How Not to Get Knee Arthritis

The predominant culprits in Knee OA are:

1- Injury; usually related to sports. ACL damage or tear at some point in your life.

2- Trauma; if you were in an accident or took direct hits to the knee.

3- Abusive treatment of knees and joints, contortions, high jumping and landing poorly on hard surfaces.

4- Obesity; this one, for the most part, is almost entirely avoidable.

5- Inactivity leading to immobility; this too is completely preventable.

Injury, Trauma, and Abusive treatment of knees.

In each of the above, a knee may eventually fall victim to arthritis, even after apparently healing completely. The components of the knee that are more frequently affected by such triggers are the ligaments that hold the joint together, the shock absorbing and insulating pads known as the meniscii; there are two of them, and the cartilage that covers the end surface of the femur or thigh bone. Sports injuries tend to be related to cruciates, such as the Anterior and Posterior Cruciate Ligaments, and collateral ligaments. Trauma additionally includes fractures, bone shattering and meniscus damages to the list. After an injury, sometimes people will try to stand and walk differently to protect the injured joint. Healing with such compensatory adjustments may permanently change articular surfaces in the knee joint.

While, accident trauma, and sports injury are not exactly the kind of outcomes one plans for with any great degree of desire and has little control over subsequent damage; obesity and in-activity are very much within the realm of our 'by choice' indulgences.

Obesity

To appreciate why this is a serious problem for the onset of arthritis we should understand that obesity rates are 54% higher among adults suffering with arthritis compared to those who do not have this condition. These findings reinforce the classic definition of a vicious circle. Arthritic pain discourages people to exercise. Lack of physical activity results in excess weight worsening the condition. It is no wonder that overweight adults are up to five times more at risk for developing knee arthritis than those who enjoy normal weight.

Obesity should be of major concern to us as individuals, as it is for people responsible for the delivery of healthcare. The percentage of people expected to be obese by 2030 is around 50% of the population, according to a study presented at the CDC and published in the June 2012 edition of American Journal of Preventive Medicine. A concomitantly worrisome statistic is the projection by the CDC for an estimated 67 million adults that will have doctor diagnosed arthritis by 2030. And while two thirds of the affected population is expected to be females; worse yet, arthritis projections do not include the contribution due to the obesity epidemic. In other words, both the magnitude and the impact of these two diseases may not be fully realizable by us.

For people who like to see statistics, data, trends, and projections can serve to be revealing and educational if we want them to be, but for the case in point, actually quite scary. Even so, if we cannot be scared into losing weight how is this for motivation; the Food and Drug Administration advises us that for normal height women just a reduction of 11 pounds can cut the risk of osteoarthritis by 50%.

Source: CDC-Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta. GA.

In-activity leading to immobility

How important is physical activity? It means everything if it can help maintain 'mobility'. To explore this in detail researchers at the Finnish Centre for Interdisciplinary Gerontology at the University of Jyv瓣skyl瓣 looked into the question; "Could mobility impairment be a reliable predictor of loss of independence and increase in mortality?"

Some of what they found was predictable and expected, but not all. They compared people between the ages of 65 to 84 who were 'mobile and active' with populations that were; 'mobile and not active', 'sedentary but active', and 'sedentary but not active'. As can be expected the 'sedentary but not active' group fared worse, followed by the 'sedentary but active' population. The surprise came from finding virtually no difference between the two mobile groups.

Quite obviously we must never allow our ability to walk, and move about to become compromised. This can happen only when we ensure our legs and lower joints are strong and flexible to allow maximum range of motion (ROM). And the time to worry about mobility is not when we are old; it is when we can actually do something about it before we reach old age.

Almost all forms of physical activity can be helpful in maintaining mobility, but some more than others, when it comes to OA. There is a difference, however; aerobics and cardiovascular exercises are great for the heart, and lungs and overall health but for osteoarthritis, ideal regimens tend to be slower, more deliberate and focused movements of limbs. These are offered by Tai Chi, weight training, and Flenches.

The advantage with flenches is they are more focused, easy to follow and can be done almost anywhere; even while standing in a line waiting for service. They can be done sitting at a desk, belted in an airplane seat, and as well when lying down in bed at home.

Flenches are described in detail in the Knee Deep in Pain book.