It is worth remembering that someone with arthritis needs exercise for the same reasons as everyone else, to maintain muscle power and tone, and the range of movement around the joints, to keep a happy balance between metal and physical activity, to keep the heart in healthy condition and to raise the level of endorphins (the body's natural painkillers) in order to minimize pain and keep you feeling cheerful.
For rheumatoid arthritis sufferers, exercise can be a mixed blessing.
On the one hand, rest reduces inflammation, on the other hand, rest over long periods allows muscles to weaken, joints to become stiff and bones to weaken.
The solution is to take some exercise, but to do so carefully and only as long as it does not hurt too much.
Osteoarthritis is usually much more constant in its symptoms than rheumatoid arthritis.
It is without doubt linked to body weight, and weight control is an important factor in the management of the condition.
This should be undertaken in conjunction with regular exercise.
However, joint damage which is caused partly by stress on the joints should not be compounded by over strenuous exercise.
You will find your own levels of exercise, what you can and cannot do, through your own common sense and experience.
You should undertake activities that improve the general tone of muscles, rather than those designed to increase muscular strength, for example, walking, swimming and gardening, such as pruning and watering plants, are more suitable than press ups, weight lifting or digging in heavy soils.
It is important to make the mental and physical effort needed to keep taking moderate exercise, even if this involves some moderate level of pain.
Exercise should be regular and, if possible, gradually progressive, provided that it does not lead to severe pain.
Aim for three or four session of twenty to thirty minutes each week.
Self discipline, for example, setting aside the same time every day to take exercise, ensures that you get regular exercise to prevent joints becoming harmfully stiff.
Anyone affected by rheumatic finger joints knows that they need exercising regularly, that this usually involves some effort of will and that there may be times when the fingers can be moved almost freely and other times when they can hardly be moved at all.
The best advice is that joints affected by any form of arthritis should be stretched to the limit of moderate discomfort several times each day, in order to avoid permanent stiffness developing.
Effort without fanaticism is the key.