: When you are swimming or doing water exercises, nearly all of your muscles are being used including those supporting your joints. Because of this, swimming can encourage the stabilization of your arthritic joints through muscle growth.
- Cardiovascular Training: Swimming is not only great for strength training, but it is also a great source of cardio. Swimming will keep your heart rate up, helping to improve blood flow and the delivery of nutrients to your arthritic joints.
- Weight Maintenance: Because swimming involves both cardio and muscle building, it is a great way to lose excess weight. Weight loss helps to relieve stress on your joints, often reducing symptoms associated with arthritis.
Going to the pool is a great summer activity, especially knowing that it can help you manage your arthritis pain. If you are suffering from arthritis, talk to your orthopedic specialist to see if pool therapy could help you. Dr. David Buchalter specializes in treating arthritis of the knee and hip and his goal is to guide his patients toward more mobile and functional joints!
David N. Buchalter, MD is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive hip and knee replacement surgery at South Palm Orthopedics. Dr. Buchalter uses the latest cutting-edge surgical and nonsurgical techniques for orthopedic patients across South Florida.
