Long-Lasting Arthritis Relief with These Everyday Tips

Pace Yourself

Keeping active is extremely important for mental and physical well-being, but finding the right activity level can spell the differ­ence between happy involvement and painful overexertion. It is important to pace yourself to go whatever distance you must cover in a day.

Pacing yourself is as much a mental as a physical activity. It means knowing your own limitations, so you can work within them instead of against yourself. It means exerting a steady flow of energy, instead of erratic bursts. It means, one thing at a time. One day at a time. One life at a time.

Break One Big Job into Several Small Chores

You can do as much as you ever did, in many respects, by taking a different approach to big jobs. Almost any task can be broken into component parts, so you can accomplish each one sep­arately, allowing yourself many small breaks before you reach the final goal. You can plan your housework and laundry so that you do about two hours' worth every night, in lieu of eight hours on Saturday — and you can skip the night or nights when you arthritis was most painful.

Stick to Your Exercise Routine

The vast majority of sufferers exercises regularly and credits that activity with helping them function better than they otherwise would. Walking and swimming have given them the ability to continue to live relatively normally and with minimal pain. Nearly all those who exercise stressed the importance of finding and maintaining a routine. You don't always see immedi­ate results from exercise, but you have to keep at it just to stay even. Exercise is not only helpful but enjoyable in itself, making it a very sweet-tasting medicine. It improves your mental outlook and gives you an exhilarated feeling. If you don't already have an exercise program, find a practitioner who can help you create one.

Ask for Help If You Need It

Not everyone can be so cavalier about needing the assistance of others, but if you do need help, you owe it to yourself to say so.

The help may take the form of a hired housekeeper, if you can afford one — or can receive the services some other way. A person to help with the yard work or odd jobs makes good sense, too, unless you can rely on a little extra effort from members of your own family.

Rest Periodically

Rest, the number-one self-help strategy for pain relief, was what made it possible for many to accomplish their day's work. Take periodic breaks, either for a short nap in bed or time in an easy chair, relaxing with your feet up — or in some other comfortable position. Perhaps you can manage to keep working by being 'up and active two hours, prone two hours. Experiment to determine the amount of rest you need, and then do your utmost to make sure you get it. When you entertain, tell people when you invite them what time you expect them to leave.