Arthritis prevention methods

There has never been a universal standard answer to the effective prevention of arthritis. The core lies in the four directions of "weight control, reduction of inappropriate wear and tear, strengthening of muscles around joints, and timely intervention of early signals." The specific plan must match your own innate joint conditions, age, and exercise habits. Single suggestions such as "climb less stairs, supplement more calcium, and wear long johns" posted on the Internet are useful for some people, but may be counterproductive to others.

Not long ago, when I was helping in the rehabilitation department, I met a 30-year-old fitness blogger. He climbed 20 floors on an empty stomach every day in order to gain body fat. After half a year, he was in so much pain that he could not squat down. An MRI showed that the patellofemoral joint cartilage was worn to the second degree. The doctor who treated him said that he was born with a congenitally displaced patella. Under normal circumstances, the patella is stuck in the joint groove and exerts force. His patella was already a little "deviated". The angle of knee joint flexion when climbing stairs would amplify this kind of wear. Others may not have any problems after climbing for half a year, but in his case, it was directly worn out. Speaking of which, academic circles have been arguing for almost ten years about whether climbing stairs and running can injure joints. One group in the sports medicine community believes that this type of weight-bearing aerobic exercise can exert benign stress on cartilage, which in turn can delay degeneration. ； The other group insists that the load on the knee joint when climbing stairs is three times that of walking on flat ground, which will increase the risk of wear and tear. In fact, both sides are right, but the premise is that you must first understand the basic conditions of your joints.

In fact, not only sports enthusiasts, but also the first pitfall for many middle-aged and elderly people is that they do not realize how much weight affects their joints. Aunt Zhang in the community weighs 150 pounds. After dancing with her sisters for three months, her knees were swollen like steamed buns. The first plan the doctor gave her was not to prescribe medicine or physical therapy, but to lose 10 pounds. The clinical data is here: for every 1 kilogram of weight that exceeds the normal range, the weight of the knee joint will increase by 3 kilograms when walking, and it will increase to 7 kilograms when running and jumping. To put it bluntly, if you carry an extra 10 kilograms of meat when you go out, it is equivalent to carrying a 30 kilograms of rice bag on your knees every day. Can you not wear it out? Aunt Zhang later controlled her diet and started walking slowly. She lost 12 pounds in two months and the frequency of pain dropped by 80%, which is more effective than any health supplement.

As for the "wear and tear" that everyone is most afraid of, it doesn't mean that you have to lie still every day. I know an uncle who has been running marathons for 15 years. He is 62 years old and had an MRI scan this year. His cartilage condition is better than that of many 40-year-old people. His tips are simple to say: only wear cushioning shoes, spend 10 minutes doing hip, knee and ankle activation before each run. His stride length will never exceed his height divided by 2, and he will do more strength training on his off days. On the contrary, many office workers who usually sit all day can twist their knees even if they go downstairs to buy groceries. They go to check for early degeneration - the nutrition of cartilage is supplied by the squeeze of joint fluid. If you don't move every day, the joint fluid cannot circulate, and the cartilage cannot get nutrition, and it will degenerate faster than those of people who exercise regularly and moderately. It doesn’t matter if you already have slight knee discomfort. You don’t have to force yourself to exercise. Non-weight-bearing exercises such as swimming and cycling can still achieve the exercise effect. There is no need to follow the trend of climbing stairs or running horses.

Many people blame poor cartilage for knee pain. In fact, it is most likely that the muscles in your thighs are "lazy". There used to be a 40-year-old programmer who had been sitting in an office for 10 years. The quadriceps muscles on the front of his thighs had atrophied. He always felt that his knees were weak when going up and down stairs, and he could not exert his strength. The plan I gave him was to do 15 minutes of silent squats every day, with his knees not exceeding his toes, his back against the wall, and the angle slowly rising from 30 degrees. He persisted for three months, and the pain symptoms were basically gone. During the review, his muscle mass also grew back. Of course, this method is not suitable for everyone. If you already have obvious joint effusion or it hurts when you squat, don't practice static squats hard. You can also train your quadriceps while lying down and doing straight leg raises. The effect is not much different and it won't put any burden on the joints.

Speaking of which, there is a widely circulated misunderstanding that exposing ankles in winter will cause arthritis. This is actually half true - cold itself will not directly damage cartilage and induce arthritis. However, if you already have slight cartilage wear, the blood vessels around the joints will shrink after catching cold, and inflammatory metabolites cannot be discharged, which will naturally cause more obvious pain. To put it bluntly, cold is an inducement, not a cause. Instead of worrying about whether to wear long johns or not, it is better to first check whether your weight is overweight and whether your thigh muscles are strong enough.

As for whether ammonia sugar can prevent arthritis, which many people ask, the academic community has not yet reached a unified conclusion: the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons’ 2023 guidelines do not recommend routine supplementation for asymptomatic people, believing that the benefits are unclear.； However, my country's "Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Osteoarthritis (2022 Edition)" clearly mentions that for early-stage people who already have mild joint pain and are unable to go up and down stairs, supplementing with pharmaceutical-grade glucosamine sulfate + chondroitin for more than 3 months can indeed slow down the rate of cartilage degeneration and relieve symptoms of discomfort, so you don't need to beat them to death as soon as you hear others say that glucosamine is an IQ tax. It depends on your own situation. If you have suffered from joint soreness and snapping for more than two consecutive weeks, don't hold on to it. Go to an orthopedic department to take a X-ray first. Early intervention can solve the problem by spending dozens of dollars and registering for a rehabilitation number, but it will be troublesome until you need surgery.

In fact, the elderly people with good joints that I have met do not have any unified health secrets. Some do Tai Chi every day, and some walk slowly for 5 kilometers every day. The core is not to put extra burden on the joints, but to provide enough positive stimulation. If you are really unsure about the condition of your joints, go to the rehabilitation department for a 10-minute evaluation, which is much more useful than watching 100 short health videos.