Step 10 - Excercise

For anyone who is bed bound, telling them that exercise is important to recovery might feel like a kick in the gut. However gentle exercise can make a huge impact to the outcome of treatment and your overall wellbeing. According to Lyme specialist Dr Burrascano patients will not make a full recovery despite thorough antibiotic treatment unless they engage in an exercise regime. There are a few reasons as to why exercise can make a world of difference. Firstly, it increases your oxygen levels and disease cannot thrive in high oxygenated environments. Secondly, exercise has been shown to boost to the immune system. Thirdly a lot of bacteria are heat sensitive and exercise can raise the core body temperature to 102 degrees and finally regular exercise can help mobilise the lymphatic system and improve circulation.

Here’s our list of low impact exercises that could make a world of difference to your recovery.

Stretching

If you are chronically ill then stretching might be the only thing you can manage, you have to learn what your body can tolerate and be careful not to overdo it. By stretching your muscles, it helps move the lymph fluid which surrounds all your tissues and helps drain various toxins. You’ll find your flexibility and mobility will improve massively when you stick to a regular stretching routine.

Walking

It seems like the most basic thing but a lot of chronically ill people can struggle walking to the end of their hallway and back. If you have the stamina then walking is an excellent way to get your body moving and your lymph fluid flowing.

Swimming

I did a lot of swimming when I first became ill. I felt like I was in a battle for control of my body and swimming helped me gain more of a foothold. The reason that it’s an excellent exercise for people with chronic health conditions is that it’s low impact so an excellent form of exercise if you are struggling with muscle and joint pain.  It’s also is an all over body work out that builds muscles and endurance. Also, it involves lots of deep inhalation of oxygen which as we know burns up disease. It’s also good for people who have balance issues or are in a wheel chair. I recommend finding a salt water pool in your area if possible as opposed to a chlorinated pool.

Yoga

Not only has yoga been cited for its physical benefits but it has been shown to have mental health benefits as well including managing issues such as anxiety and depression which it does by lowering the bodies cortisol levels our main stress hormone. It may also help to reduce inflammation which is pivotal for Lyme disease patients, in a 2015 study they found that people who practiced yoga had lower inflammatory markers than those who didn’t.  There’s lots of different types of yoga so why don’t you pop into your local class and see which one is right for you.