Have you been noticing pain, mild swelling or inflammation in your knee or hand lately? If yes, it might be a condition that affects joints over time. It is called Osteoarthritis and OA in short. But don’t worry. If you are young, it could be something else. See a doctor for specific medical advice.
This post deals with Osteoarthritis. Besides, get to know how you can keep your joints as agile as possible with certain lifestyle factors to avoid.
What is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is a joint problem. It occurs in joints as you get older. Daily activities put strain on joint cartilage and as a consequence, it breaks down over time. It is a common issue among people transitioning into old age. But the condition can also prevail at an early age.
What is Cartilage?
Cartilage is a protective tissue. It is found in between joint bones. This soft, flexible, and hard substance cushions the joint bones, enabling you to make smooth, easy, and frictionless joint movements.
Consider a knee. It is a place where your thigh and leg bones meet and create a junction. At this junction, a soft but resilient substance is found. This is cartilage. It allows you to bend and extend your joints without any resistance or bone rubbing.
Without the protection of cartilage, joint bones cannot work as they do.
Is Osteoarthritis Preventable?
No. OA is a disorder that sets in because of natural wear and tear of joint cartilage. As you get older, your body parts start deteriorating and finally, you enter into an old age.
Osteoarthritis is more of a natural deterioration of the protective tissue of a joint. It means eventually you cannot do much to prevent it. Still, a little precaution in advance will always help in keeping the condition at bay as long as naturally possible.
Still, You Can Minimise Its Chances to Happen Early!
As mentioned above, it is not preventive being a degenerative joint disease. You cannot get rid of OA completely as it happens because of using your joints daily while walking, running, weight-lifting, etc. Still, maintaining a healthy lifestyle recommended by experts can help put off the occurrence of OA until a satisfactorily long time.
OA can hit you early if you don’t pay attention to bad lifestyle factors. Hence, to keep your joints as agile as possible consider the following.
Too Much Exercise
Workouts are essential for a healthy body. But don’t overdo it. Keep it only up to a healthy level. If, after doing exercise, you feel sore, you have overdone it. It will overstrain your joints and weaken the thickness of the cartilage in question.
Overstraining Joints
Using your joints too much is another factor that might put you at risk of getting OA at an early age. Avoid carrying heavy things on your lap while travelling. Plus, don’t hold large and massive bags or parcels by hand. Straining knee and hand joints for long is always risky.
In case you are already having any knee problems, don’t ignore them. It might get worse. Immediately see a doctor and if it has reached the point of requiring surgical intervention, find a top knee replacement surgeon in India.
Uncomfortable Postures
Sometimes, this can also interfere with joint health. Commuting in crowded public vehicles standing uneasily for hours or sleeping over your hands all night are examples of such uncomfortable situations.
Bad Eating Habits
Don’t eat throughout the day. It will cause you to gain weight above the required level. Being overweight pressurises your body from the waist down straining your knee joints even while standing. Thus, keep your eating habits in check. Otherwise, obesity will usher you into an early case of OA.
High Blood Sugar
If you are a diabetes patient, then you should be careful. Make sure your blood sugar level doesn’t go up the normal limit. Having high levels of sugar in the blood often messes with your joints. It can cause symptoms like inflammation, pain, and tenderness causing Osteoarthritis to set in earlier than usual.
Extremely Inactive Lifestyle
Lying idle throughout the day is also a bad policy. Although it might not apply to everyone, try to be as active as possible. If you are stuck with a desk job, try to take little breaks here and there. Set aside some time to have little walks while working. Choose stairs over the escalator while commuting.
Risky Outdoor Activities
If you have recently planned to go for an outdoor sport, don’t forget the protective gear. Sports like biking, rafting or mountain hiking might turn out to be a bad experience.
Key Takeaways
Having Osteoarthritis in old age is quite common. It should not worry you. If you are already struggling with this condition, get the best osteoarthritis treatment in Delhi or wherever you live. You can go for medication, special exercise, supportive devices, therapies and everything available to treat OA.
But if you don’t have this condition, ensure that you follow the precautionary advice. Make all the changes discussed above to your lifestyle. It will keep the problem of Osteoarthritis away as much as possible.
