JUST BECAUSE YOUR knee hurts and you are over 65 doesn’t mean you have arthritis. Just because you are 40 and don’t hurt doesn’t mean you don’t have arthritis. Most people don’t know whether or not they have arthritis unless they are X-rayed. And many who are X-rayed for some other problem other than pain only find out they have arthritis when they are X-rayed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines arthritis as painful joint swelling. It can affect one or more joints of the body. It also affects not just older people but children as well.
Here are some statistics. My comments are in red.
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32.5 million American adults have osteoarthritis. It’s the most common type of arthritis. But many more have arthritis but don’t hurt so they are not interviewed or examined.
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50.4% of people over the age of 65 have arthritis. And not all of them have pain.
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32% of obese and 22.2% of overweight Americans have some form of arthritis. With good support and persistence you can do something about this.
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Arthritis costs the US $303.5 billion yearly. The cost includes days lost from work.
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Daily 20-minute and one-hour weekly exercises reduce rheumatoid arthritis risk by 35%. But if you have pain you are not anxious to exercise.
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Losing 10 pounds of body weight slows down knee osteoarthritis progression by 50%. Hard to do if you have pain and can’t exercise even when you eat healthy.
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By 2040, arthritis will have affected about 78.4 million or 25.9% of American adults. Will you be part of this statistic or will you do something to prevent being a part of it?
Factors that increase osteoarthritis risk include:
- Joint damage (injury, overuse, or repetitive stress on the joints)
- Weight
- Age
- Genes
- Gender
- Race
Although we can’t do anything about our genes, gender, race or age, it is up to us to do something about our weight and joint damage prevention.
Joint Damage Prevention
WARM UP FIRST!!!! STRETCH ALL MUSCLE GROUPS AFTER YOU ARE WARM AND HAVE DONE YOUR WORK OUT!!!!
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Don’t run on the road. It is unforgiving. Run on the trail, the track, the golf course or the beach. You would not run a good racehorse on the road. It ruins their legs. Are your legs any less important?
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Don’t lift enormous amounts of weight at the gym just because the person next to you can. You are not going for the gold. You just want to look better and feel better. -
Don’t do too many reps of any one kind of exercise. Change to a different set of muscles often. Give the muscle group a chance to recover. You can always go back and repeat.
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Don’t join an aerobics class until you have tried out one class. Millions of people, mostly women, have ruined their knees, hips and feet from jumping up and down endlessly on cement under tile and rugs. Shoes don’t protect you. Even expensive ones.
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Don’t try to do it all in a weekend. It took you longer than weekend to drop to where you are. Use your common sense.
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Don’t be bullied into doing more than your body tells you. You know your body better than anyone else. You are with it 24/7. Listen to it. It will tell you more than your trainer.
If you have an occupation, sport or hobby that requires overuse or repetitive movements you will need to treat the muscles by erasing the trigger points and performing corrective exercises to reeducate the now relaxed muscles and keep them from becoming tight and painful again. Check out Pain Erasure the Bonnie Prudden Way, Myotherapy Bonnie Prudden’s Complete Guide to Pain Free Living, and the additional options below for a fit, pain-free and happy New Year.
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If you have questions or need help, email me at enid@bonnieprudden.com.
For more information about Bonnie Prudden®, Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy®, workshops, books, self-help tools, DVDs, educational videos, and blogs, visit www.bonnieprudden.com. Or call 520-299-8064 if you have questions or need help. Enid Whittaker, Managing Director, Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy®