Maintaining Joint Health as You Age

Our joints are functional junctions that connect our bones and allow them to move. Our joints are made up of bone, muscles, synovial fluid, cartilage, and ligaments. These structures work together to bear weight and move the body. The cartilage between the bones that meet at the joint provides a cushion that allows the bones to glide over each other and move easily.

Over time, wear and tear on your joints is inevitable. As you age, the cartilage in your joints wears away and thins. As we lose the cartilage that cushions the bones, the nerves in the bones signal pain and increased stress on weight-bearing and motion occurs at the joint.

The knee is particularly susceptible to age-related decline as your knee absorbs significant pressure with each step (1.5 times your body weight). This pressure, along with regular wear and tear, takes a toll; it weakens the muscles and ligaments of the knee and begins to deteriorate the cartilage pads. If the cartilage is worn away significantly, the bones will rub against each other and create pain, stiffness, and swelling.

The hip joint also handles a significant share of wear, tear, and repeated motion. The hip joint is the body’s largest ball-and-socket joint in which cartilage cushions the hip bone as it moves in the socket, allowing for fluid movement. With age and use, the cartilage in the hip joint can wear down and tendons and muscles become overused. 

Healthy joints allow you to stay mobile as you age. In order to maintain healthy joints throughout your life, follow these six tips!

6 Tips to Maintain Joint Health

1.     Stay physically active and strengthen the muscles around your joints. Increasing your muscle strength stabilizes the joint and helps the muscles absorb the stress being placed on the joint, particularly weight-bearing joints like the knee. Cross train to avoid overuse on particular joints, alternating a running day with a swimming or cycling day. For the knee, focus on strengthening the quadriceps and hamstrings in the thighs as well as the hip and core muscles to maximize knee function.

• When exercising, always warm up and cool down to stretch your muscles and warm up your joints. Without warming up, your joints are at a greater risk of strain and overloading.

• Exercises that can help strengthen the knee are squats, knee extension stretch, and cardiovascular exercise like walking or biking. You can also engage in weight training to increase joint stability. Moderate exercise keeps the hip healthy, building flexible strong muscles to take pressure off the joint.

2.     Lighten the load on your knee. Maintaining a healthy body weight through regular exercise and balanced eating takes pressure off of your joints. Extra body weight places stress on weight-bearing joints, particularly the knee. Each additional pound translates to another four pounds of pressure on the joint. By returning to a healthy weight, stiffness, pain, and function issues in the knee can be decreased. Being underweight leads to a lack of muscle to keep joints strong and stable.

3.     Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. Eat a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Eat foods rich omega-3 fats, antioxidants, and Vitamins E & D as the anti-inflammatory properties of these foods lower the risk of bone and joint cell damage: salmon, avocado, nuts, sunflower seeds, flax, walnuts, and blueberries.

4.     Hydrate. Drink water instead of energy or pop. Water makes up 80% of your body’s cartilage. If you are not well-hydrated, your body will pull water from cartilage and other areas which can wreak havoc on your joints. Increase hydration during hot weather and exercising.

5.     Choose the right shoes. Wear supportive, comfortable shoes with arch support and padding that promote proper alignment of the joints in your lower extremity as you move.

6.     Maintain correct posture. Proper posture prevents added stress on your joints and reduces the risk of injury to the muscles surrounding your joints. Be particularly mindful of correct posture when performing repetitive motions, sitting, standing, or when lifting heavy objects. Stand tall with your head in line with your shoulders, shoulders directly over hips, hips aligned with the knees, and knees aligned with the feet.

A physical therapist can help you develop an exercise conditioning regimen to safely engage in muscle-strengthening exercises. Physical therapy can also include gait training and aquatic exercise as water decreases stress on your joints. Physical therapy helps improve your joint mobility and flexibility and increase your range of motion. A proper balance of flexibility and strength between your muscles and your joints is important for correct joint mechanics. A physical therapist can help you achieve that and maintain healthy and mobile joints as you age.