5 Healing Exercises For Joint Pain Relief

In this post, you’ll discover simple exercises you can do for joint pain relief.

Let’s dive in right away!

How are joints in the body formed?

A joint is a point at which two bones lay adjacent to each other (with or without the ability to move). 

There are around 360 joints in the adult human body. Based on the movement direction of these joints, there are different types.

There are three types of joints in the body based on the structure: Fibrous, Cartilaginous, and Synovial. 

The synovial joints are found throughout our bodies, and they vary in types too: pivot, hinge, condyloid, saddle, plane, and ball-and-socket joints.

Think about it for a moment:

Without all these joints, we wouldn’t be able to move our bodies well.

We wouldn’t be able to stand, walk or jog or swing an arm or do our favorite CrossFit workout. 

Unfortunately, these joints, at some point in time get tired and begin to work less and less each day.

There are joint pains, swellings, and other symptoms that tell us they need to be taken care of. It explains why we all need joint pain relief at some point.

How to get relief from joint pain

A study published in a Journal of Vision concluded that the joints perform critical activities that are essential to human movements.

Arthritis is the most common disorder that affects the joint. It is an inflammation of one or more joints. 

Its symptoms include pain, stiffness, and limited function of joints. These symptoms signal poor functions of those joints or parts of the body.

There are various ways to relieve ourselves from the pain; we could have surgeries, take painkillers. 

Does stretching reduce joint pain?

Simple stretching postures or exercises can help us ten times more than a painkiller does.

Simple exercises for joint pain relief are necessary because they help maintain the joint’s full range of mobility.

When you do the right kind of exercise, you strengthen those muscles that support the joints. And that helps them absorb external and internal shocks.

We are not going to bore you with medical names of the types of arthritis and where they affect. 

We are going to use lay terms like knee arthritis, finger arthritis, and the likes and the best exercises for relief.

There are two main types of arthritis (osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis) and both of them lead to knee pain. 

The knee is a type of synovial joint; particularly, a hinge joint. Thus, it is a freely movable joint. Arthritis affects this joint and causes it to move less. 

Healing exercises for joint pain relief

You don’t need high impact exercises for joint pain relief.

Simple, low impact exercise will do the trick. Here are the best ones.

1. Hamstring Stretch

This simple exercise is beneficial because it helps to strengthen the hamstrings.

Hamstrings are those muscles behind the thighs and are attached to the knee.

• Start by lying flat on the floor on your back and your legs lying flat on the floor too.
• Raise one leg till the toes are facing the ceiling. Interlock all ten fingers directly behind the knee. 
• Gently push the knee towards the chest for a second or two and straighten it again. 
• Do this on that leg five to ten times and repeat the same process on the other leg. 

2. Leg Stretch

This exercise for joint pain relief focuses mainly on the quadriceps (muscles found at the front part of the thighs). 

The quadriceps are also attached to the knee which makes it a good exercise for knee arthritis.

• Begin by sitting on the floor with your legs pulled out straight in front of you.
• Leave your arms by your sides and your palms comfortably placed on the floor for stability. 
• Keep your back straight too. Slowly raise the leg and bend the knee at the same time.
• Stay in this position for two seconds. Straighten it out and leave it on the floor. 
• Repeat the process ten times on each leg. 

3. Wrist Twists

Another type of synovial joint that arthritis normally affects is the wrist. The wrist is a condyloid joint. 

It allows bending and straightening, side-to-side, and circular movements. And the wrist contains this joint.

One exercise for this joint pain relief is wrist twists

• To perform this rather simple low impact exercise, rest your palms on a flat surface facing the floor.
• Rotate your palms to face the ceiling. That’s all. Repeat the process ten to twenty times on each wrist. 

The shoulder is also a type of synovial joint, particularly, the ball-and-socket-joint.

This joint allows mobility permitting bending and straightening, side-to-side, circular, and rotational mobility. 

It is common to see people complain about the pain they feel in that part. There are exercises for this joint pain relief. 

4. Arm Circles

This simple exercise stretches the shoulders to promote increased movement or mobility.

• Start by standing in a neutral position with your hands at your sides. Raise your arms sideways and let it remain straight.
• Move the arms alongside the shoulders in a circular motion. Start with slow circles and continue to large circular motions.
• Continue this process for about twenty seconds. Stop at the starting position and rotate it backward.

5. Bend Over T – Rotation

Regular performance of this exercise should help you reach out for items experiencing little or no pain. 

• To begin, stand upright and bend over in front of you at the waist.
• Now, leave your arms falling below you towards the floor, keeping them straight.
• Stretch out your thumbs sideways and folding the rest of your fingers into your palms almost like a fist. Let the back of your palms face your body.
• Lift your arms sideways at the shoulders keeping it as straight as possible all through the movements.
• Return it back to the positions of the arms falling towards the floor.

Takeaway

With all these exercises, it is seen that they are all low impact exercises.

You do not need too much to do all these. They are simple and easy to perform.

Get the joint pain relief you need from these exercises and let us know if you how they work out for you.