Exercises for cancer recovery: 5 exercises for patients who are fatigued

Cancer and its treatments result in side effects that impair quality of life. The most common side effect reported by cancer patients is cancer-related fatigue. Cancer patients report that fatigue begins with diagnosis and worsens during the course of treatment. It can persist for months, years and after treatment is complete. 

Opting for exercises for cancer patients is not just to improve their physical but mental health as well. It’s always best suggested to start with something less strenuous and then graduate to more intensive exercises, as the time progresses. 

Here are a few exercises that you can try for fatigue: 

Breathing exercises 

Breathing exercises for cancer patients is beneficial to boost not just their physical but mental health as well. It might not seem like much but the breathing exercises do help in calming down the mind and inducing relaxation, which is important for patients. 

Make sure to stick to easy breathing exercises in the beginning and then find the ones that do suit you in time. Here are few you can try: 

Stretching Exercises 

Stretching exercises are particularly good for cancer patients who have lost mobility in certain parts of their body post treatment or surgery. Stretching exercises do help in improving flexibility and strength . 

There is a possibility for people to overdo the stretching exercises to a point that it ends up inflicting pain. Avoid doing that. The exercises for cancer patients during treatment or even after treatment are meant to boost their recovery process and not make it worse. 

Here are a few stretching exercises that you can try: 

Balance Exercises 

Cancer patients who do undergo chemotherapy are at an exposed risk of developing conditions associated with their lack of balance. This can be due to neuropathy (numbness in fingers and toes) or for those who have undergone a drastic change in their bone mass, where one fall can end up being the reason behind a fracture.

This is the primary reason why balance exercises are considered as a must. Here are few you can try: 

Strength Training 

These forms of exercises have been found to help tone the muscle and reduce muscle loss often associated and common with cancer. Given the fact that chemotherapy has impacts on bone density, it’s not surprising that indulging in strength training is important in restoring muscle gain and strength. 

The benefits of the exercise not just help in the process of recovery but have also been found to have a beneficial impact on both the physical as well as mental health of an individual. 

Some of the common benefits of exercise for cancer patients include: 

• Helps in boosting overall physical health by improving overall muscle and bone strength as well as getting rid of the weakness that builds over time.
• Exercise has been reported to have a profound impact in getting rid of fatigue as well as the constant tiredness that majority of the cancer patients tend to struggle with.
• Exercises for cancer patients after treatment has been found to help reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases.
• Exercise can restore the body post surgery, with any discomfort related to pain, postural deviations and post surgery rehabilitation.
• Last but not the least, exercise programs help cancer patients in mental and emotional well-being as well.

Tags: exercise, cancer, surgery, post surgery rehabilitation, strength training, muscle loss, stretching, balancing exercises, breathing exercises, fatigue, cardiovascular disease, weakness, muscle, bone density, body, mental and emotional well-being, breathing exercises, quality of life, mental health, flexibility, treatment