Ten points to note when improving joint diseases

In daily life, when we squat or stretch, we will feel discomfort in the joints. This is actually the damage to our body's joints and the resulting joint diseases. In the past, middle-aged and elderly people were a high-risk group for joint diseases. However, with increasing work pressure and lack of exercise, joint diseases have a tendency to gradually become younger. Improving joint diseases should start with paying attention to every detail in life.

1

Choosing the right shoes

Try to avoid walking long distances in high heels, as high heels will change the force line of the lower limbs. In daily activities, the elderly should choose thick-soled, elastic, soft-soled shoes to reduce the impact force on the knee joint and avoid impact and wear of the knee cartilage.

2

Be cautious when doing outdoor activities

Before participating in outdoor sports (such as dancing yangge, practicing Tai Chi, etc.), you should do warm-up exercises, gently stretch the knee joints, increase the flexibility and agility of the lower limbs, and allow the knee joints to move before participating in sports. When practicing leg stretching, do not lift your legs too high suddenly to prevent excessive stretching of the knee ligaments and muscle tissue; when practicing Tai Chi, the range of motion should not be too large and the squatting position should not be too low to prevent excessive burden on the knee joint and injury.

3

Wear knee pads if necessary

When the temperature drops, the knee joints become cold, the blood vessels contract, and the blood circulation deteriorates, often causing joint stiffness and increased pain. Therefore, you should pay attention to keeping warm in cold weather, and wear knee pads if necessary to prevent the knee joints from getting cold.

4

Maintain good posture

Pay attention to your body posture when walking. Don't twist your waist while working, don't walk with your legs apart, and avoid squatting for long periods of time. It is best to sit on a small stool for daily squatting actions (such as washing clothes, picking vegetables, and mopping the floor). Avoid maintaining one posture for too long and change postures frequently. For example, after standing for a period of time, you can stretch your legs and do horse stance to develop good habits of protecting your joints in daily life.

5

Benefits of Cycling

Biking is a good way to exercise the knee joint without weight bearing. However, when riding a bike, you should adjust the height of the seat so that you can sit on the seat with your feet on the pedals and your legs straight or slightly bent. If the seat is too high or too low, or you pedal hard uphill, it will have an adverse effect on the knee joints and should be avoided.

6

Avoid prolonged weight bearing

Patients with knee osteoarthritis should try to avoid going up and down stairs, hiking, mountain climbing, standing for long periods of time, holding children, and lifting heavy objects in their daily lives to avoid excessive load on the knee joints and aggravating the condition.

7

Early prevention

For patients in the early and middle stages of knee osteoarthritis, it is necessary to avoid excessive fatigue of the knee joint and to perform appropriate functional exercises to increase the stability of the knee joint. Exercising your leg muscles can not only relieve joint pain but also prevent the disease from progressing. Don't think that rest and inactivity are the only way to protect your diseased knee joint. According to research, swimming and walking are the best exercises for patients with knee osteoarthritis. They do not increase the load on the knee joint and can exercise the muscles and ligaments around the knee joint. Secondly, lying on your back and raising your legs, and riding a bicycle in the air are both good exercises for patients.

8

Active treatment

In terms of treatment, once pain occurs in the knee joint, active treatment should be sought, with simple treatments such as hot compresses and physical therapy. If conservative treatment is ineffective and affects walking and daily life, you should go to a large hospital to clean the knee joint with arthroscopic technology. Patients with severe osteoarthritis who do not respond well to arthroscopic treatment can choose joint replacement surgery to restore joint function and maintain a good quality of life.

9

Maintaining your weight

Maintain a proper weight to prevent obesity and increase the burden on the lower limb joints. Once you are overweight, you should actively lose weight, pay attention to adjusting your diet, and control your weight.

10

Eat a healthy diet

In terms of diet, you should eat more foods containing protein, calcium, collagen, and isoflavones, such as milk and dairy products, beans and bean products, fish, shrimp, kelp, black fungus, chicken feet, pig's trotters, lamb legs, tendons, etc. These can not only supplement protein and calcium to prevent osteoporosis, but also nourish cartilage and joint fluid, and supplement estrogen, so that the bones and joints can better metabolize calcium and relieve the symptoms of arthritis.