If you lose 5 to 10 pounds, it considerably lightens the load on all of your weight-bearing joints hips, knees, ankles, and feet, he says. Vary your terrain. Walking is always recommended but it s important to not get into a rut. For the sake of interest as well as exercise, seek out new terrain like hills, fields, and pathways as well as flat road or sidewalk. Soft walkers glide across a room like Gene Kelly and don t put their heels, ankles, feet, or knees through much stress.
Hard walkers are in the habit of hitting the ground with their heels or the soles of their feet.
If you suffer from arthritis and are a hard walker, try out a softer, more gliding style. Try to place your feet when you walk, rather than plunk them. Or imagine that you re gliding on a layer of air or that attached to your head and shoulders you have puppetlike strings that straighten you up. Eat more salmon or other cold-water fish such as herring and sardines, and you just may take some of the sting out of rheumatoid arthritis, says Dr. Katz. That s because these fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids , a type of fat that actually eases the aches and swelling of an arthritic joint.