Aerobics and Dancing for Arthritis Pain Relief

Ah—dancing. Little did I think over 30 years ago, as I waltzed around the dance floor with some pretty maiden, that I would be writing about it today in an article dealing with pain relief. In that earlier life of mine, my knees buckled at the sight of some lovely feminine legs, but nowadays they crumple for a completely different reason.

For those of you who loved dancing before developing arthritis, it can still be a great pastime, and helpful in the quest for pain relief. It’s fun, it enables you to carry out useful movements, improving your physical condition. It also helps your stance, breathing, and overall general fitness. It’s also a great social outlet, and, dare I say it, makes you feel younger again, and good to be alive.

If you attend a structured dancing course, you’ll probably find that it combines range of motion movements and strengthening exercises in the prescribed steps. Some keen dancers find that they incorporate some of their dance movements in their other daily activities. I kid you not! They find that their motions have become more fluid and flexible, and that their walking is not as stiff as previously.

Of course, before you even think of tripping the light fantastic, there’s a couple of things that you should be aware of. If you’re carrying more plastic around with you than the cards in your pocket, such as a hip or knee replacement, check with your doctor that the moves in your dance routine will not be harmful. Even if you sometimes accumulate fluid in them, the doctor will be more than likely to advise you on safe ways to negotiate the dance floor.

You should also make sure that you wear comfortable clothing and shoes, especially the latter. They should be supportive, and can be of any variety, but low heeled ones are probably the best. You wouldn’t want to go there in your stiletto heels, only to stumble and break your arm or leg, whilst doing something that’s supposed to be helping you beat arthritis. Trainers can easily stick, thus cramping your style, and can result in less ease of movement.

If you are attending an informal dance, say in a club or at a party, you will need to be more careful—your partner might not know, or even forget, in the case of someone you already know, that you suffer from arthritis. This kind of situation is not likely to arise when you are in a class or taking lessons. However, you should always have a chat with with your instructor before starting, in order to explain to him about your condition, and any problems that you think may arise.

Pain Reel-ief indeed!