According to an analysis of Medicare data published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, knee replacement surgery has increased by 162% in the last twenty years. This wellness statistic is related to the rising levels of obesity in the West, as well as more active people who are unwilling to let their wellbeing suffer from the pain and disability of osteoarthritis.
If your condition has become disabling, joint replacement surgery can be a good option for you but you can prevent things from going that far in the first place, or at least delay proceedings for a little while. According to evidence-based approaches from Consumer Reports, you can protect your joints and minimise any painful arthritis symptoms with a healthy weight. Even reducing your weight by 5% can reduce your later risk of arthritis, as being overweight increases the stress on your joints and could speed up the process of cartilage breakdown. This is vital for your joints that bear weight, but research suggests that obesity even increases the risk of developing arthritis in joints that don’t bear weight.
Also, you might think that you shouldn’t be overly active, as osteoarthritis can arise from the overuse of joints or sports injuries, but the opposite may in fact be true. Though it is suggested by limited evidence, routine physical activity has been linked to healthier cartilage in your knees, and you have a higher likelihood of ending up disabled from arthritis if you’re inactive.
If you do incur injuries, make sure they are treated promptly or else even a small tear in the knee cartilage or a shoulder tendon can being the wear-and-tear process that eventually ends up in deteriorating joints. If a minor pain doesn’t clear up in a week, or you have an injury that causes severe pain or swelling, you should consult your doctor. You can also consider taking preventative measures to reduce your risk of injury in the first place, such as not wearing running shoes, which are designed to keep your weight from shifting sideways, to play tennis.
Finally, consider non-drug options to alleviate pain, swelling and stiffness. People have has success with acupuncture, heat and cold, massage, and mechanical aids such as a cane, crutch or walker. Also, basic pain relievers often work better and are cheaper than newer, heavily advertised name-brand drugs so if you do turn to drugs for pain relief, find one that is tried and tested.
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