Arthritis prevention brochure

Ordinary people without underlying joint diseases, insist on daily Control your weight within the normal range of BMI 18.5-23.9, avoid repeated excessive wear and tear on joints, and do lower limb strength training 2-3 times a week. These three things can reduce the risk of osteoarthritis by more than 60%. This is the most efficient prevention method jointly confirmed by the 2023 version of the "China Osteoarthritis Prevention and Treatment Guidelines" and the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons Guidelines. It is more effective than taking any health supplements.

Don’t think that arthritis is a disease of the elderly. Many young people are affected by it now. I just received a 26-year-old boy from the outpatient clinic last week. In order to lose weight, he attends impulse cycling classes in the gym every day. He rides with the instructor for 45 minutes each time while standing. When he came, he was grinning from pain in his knees going up and down the stairs. The MRI showed early cartilage wear, which is chondromalacia of the patella. In another two years, it will progress to early-onset osteoarthritis. There is also a 28-year-old girl who dances with Pamela every day. 20 minutes of the half-hour exercise is squatting and jumping. After half a year, she has to squat on the toilet with difficulty. This kind of thing is not lazy, but a problem caused by the "temper" of not understanding the joints.

There are actually several types of arthritis that we often talk about. The most common ones are osteoarthritis caused by aging and wear and tear, rheumatoid arthritis caused by autoimmune problems, and gouty arthritis caused by high crystal deposition of uric acid. The focus of prevention is also different, so don’t generalize.

Many people ask me, "Should I save my joints?" ”In fact, there are actually two different views in the orthopedic community: one group believes that the wear and tear of articular cartilage is irreversible, and you can save money by climbing less stairs and mountains. ； Doctors from the other school of sports medicine believe that moderate weight-bearing exercise can deliver nutrients to cartilage, which makes the joints healthier than those of people who do not move at all. To be honest, both statements are correct. The core is a question of "degree" - if you usually sit in the office every day and don't even go downstairs, and suddenly you have a brainwave and climb a 10-kilometer wild mountain on the weekend, it must be a joint problem. ； But if you walk three to four kilometers regularly every week, the muscles of your lower limbs will be strong enough and the joints will be very stable and will not wear out at all.

Before, a 42-year-old brother came to see a doctor, weighing 180 pounds. He heard that walking can help him lose weight, so he managed to walk 15,000 steps a day. After walking for three months, his knees swelled like a steamed bun. The examination found that a small piece of cartilage had been worn away. Later, I first lost 20 kilograms, and practiced static squats and straight leg raises with a rehabilitation practitioner for two months. Now I can walk 8,000 steps a day without any problems. The pressure of weight on the knees is much greater than you think - if you weigh more than 10 kilograms, your knees will have to carry an extra 30 kilograms of weight when walking on a flat road, and an extra 70 kilograms when climbing stairs. After all, obese people are really equivalent to walking with half a bag of rice every day. Can their joints not hurt?

There is another question that everyone has been arguing about for many years: Will catching cold cause arthritis? Nowadays, many popular science says that catching cold will not directly cause arthritis. It is true that normal joints will not directly become inflamed when they are frozen. However, if you already have cartilage wear and tear, or have a susceptibility gene for rheumatoid arthritis, catching cold will induce local inflammatory factors to become active, causing direct pain to the point where you cannot walk. Not long ago, I met a young girl born in the 2000s. She wore knee-high pants for half a month in the winter, and her knees hurt so much that she couldn't walk. She came to see a doctor. Originally, it was just a slight wear and tear in the early stage. After being frozen, she directly induced synovitis. The swelling took almost half a month to disappear. There is really no need to carry it hard just to look good. Just wear long johns and knee pads when you should. It is better to be warm than to be in pain.

Oh, yes, there are still many people who are deceived by health care product advertisements, saying that taking aminoglycosides and calcium supplements can prevent arthritis, so don’t waste your money. Glucosamine is used for patients who have already experienced cartilage wear and tear. Healthy people basically do not absorb it after taking it. Calcium supplementation is to prevent osteoporosis and has nothing to do with arthritis. If you really want to supplement your joints with nutrients, it is better to eat more protein-rich foods and build stronger muscles. It will work better than any supplement.

There are also some small details that you usually notice, which can save you a lot of trouble: don’t dance for two or three hours at a time, especially the kind of movements that repeatedly bend your knees and turn around. Take a break after dancing for 40 minutes.； Wearing high-heeled shoes that are over 5cm tall will place the load on the knee joint three times as much as usual. It’s okay to wear them once in a while, but don’t wear them every day. ； When running, buy a pair of running shoes with good cushioning. Don’t wear canvas shoes just to run 5 kilometers. That’s not exercise, it’s looking for trouble.

In fact, the joints are just like the old bicycles at home. If you take good care of them, don't overdo it, and pedal twice regularly to move around, your joints will run smoothly until you are seventy or eighty years old. If you really wait until the pain is so bad that you can't walk before you treat it, it will cost money and suffer.