Need a reason to call your senator or your representative? We’ve got 46 million of them. Even though the Advocacy and Kids’ Summit was back in March, here’s a few reminders about why we need the Arthritis Prevention, Control and Cure act passed: http://www.arthritis.org/advocacy-summit.php
Click on the videos and hear real people with juvenile arthritis and their stories about their lives with arthritis.
Gardening Tips for Everyone: pain-free tips for a beautiful garden
By Rosanna Scott, Arthritis Today Magazine
So you’re gardening? Arthritis shouldn’t prevent it. Try these gardening tips to reduce your pain (and check out our links for additional garden tips.)
1. Ask for help. The first garden tip is to know your limits. Examine your to-do list and determine which tasks you can easily do and which tasks you may need assistance with. Consider hiring someone to do the heavy work.
2. Be kind to your body. Occupational therapist Kristan Monroe, St. Rita’s Medical Center, Lima, Ohio, suggests gentle stretches to loosen joints and prevent injury. Try this simple stretch: With your arms straight out in front of you reach forward as far as you can.
3. Use joint-friendly tools. Long-handled tools that allow you to stand, not stoop, and easy-to-grip hand tools are gardeners’ friends. Monroe suggests adding attachments that lengthen tool handles to gain leverage. Buy a kneeling pad or even a scooter wagon you can sit on while weeding.
4. Practice correct posture. Let your larger/stronger joints do the work when possible. Instead of using your fingers to lift an object, try using the flat palm of your hand, your forearms or even your elbows. Keep items close to your body as you carry them. Stand or sit up straight while you work, and change positions often.
5. Think “inside” the box. Instead of a traditional flowerbed, try a flower box or a raised flowerbed to eliminate stooping.
6. Take frequent breaks. When you’re gardening, arthritis pain can build if you don’t rest your joints properly. Stop and smell the roses and have a glass of lemonade. Well-earned, frequent breaks allow you to appreciate your garden’s beauty, plan your next tasks and get more done before fatigue sets in.
From Arthritis Today Magazine:
Tai Chi for Arthritis; An ancient Chinese exercise offers arthritis relief through slow, gentle movement
By Mary Jo DiLonardo
For the uninitiated, tai chi may be a little daunting. The ancient Chinese exercise is hardly as mainstream as aerobics or the treadmill, but with its gentle, fluid movements and proven health benefits, it’s a natural arthritis workout.
Matthew Bosman, 38, started taking tai chi classes after back surgery, as well as psoriatic arthritis and osteoarthritis, left him unable to continue his vigorous gym workout routine.
“I was looking for something that was low-impact and not going to hurt,” says Bosman of Palm Springs, Calif., who now takes two 45-minute tai chi classes each week. “Tai chi is very calming and peaceful. I’m really skeptical about talking about chakra and all that, but it gives you a better energy.”
Tai chi also offers plenty of other benefits. Recent studies have found that the slow, graceful exercise, which originated several thousand centuries ago as a martial art, can improve balance, reduce stress and offer arthritis pain relief.
A study released last fall by researchers at Tufts Medical Center in Boston found that tai chi can specifically reduce the pain and physical impairment of people with severe knee osteoarthritis.
Those results were no surprise to one of the biggest proponents of tai chi for people with arthritis, Dr. Paul Lam, a family physician in Sydney, Australia. Dr. Lam developed arthritis as a teenager growing up in China when malnourishment caused cartilage development problems. He began practicing tai chi to ease his arthritis pain, eventually modifying the popular Sun style of tai chi to make it easier for people with arthritis.
“A lot of people with arthritis didn’t know they can do tai chi,” he says. “Even though the Sun style is slow and gentle, it does have high-risk moves as well. That’s why we modified it. We took the part that was more effective for healing and put in modification so that anyone could do it.”
Dr. Lam’s 12-step course is the basis for the Arthritis Foundation tai chi program, which includes classes led by trained experts (contact a local Arthritis Foundation chapter for information on classes near you) and is also available as a DVD for at-home practice (“Tai Chi for Arthritis,” $19.95-$29.95). No special equipment is required, just comfortable clothing, patience and an open mind.
Betty Broderick, 67, of Cathedral City, Calif., acknowledges that she and her classmates might have looked silly when they were first learning their tai chi poses. “When we’re in a room with mirrors, you can actually see how dorky you look,” she says, admitting she prefers when the instructor takes the students outdoors for class.
