Mark A. Scheperle, MD

Today, Dr. M Scheperle my (Internal Medicine) doctor, sent out a weekly email about exercise. I would love to write a testimonial about what I learned about exercise. I suffer from several chronic autoimmune illnesses, and yes they are painful. Currently, I am having some different medical issues making it very difficult for me to even exercise at all; however, prior to this experience I exercised routinely. Not only routinely, but also, the recommended amount of exercise. I learned from, Dr. Scheperle, that exercise not only helps chronic illnesses but also chronic pain. I know, trust me, it’s difficult to exercise with chronic pain. Pain is very tiring and causes other reasons to resist exercising, or to get things done in general. When I could exercise regularly I would run, yes with all of my chronic pain, and it actually helped the pain most of the time. I did not notice it instantly, however, the more I ran and the stronger I became my pain began to lessen somewhat. At least to the point that I also did not feel as fatigued by the pain also. I can’t run anymore due to different symptoms and possible illness. However, there are other exercises, like water aerobics, that help with pain as well. Water aerobics also help the cardiovascular system, and help to build muscles. There is also water walking, and water running, which both help build muscle, and they help others areas in which exercise helps our bodies overall. These days, I try to do water aerobics and walking. I walk slowly though. The article also talked about strength training which is also very good for a person’s core muscles. And strong core muscles help in muscle building, exercise, endurance, and burning calories. I would do that at the gym when I could run. It is possible to get strength training in the pool as well. Water is better over all on the body and especially a person’s joints. Yes water aerobics was kind of awkward for me in the beginning; however, we have to keep moving our bodies to allow blood and oxygen to flow through our bodies ( including muscles) to aid, as the article said, in walking as we get older in life. So, if you are struggling, give water aerobics, water walking, water running, swimming, or whatever you can do to help get some exercise. The YMCA has a lot of water based classes. I would not have known this had Dr. Scheperle not told me at an office visit. Water exercises are also less painful than land exercises, in general.