No matter how old you are, what
you do for a living or if you have any health conditions. The important thing to remember is that everyone
needs to make healthy stretching and exercise a part of their everyday routine.
Yes, that’s true even if
you have nerve pain or peripheral neuropathy. Actually, you might even say
it’s especially true if you have a lower extremity nerve
condition.
This type of physical activity
gets the blood flowing, increases cellular metabolism, reduces swelling, allows
your cells to use oxygen and nutrition more efficiently —among other things.
But here’s the important
thing to remember.
Exercise is essentially for
healthy management of nerve pain, but it can also be riskier. That’s because,
without proper nerve function, you might not notice if you accidentally go too
far and sustain an injury. In other words, you don’t hurt when you hurt
yourself.
This sounds like a big
problem……But the good news is that it is manageable. You just need to have a list
of safe exercises to incorporate into your program.
I have created an exercise
list or plan and separated it out into four categories of exercise you should
consider: flexibility, cardiovascular, strength training, and balance.
Cardiovascular (Aerobic) Exercise
You should work to improve
your general fitness level through cardiovascular exercise. This goes a long
way toward keeping your nerves as healthy as possible.
Also, important to remember
is to concentrate on exercises that keep your heart rate up while minimize risk
to your feet from impact forces.
Some examples of this are:
- Swimming - My most favourite is swimming as it is awesome cardio with minimal impact on feet and joints.
- Bicycling - Generally speaking, you’d want to stick with a stationary bicycle
since there’s less risk of a fall or crash. But going out on a “real”
bicycle may be appropriate if your neuropathy is less severe, and you have
a safe, relatively flat, and well paved trail to use.
- Brisk walking. - This simplest of exercises is also one of the
best for neuropathy and nerve pain. It’s like jogging, but with way less
impact on your feet. You can do laps around the mall, explore the
neighborhood, or hit the treadmill.
Strength Training
Building muscle is another
important way to counteract the effects of nerve damage to reduce pain and
injury risk. Strength training requires some form of resistance, whether that
comes from resistance bands or from your own body weight.
For example:
- Chair squats - Stand in front of a chair. Your feet, knees, and hips should all
be in line, directly overtop one another. Slowly lower your rear until
it’s just barely touching the chair, while keeping knees and ankles
directly over the feet. (You can reach back for the chair for stability.)
Keep your weight on your heels and knees and ankles directly over the
feet. Then, lift back up again, without resting. Do 10-15 reps.
- Calf raises - Brace yourself against something sturdy (wall, table,
countertop, etc.) with your hands, then slowly lift your heels and stand
on your tip toes. Then, just as slowly, lower yourself back to the floor.
If you do this on a stairway using the edge of step, you can also lower
your heels below vertical in the same fashion.
Flexibility
Stretches help keep your
joints flexible, which improves your mobility and allows you to be more active
without sustaining an injury. We recommend stretching as a warm-up before
aerobic exercises, and on your own throughout the day.
Stretches to try include:
- Plantar fascia stretch - Place your heel on the ground as close to
the wall as possible—with your toes as high up the wall as possible. (It
may help to do this with the inside of a doorframe rather than the middle
of the wall. Slowly lean forward and feel the stretch in your Achilles and
the bottom of the feet. Again, do 3 reps per leg, 20 seconds each.
- Seated hamstring stretch - Make sure you are sitting for this one. Sit up straight at the edge of a hard
chair. Put one leg straight out front, knee straight, heel on the floor,
toes pointing up. With the other leg, you’re going to bend your knee as
much as you can while keeping your foot flat on the floor. Place your
chest over the straight leg and straighten your back until you feel the
stretch. Do the same duration and number of reps as before.
- Standing calf stretch - Stand a few feet in front of a wall (close enough to place your hands on the wall for balance). Step back with one leg so that the knee is straight, and the entire foot is firmly on the floor. (You will need to bend your front knee slightly). Hold for about 20 seconds, completing 3 reps for each leg.
Balance
Loss of sensation in your
legs and feet can greatly contribute to trips, falls, and general instability.
If you can’t tell where your feet are in space, you’re more likely to lose your
footing. But balance is something you can train and improve. Try the following
to help build your balance
Calf raises and squats,
mentioned in the above section, also double as good balance training. You can
also try:
- Side leg raise - Stand with a nearby source of support should
you need it (chair, counter, wall, etc.). Slowly lift one leg to the side
and hold for 10 seconds, then slowly lower it again. Switch legs and
repeat. As you improve, you can take your hand off the support, or even
try standing on a pillow or balance board.
- Take yoga or tai chi This isn’t really an “exercise” per se, but
we’re going to cheat and count it. These disciplines are filled with good
exercises and stretches that work your balance and your flexibility within
a safe, controlled environment.
So, this short plan is
hopefully something you can start with and slowly build on it as you grow
stronger and more confident in yourself.
Remember that to prevent
any injury, it is always important to start with a gentle warm up and end with a
cool-down: After completing the exercise session, gradually decrease the
intensity of the activity and finish with a few minutes of gentle stretching.
This helps reduce muscle soreness and promotes a gradual recovery. When you start out, it is normal to feel some
slight muscle soreness.
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We hope this gives you a good idea and good start and that you also find it fun to do!
Important
Although the above might
seem quite simple and ‘low impact’, I always suggest that you check in with
your doctor or general practitioner before starting anything new or any new
programs – especially if you have any concerns about your ankle or foot health. You can build on the above and you might want
to get additional guidelines and suggestions based on your specific condition
you may have – for instance Peripheral Neuropathy.
Happy Exercising !
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