But awkwardness aside, Broderick credits regular tai chi classes for lessening pain from knee osteoarthritis and a long bout with polymyalgia rheumatica. “I can do things I didn’t think were possible before,” she says, happy that she can now take long walks and be on her feet without having to stop because of aching joints. “I can’t say enough about tai chi. It changed my life.”
Get a taste of tai chi. Watch excerpts from Dr. Lam’s “Tai Chi for Arthritis” video.
Want to know more? Read a Q&A with Arthritis Foundation tai chi instructor Norma Castle.
To become an instructor, contact your local chapter to find out when the next Arthritis Foundation tai chi program instructor training workshop will be held.
How many ways can you think of to move?
1. Shimmy
2. Shake it
3. Boogie down
4. Walk this way
5. Twist and shout
6. Jump up and get down
7. Tootsie Roll
8. Do the swim, the lawnmower, the shopping cart, the sprinkler, the skateboard, or the running man
9. Mash Potato
10. Waltz
11. Tw0 step
12. Tap
13. Dos-a-do
14. Do the wave
15. Jig or reel
All of these are just a few suggetions to keep you moving and for videos that can be submitted to showusyourmoves@hotmail.com. Enter short clips (30 seconds or less) and then get your friends to view and vote the YouTube Show Us Your Moves page.
You can find people from Wisconsin and all over the US showing how they are still moving despite their arthritis or in honor of someone with arthritis who can’t.
Get out there folks and move it!
As of April 1, 2009, the revised Aquatic and Exercise program instructor manuals and trainer guides became available for instructor trainings and re-certifications. The revisions are based on feedback from our leaders, as well as instructor recommendations and literature review findings. You spoke, and we listened!
Two workgroups of twenty professionals, including Wisconsin’s own Connie Ellefson, made recommendations for changes and revisions. The recommended changes were also reviewed by several outside experts to ensure that the programs remained evidence-based. Here are some of the awesome new changes that you can expect to see in our programs.
General changes include:
– New pre-training module
– More user-friendly manuals with more instructor resources (e.g. more lesson plans, tips on teaching mixed level classes)
– Newly combined manual for the formerly separate Instructor and Guideline and Procedure Manuals
Arthritis Foundation Aquatic Program changes include:
– More combination exercises
– Interactive sports-themed exercises (e.g. knockout punch, speed skating, kayaking)
– Expanded balance component
– New equipment
– Increased water temperature range for pools
– Additional certification requirements : must be able to swim 25 yards using any stroke without stopping; able to jump into deep water, surface, and either float for a minimum of 10 minutes or tread water for a minimum of 1 minute; and able to perform the recovery position from face up and face down in shallow and deep water.
Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program changes include:
– New exercises that incorporate resistance bands and weights to challenge class participants
– Simplified health education and relaxation sections
– Improved joint check, balance and endurance sections
– Elimination of movement activities as a separate component
The Wisconsin Chapter had a “Train the Trainer” session with Flying Squad member, Connie Ellefson, this past weekend. On Friday, four aquatic trainers came to learn new protocol and lessons. On Saturday, the exercise trainers came to learn the new exercises and guidelines. They focused on the new moves that help with activities of daily life (ADLs) that are basic moves that do a lot for you throughout the day.
Here are a few photos:
Thanks to MilwaukeeMoms.com and Niki Cairns (mother of the Waukesha County Arthritis Walk honoree) for this moment of thank yous:
Here’s the flyer info:
The Wisconsin Arthritis Program is hosting a Leadership Summit to kick-off the new Arthritis Action Plan for 2009-2014. The Summit will provide relevant, timely presentations and information about Rheumatic conditions and the burden in Wisconsin.
Topics will be broken into three tracks.
Including exhibits from the Arthritis Foundation-Wisconsin Chapter, Centers for Disease Control, Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program, Milwaukee County Parks, Worksite Wellness, and more.
~Please Join Us on Thursday, June 4, 2009~
DoubleTree
611 W. Wisconsin Ave.,
Milwaukee, WI 53203
8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Continental Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, and Valet Parking included
On April 1st 2009 Registration Forms will be available online
Arthritis Foundation, Wisconsin Chapter Blog 