Arthritis Exercise is very commonly prescribed for arthritis, but that's about as far as it all too frequently goes. In other words, doctors give patients too little detail or instruction, with few illustrations, and no precise direction. Yet many of the most troublesome and disabling aspects of both rheumatoid arthritis and osteo-arthritis are due to lack of exercise. A joint that is immobilized initiates a series of changes that result in total destruction of the joint within about four months. This occurs even in the absence of disease – by immobilization alone. Adhesions begin to appear in