Daily we exert an enormous amount of mechanical stress on two very important joints, our knees.  However, certain daily habits could be shortening the life of your knees, which then may lead to chronic pain, disability and debilitating knee conditions, like osteoarthritis.

In order to keep ones knees healthy, we need to cognizance of the following:

Body Mass Index (BMI)

For every extra kg you put on, you add 3 kg of pressure on  the knee joints when you walk and 10 kg when you run.  Obesity is one of the biggest risk factors for developing osteoarthritis, as it enhances the breakdown of the cartilage.  Losing weight and maintaining a healthy BMI is one of the best ways to protect your knees, and reduce the risk of developing serious knee problems.

Daily exercise

Regular daily physical activity, especially those types of exercise with low risk of knee injury (walking, biking, yoga, swimming and weight lifting), is vital to maintain knee strength.  Knee injuries can double the risk of developing osteoarthritis.  Some exercise  daily is more important than the occasional strenuous session.  Exercising strengthens your muscles, which then together with your tendons and ligaments, gives the knee joints good support and prevents misalignment of your joints.

Straining of muscles and joints

If you experience pain or discomfort from repetitive overuse of a joint during or after exercise, stop that activity and reduce the strain, but do not stop being active.  It is important to always stretch and warm up before doing any activity, and again to stretch and allow cooling off after any form of physical activity.

Posture and alignment of body

Poor posture puts more strain on your joints, ligaments and muscles.  Adopt healthy standing and sitting postures; or ask for help and advice from a biokineticist.

 Footwear (shoes)

Impractical or uncomfortable shoes stress your knees through uneven distribution of your body weight.  Frequent use of high heel shoes are thought to add to future risk of knee problems.  Here too advice and help from a podiatrist can be of great value.

Arthritis of the knee, although common, as people age, is not inevitable if we look after the health of our two valuable knees!

HEALTH INSIGHT
MARCH 2017

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