Exercise and Arthritis
Monday, November 3rd, 2008Your bones hang out in a lot of joints. Knee joints. Hip joints. The joints in your fingers and the joints in your toes.
Wherever bones meet, there is also cartilage, a rubbery, protective layer that ensures your joints bend smoothly and painlessly. But even cartilage can’t do this fantastic job alone. A thin membrane called the "synovium" provides fluid that lubricates the moving parts of the joint. When the cartilage wears out of the synovium becomes inflamed, the result is generally a case of "osteoarthritis" or "rheumatoid arthritis."
In osteoarthritis, the cartilage can be eroded so much that bone does rub on bone. Thos type of arthritis develops gradually over a lifetime as a easy result of the wear and tear put on your joints over the years. Very few people escape some degree of osteoarthritis, though the severity varies a great deal.
As a matter of fact, if you are over the age of 50, you are in all probability to have at least 1 joint affected by osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis affects men and women equally and is by far the most basic type of arthritis, with nearly 16 million Americans in the list.
In rheumatoid arthritis, damage to the synovium is at the source of trouble. Physicians and researchers are not totally sure what causes it, but most think that rheumatoid arthritis is a disease in which the immune system in reality attacks certain tissues in the body, including those that connect the joints and the synovium.
Rheumatoid arthritis begins with swollen, red, stiff, and painful joints, but it might progress until scar tissue forms in the joint or, in extreme cases, until the bones in reality fuse together. Nearly 75% of the two million people with rheumatoid arthritis in the United Says are women. The disease can hit as early as teen years.
Exercising Your Prevention Options
Investing a tiny time in developing a good weight-bearing low-impact exercise and stretching plan can add up to great results when it comes to staving off arthritis pain. Strong muscles help protect the joints from wear and tear, and the movement keeps joints flexible.
That is why the quest for fitness is at hand, even if you are 50 yrs and over. However, most Americans over 50 are still right where they always were sitting back and watching others jog by. Most of them contend that that is merely for people who have been athletic all their life, or some state exercise is for young people and engaging into exercise will do them more harm than good.
There are still some that insist on excusing their selves in exercise routines because they do not merely have time or they have less energy than ever before. These are all lame excuses. Hence, it is time to begin to get rid of those pains. Begin exercising.
Consequently, preventing arthritis is not an exact science, but doctors have discovered a few ways to lower your risk. Here is how:
1. Do not weight around
The single most key measure anyone can take to prevent osteoarthritis of the knee is to lose weight if they are overweight. Extra weight puts additional stress on your knees. If you are ten pounds overweight, for example, you put 60 pounds per square inch of additional pressure on your knees all time you take a step. That additional pressure can slow but surely erode the cartilage in your knees, leading to arthritis.
A study has clearly supported the theory that weight loss weighs in on the side of prevention. In the study, overweight women who lost eleven pounds or more over a 10-year period decreased their risk of developing osteoarthritis of the knee by 50%.
2. Stretch those muscles
Any kind of stretching is good as long as you do not bounce, which can lead to a muscle pull. This is according to some of the professors of clinical medicine in New York City.
Try to hold a slow, stable stretch for fifteen to 20 seconds, then rest and repeat. It is ideal to flex up by stretching before any exercise, especially running and walking. But it is also a good idea to stretch all day. Ask your physician to instruct you stretches that concentrate on prospective arthritis trouble spots, such as the knees or the lower back.
3. Walking is always the ideal exercise
Take a good long walk at least 3 times a week or participate in a step-aerobics or low-impact exercise routine maximum results. There is no proof that running is bad for the joints, but remember, it might aggravate an injury if you already have one. Just recollect to check with your physician before starting a untried exercise program.
The bottom line is that of all the healthful habits, exercise is the most important. This is because people are designed to be active. Hence, it is really key for people to exercise in order to stay healthy and keep those joints free from wear and tear.
Just keep in mind that the unexercised body, even if free from the symptoms of illness or problems like arthritis, is not at its full potential. Hence, begin exercising right now!
