Tips to Keep Joints Healthy- Part 1, Physiotherapy, RMT Kitchener, Waterloo
January 21st, 2015 - Posted in Uncategorized
Tips to Keep Joints Healthy- Part 1
Move to Help Prevent Joint Pain
Keep joints healthy by keeping them moving. The more you move, the less stiffness you’ll have. Whether you’re reading, working, or watching TV, change positions often. Take breaks from your desk or chair and move around.
Joint Pain and Arthritis
With overuse or injury, cartilage on the end of the joints can break down, causing a narrowing of the joint space and bones to rub together. Painful bony growths, or spurs, may form. This can lead to swelling, stiffness, and possibly osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis. Another type of arthritis is rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease characterized by extreme inflammation.
Protect Your Body and Joints
Injury can damage joints. So protecting them your whole life is important. Wear protective gear like elbow and knee pads when taking part in high-risk activities like skating. If your joints are already aching, consider wearing braces when playing tennis or golf.
Healthy Weight for Healthy Joints
Joints hurting? Lose just a few pounds and you’ll take some strain off your hips, knees, and back. Extra pounds add to the load placed on these joints, increasing the risk of cartilage breakdown. Even a little weight loss can help. Every pound you lose takes four pounds of pressure off the knees.
Don’t Stretch Before Exercise
Many arthritis experts believe that stretching is the most important type of exercise. Try to stretch daily but at least three times a week. However, it’s important that you don’t stretch cold muscles. Do a light warm up before stretching to loosen up the joints, ligaments, and tendons around them.
Low-Impact Exercise for Joints
What exercise is good? To protect your joints, the best choices are low-impact options like walking, bicycling, and swimming. That’s because high-impact, pounding, and jarring exercise can increase the risk of joint injuries and may slowly cause cartilage damage. Light weight-lifting exercises should also be included. But if you already have arthritis, first speak with your doctor.
Strengthen Muscles Around Joints
Stronger muscles around joints mean less stress on those joints. Research shows that having weak thigh muscles increases the risk of knee osteoarthritis, for example. Even small increases in muscle strength can reduce that risk. Avoid rapid and repetitive motions of affected joints.
Be well.