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Wondering how to avoid knee pain in old age? Well, it’s very much possible, provided you act today – when you still have time. The reason is that it’s your present that decides your future. So, taking the right steps before you grow older can offer considerable protection from knee pain later on.
If you think knee pain is a normal part of aging, you are mistaken. There are various factors that lead to painful knees in old age, the most prominent of them being osteoarthritis or age-related wear-and-tear of the knee joint.
The good news? If you take care of certain aspects, you can keep your knees pain-free and functional even in old age. In this blog, we are going to explore these measures for healthy knees.
How to Keep Knees Healthy in Old Age
As the saying goes – “prevention is better than cure”. There are several things you can do before knee pain strikes to keep it away.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
Have some extra kilos of body weight? Drop it before it damages your knees. It may come as a surprise, but every extra kilogram you carry puts an added four kilograms of stress and pressure on your knee joints.
Extra weight and strain raise the risk of cartilage damage (cartilage is the protective cushioning at the ends of bones). What happens when the knee cartilage gets damaged? It makes you vulnerable to pain, swelling, inflammation, movement issues, and eventually arthritis.
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Consume an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
What you eat influences how you feel. Eating an anti-inflammatory diet is a good way to keep your knees safe from inflammation. Inflammation is something that can worsen osteoarthritis.
So, what to eat and what to avoid? Give preference to plant-based food items. Include abundant fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains in your diet.
Stay away from processed food items, refined sugar, refined carbohydrates, and excessive intake of dairy products.
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Stay Active Without Overdoing it
Human joints are designed to move. If you use them regularly, you can keep your joints strong and flexible, while also promoting lubrication – for good knee health.
So, which activities should you engage in and which ones should you avoid? Go for low-impact exercises like walking, cycling, swimming, yoga, and stretching. Such exercises help maintain flexibility and strength without putting excessive pressure on the knees.
Steer clear of high-impact activities like running, jumping, heavy weight lifting, etc., that involve repetitive and pounding force on your knees.
Choose exercises that promote knee health. It will also boost your overall well-being.
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Strengthen Muscles in Your Legs
Perform exercises that help strengthen your leg muscles, particularly those muscles that are related directly to knee mobility. For example, your quadriceps and hamstring muscles. It will enhance knee stability and mobility and reduce the risk of injuries. However, take care not to put repetitive stress on your knees.
We advise you to start slow and gradually increase the level of your exercises. The aim should be to improve knee health while avoiding pain and damage.
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Warm up Before You Begin
The importance of proper warming up before any physical activity cannot be overemphasised. It helps improve elasticity in muscles and lubricates the joints – to rule out the risk of injury. Even if you are going to perform light physical activities, it is ideal to warm up.
Do some stretching or take a short walk to warm up your muscles and prepare your joints for more activity. The activity may be participating in a sport or as simple as gardening. If you do some stretching and light cardio in the morning, it gives a good start to healthy movement for the entire day.
Similarly, cooling down after exercise is crucial as it helps your body transition smoothly from a high-intensity state back to a resting state. This again promotes recovery and prevents injuries.
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Practise Good Posture
When it comes to posture, most people tend to imagine back or neck-related issues. But if you do not maintain a good posture, it can also adversely affect your knees.
And why does that happen? A poor posture puts extra pressure on your knee joints. This raises the risk of injury by disturbing your stability and balance. So, when you walk or even stand, make sure your posture is right to allow even distribution of weight on the knees. This habit would enable your knees to function without strain, thereby reducing the chances of pain in the future.
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Get Proper Footwear
Do you select your footwear just to make a fashion statement? If yes, you need to understand that shoes are not meant just to enhance your looks. The right shoes give support to your knees by absorbing shock. This promotes stability in your knee joints and offers protection when you walk or do any other activity.
Footwear that lacks support for your foot arch, padding, or is high-heeled, can seriously impact your knees, more so if you wear them on a regular basis. Ensure that your shoes fit well. And about stylish footwear? Wear them at special occasions only!
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Do Not Overlook Symptoms
Finally, a much-ignored measure to take care of your knees and keep them healthy in the present and for the future is to consult a trusted orthopaedic doctor as soon as you notice even one sign of a knee problem. It could be pain or stiffness, difficulty climbing stairs, or popping sounds.
The key here is not to wait for the situation to aggravate to a point when you have to seek surgical intervention. If you choose early diagnosis, your knees may continue to function well with non-surgical treatments like:
- Physiotherapy
- Injections
- Stem cell therapy
- Other orthobiologic approaches
Visit Sohana Hospital, Mohali, if you notice any signs of a knee problem. Here, you get guidance from Dr. Gagandeep Singh Sachdeva (CEO and Chief Robotic Joint Replacement Surgeon, Sohana Hospital), the best knee doctor in Mohali. With the right care at the early stage, you can save your natural knees. They may remain healthy and pain-free for years to come.
At Sohana Hospital, you get patient-centric care and state-of-the-art knee-saving treatment options tailored to your unique requirements. We aim at not just restoring mobility but also preserving your natural knees.
Take the right steps today to have healthy knees tomorrow. To find the best solution to your knee issues, get in touch with renowned knee specialist Dr. Gagandeep Singh Sachdeva today!