Aerobic exercise-pain-discomfort

December 4, 2012 by admin
Filed under Aerobic Exercises

Article by Jennifer Chu, M.D.

Aerobic exercise-pain-discomfort – Health
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Aerobic exercise suggestions for cardiovascular fitness include moderate-intensity exercise for at least 30 minutes a day 5 days/week. This can be achieved by walking 1.5 miles daily at 3-4 mph. Three 10-minute walks a day each day has also been suggested. Resistance training to help promote health benefits is also beneficial. How do you get chronic pain patients to have an aerobic exercise? They are told by others around them to exercise whereas their bodies tell them to rest. What is the best compromise? If they exercise there is exacerbation of pain. However some of them push themselves through pain believing in the “no pain no gain” trend of thinking. A significant factor in nerve related muscle pain is lack of blood supply to the muscles and nerves. Therefore taking extra pain medications to suppress the muscle pain during and after exercise will have little effect on the muscle spasms already formed inside the muscles. These newly formed muscle spasms related to exercise will cause more pain from having a traction effect on the nerves and blood vessels within the muscle, and also pull on the bones and joints causing increased pain. Patients with chronic pain must keep mobile and cannot follow suggested or standard guidelines for aerobic exercise. They must follow the guidelines given by their body. They must not perform aerobic exercise continuously even for ten minutes if they have pain exacerbation. They must rest immediately for the equal amount of time that they have exercised. Therefore they must exercise in places where they have access to a seat so that they are able to sit down and rest immediately if need be. Exercising in a controlled climate situation is essential. Climbing up and down steps as part of activities of daily living must be incorporated into the aerobic exercise program. Moving the arms and legs against gravity will act as resistive exercises. Tai Chi is the perfect aerobic exercise since it will involve also balance activities. Performing tandem walking will also improve balance. Standing on one leg at time while holding onto something solid will provide muscle contractions essential for prevention of osteoporosis. The non-supporting limb can also be mobilized to exercise while standing on one leg. The concept in exercising for chronic pain patients is to maintain and/or increase mobility and balance. Increasing heart rate should not be the goal if it will exacerbate the pain such that they are miserable. Patients with chronic pain or discomfort cannot exercise using rigid guidelines such as preset time, number of repetitions or distance. http://technorati.com/tag/aerobic+exercise© 2007 copyright http://www.stopmusclepain.com Aerobic exercise|pain|discomfort

About the Author

Jennifer Chu, M.D., founder of eToims Soft Tissue Comfort Center® is also President and CEO of eToims Medical Technology LLC, a medical device company with training programs in eToims® Twitch Relief Method. She is an Emeritus Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pennsylvania, where has been on faculty for more than 30 years. http://www.stopmusclepain.com

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Jennifer Chu, M.D.

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