More than 10 million people across the UK, young and old, live with some form of arthritis, a condition that profoundly impacts daily life, including the simple pleasure of gardening. Yet, practical approaches can significantly alleviate pain and discomfort, helping to reduce aching joints when undertaking basic tasks in outdoor spaces.
“Pacing, posture and positioning are key,” says Damien Newman, training, education and consultancy manager at Thrive, a gardening for health charity which helps improve people’s health through gardening and horticulture.
Obviously what you can do in the garden depends on the type and severity of the arthritis, but it is important to keep exercising, says Dr Wendy Holden, medical advisor and honorary consultant rheumatologist at charity Arthritis Action.
“Exercise is not going to cause any harm and that’s an important thing to know. Even if things hurt, it’s not causing damage. You can’t damage your joints by using them.”
Tasks which may be difficult
“If you’ve got stiffness and pain in your hands, things like gripping secateurs are going to be difficult. Potentially, hedge trimming would be difficult and other physical manual dexterity tasks,” Holden explains.
If you have pain in the knees and hips, it’s going to be more difficult to kneel down to do weeding and you’ll need to be careful lifting anything.
The experts offer the following tips on how best to garden if you suffer from arthritis.
Position yourself comfortably
“Obviously, if you have arthritis affecting your lower limbs, gardening in a seated or stood position is going to be a lot easier on the joints that are being affected,” says Newman.
“Try to keep your back neutral and work with your limbs at 90-degree angles.”
Don’t overstretch by using long-handled tools which are too long for your body, he says, as overstretching restricts blood flow which can exacerbate symptoms.
Conversely, tall people tend to bend over when using regular-sized rakes and hoes, giving themselves backache, so make sure you obtain one that is right for your height, says Holden.
Think about posture
Posture needs to be right when lifting heavy objects such as pots.
“Carry things close to your body. People with osteoporosis, in other words fragile bones, have to be really careful with bending forwards and lifting,” warns Holden.
“I’ve seen so many people who have broken a bone in their back just from lifting a heavy plant pot. You have to be extra careful and just bend from the hips and use your knees to lift and keep the object close to you.”
If picking up items by your fingers is uncomfortable, when carrying lighter equipment such as a seed tray or a piece of turf, rest it on your forearms and hands, keeping your elbows tucked in to reduce strain, Thrive recommends.
Don’t overdo it
“It’s very easy to get caught up in the wonder of the activity and pacing yourself is really important, accepting that it’s ok to do a little bit and then a little bit another day,” says Newman.
“Mowing the lawn might be quite a strenuous activity for somebody with arthritis that’s affecting their knees, hips or ankles. If you’ve a large garden, think, ‘I’ll tackle that over a week’ rather than thinking ‘I have to mow all of the lawn in one go’. It’s about being comfortable and breaking conventions.”
“I often see people who’ve got a lot of thumb pain after they’ve been pruning at the beginning of the year. That can cause a temporary worsening of some pain. My advice is, just don’t do it for too long,” Holden adds.
She suggests people do a variety of jobs during the day, rather than repetitive ones, to work different joints, and try to switch your grip on tools as well.
Use ergonomic tools and good-quality outerwear
Consider adaptive gardening tools, available on sites such as Peta, which have special grips to help people with arthritis, Newman suggests, and also provides handles which you can adapt to standard garden tools.
Holden adds that wearing gloves probably improves your grip on things and that some people like compression gloves on their joints for comfort.
Don’t wear flimsy flat wellies all day, she continues.
“Either wear flat wellies with lots of socks in them so your feet stay nice and warm, or wellies with insoles to give you lots of nice support if you’re on your feet all day.”
Stay dry
Watch the weather to choose your optimum gardening time, the experts agree. Joints often don’t like being cold and wet, so staying dry is obviously important, as is staying warm and wearing lots of layers, Holden advises.
Think about the cold too, which can exacerbate joint pain, Newman continues.
“Don’t pot-wash in January, do it in a heatwave when everyone’s happy to put their hands in the water,” he advises.
Make your garden lower-maintenance
“Fill your garden with plants that don’t need so much intensive care,” Newman suggests.
“Shrubs and herbaceous plants are much easier to maintain than perennials or vegetables, which need lots of preparation of the ground, mulching and activities which put a fair bit of pressure on our lower limbs, whether it’s pushing wheelbarrows or using long-handled tools.”
Use ground-cover plants so there’s less need to weed or mulch, to give arthritis sufferers an easier life, he says.
If you have a deep border, make a pathway through it so you can access the back more easily, and reduce the size of your lawn if you want to do less mowing.
Raised beds are a good idea to help prevent the need to bend over or kneel down when gardening.
Don’t feel guilty about investing in gizmos which will ease your efforts and help you enjoy your garden, such as robotic lawnmowers and auto-irrigation systems, he adds.
Stretch after gardening
Do some stretches after gardening to alleviate backache. “Lying on your back and pulling your knees up to your chest is good for an aching back,” says Holden. Have a bath to warm up your joints.
If you have osteoarthritis in the base of your thumb and it aches after gardening, you can buy resting thumb splints to wear in the evening for support, she adds.
Enjoy your garden
“Essentially, going and spending a bit of time in the garden is good because it relaxes you. That can be quite valuable for people with arthritis, because being relaxed and less stressed does have a physiological response and reduces the symptoms of pain and arthritis,” says Newman.
“It’s a space to enjoy, where you will do the bits that you want to do and find ways to not do the bits you don’t want to do any more.”
