I have osteoarthritis all over my body. My neck, shoulders and right hip are the worst. Which sport can I practice? I would like to swim, is this possible?
Lida
Mark Chen, physical therapist:
Osteoarthritis means that the quantity (amount) and sometimes quality of the cartilage is reduced. We also call it ‘wear and tear’. This is a normal phenomenon and sooner or later we all have to deal with it. This causes pain for most people. The cartilage acts as a cushion. The joints can start to hurt if there is too much pressure for the amount of cartilage.
Swimming is therefore often an obvious choice; in the water you only weigh about 20 percent of your weight ‘on dry land’. So it is a very friendly way of moving for your joints. In addition, you also use almost all muscles while swimming. It ensures good blood circulation and improves the endurance of the power-producing muscles. Swimming can also ensure a rapid improvement in fitness! Swimmers are among the fittest athletes in the sporting world.
There are, however, a number of caveats. Posture and technique are important while swimming. Especially the neck can sometimes get hard. Take the breaststroke, for example, which is popular with many swimmers. Look closely and you will see many people swimming with an unnatural “kink” in the neck. Almost as if the head had to be forced above water. If there is wear and tear in the vertebrae where this “kink” exists, this could cause more complaints instead of fewer.
The same goes for the shoulder. Considerable freedom of movement is required to be able to make a nice stroke and sometimes osteoarthritis is accompanied by clear limitations in mobility.
Swimming is therefore a beautiful and friendly sport for the body, but I recommend that you have the above factors looked at. Any physical limitations can be viewed and possibly treated by a physiotherapist. The technical aspect can certainly be viewed in the swimming pool. Good luck!
Mark Chen is a physiotherapist and NASM trained personal trainer at OCA in Alphen aan den Rijn. His expertise lies in analyzing and optimizing movement patterns. Dry needling and medical taping are an important part of his vision and training predominates.
