More than 100 diseases fall under the umbrella of arthritis, and women are more prone to some of them than men. Their physiology also makes women more vulnerable to some sports injuries. These factors combine to make aquatic exercise ideal for those women who suffer from an arthritic ailment or disease.
Gender Considerations
According to the Arthritis Foundation, twice as many women as men develop osteoarthritis, which results from long-term degeneration of the cartilage of weight-bearing joints. Men have more knee cartilage than women do, which helps protect them. Women suffering from osteoarthritis must also be more careful with exercise than men, because their quadriceps stabilize their damaged knees, while men's hamstrings stabilize their knees. Quadriceps are not as strong as hamstrings, leading to more female injuries from high-impact exercise. Water minimizes impact. Rheumatoid arthritis also afflicts more women than men, disabling their hands, wrists, ankles and feet, making other kinds of exercise that use these joints impossibly painful without the buoyancy of water.
Benefits
The Aquatic Exercise Association indicates that standing in chest-deep water relieves the human body of 25 percent to 35 percent of its body weight, so simply standing in water relieves significant stress on arthritic joints. Working against the resistance of water through aquatic exercise makes muscles stronger, and stronger muscles ease the load on arthritic joints even when a woman is standing on dry land. The temperature of the water is also an important aid to exercise for those with arthritis because warmth mitigates stiffness and pain which might prevent a woman from flexing and using stricken joints.
Research
The Mayors Wellness Campaign of New Jersey cites a study of both men and women performed by the Arthritis Foundation, used as the basis for the Campaign's Seniors in Motion programs in 2011. According to the study, women showed significant increases in muscle strength after 12 aquatic exercise classes -- two classes a week for six weeks. The women reported fewer visits to their doctors, and both men and women increased their range of motion of arthritic limbs between 13 percent and 17 percent.
Precautions
While aquatic exercise seems to be highly beneficial for arthritis, precautions are in order. Never undertake a new exercise program without speaking to your physician about it first. Also make sure that the pool you're using has an entry with sufficient hand-holds to assist you in getting in and out of the water, especially if you can't swim. The water temperature should be between 83 degrees and 88 degrees F for optimal comfort and benefit, and, ideally, a lifeguard should be present.
