The pain that you feel in your joint can restrict your mobility and cause unbelievable discomfort, therefore, it’s crucial to keep them healthy. Whether you talk about shoulders, knees, hips, or ankles, all of them are extremely complex joint systems in your body. Their proper functioning is highly important to live a pain-free life. It’s important for you to understand that even a minor injury to any of the joints in your body can restrict your mobility.
Therefore, healthy joints are really important for living a physically active lifestyle. Joint pain can occur due to several underlying factors, so, it’s crucial to identify the root cause of the problem to get a permanent solution.
Before we talk about how to deal with joint pain, let’s take a look at some of its common causes.
Arthritis
One of the most common causes of joint pain is Arthritis. There are more than hundred different types of arthritis and the most common among them are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis.
- Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is a condition that’s marked by cartilage damage. Cartilage is a protective tissue that’s found in joints and its main function is to keep the bones from rubbing against each other. It works as a cushion between the bones in the joints thereby preventing the friction between them.
Osteoarthritis, which is also called a degenerative joint disease, is common in people above 60. It clearly shows that the ability of joints to function effectively starts diminishing in old age. Healthy cartilage is very important for the smooth functioning of joints like shoulders, knees, and hips.
- Rheumatoid arthritis
Known commonly as an autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common causes of joint pain. Characterised by symptoms like joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and loss of mobility, it occurs when the immune system attacks the synovial membrane, a soft tissue found in the joints. It’s a unique form of arthritis, wherein the inflammation occurs on the same joints on both sides of the body.
Injuries
Injuries are also one of the most common causes of joint pain. Therefore, it’s crucial to take the right treatment at the right time to heal them or to decrease their impact on your joint. Whether you are a professional athlete or someone, who lives a very active lifestyle, you have to try your level best to avoid joint injuries.
In addition to that, joint pain can also be caused by cancer, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, bone infection, and sarcoidosis.
Here are the tips for managing joint pain
Physiotherapy
Joint pain can be managed effectively with physiotherapy. It’s a drug-free and surgery method for treating pain and healing injuries. When you consult a physiotherapist for healing your condition, they focus on addressing the root cause of your pain, which eventually offers a lasting solution.
They discuss your symptoms, check your medical history, measure your range of motion to arrive at a right diagnosis. They include specific exercises and therapy in your care plan to subside your pain and restore mobility. For example, if your joint pain is caused by arthritis, then your physiotherapist may include techniques like acupuncture or manual therapy in your care plan.
According to SOS Physiotherapy, “While there’s no cure for osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, physiotherapy can help you manage the symptoms of these afflictions. As a matter of fact, research has shown that physiotherapy benefits patients in the short term and long term. Physiotherapy consists of both active and passive modalities for treatment.”
Figure Out The Risk Factors
One of the most important steps in dealing with joint pain is to figure out its risk factors. If you are aware of the risk factors for joint pain, you will surely take the right steps to avoid them. For example, overweight, placing repetitive stress on joints, and high bone mass can lead to joint pain, however, if you are aware of it you will surely take appropriate steps to minimize their impact on your body.
Lose Weight
Losing weight can also bring a world of difference in your condition. It helps in reducing the pressure on your Joints. For example, overweight puts a lot of pressure on your hips, knees, and ankles, which eventually leads to pain and discomfort. Therefore, it’s important to maintain a healthy weight.
Up The Intake of Healthy Foods
Include healthy foods in your diet to strengthen your joints. Up the intake of seeds and nuts that are rich in omega-3. Foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids not only help in strengthening your joints, they are equally good for your cardiovascular health, stabilizing blood sugar levels, balancing cholesterol levels, boosting immunity, and reducing the risk of cancer.
Apart from seeds and nuts, you should also enhance the consumption of colorful fruit and vegetables, lean protein, and ginger and turmeric to improve your joint health.
Control Diabetes
According to experts, there is a close connection between diabetes and osteoarthritis. It is believed that the production of enzymes that damage cartilage is encouraged by the high blood sugar levels. Therefore, if you want to keep your cartilage healthy, make sure you keep your diabetes under control.
In addition to that, you should keep on performing low-impact exercises to subside joint pain and enhance flexibility. Walking, running and swimming, are very good for strengthening joint flexibility, so, you should also make them a part of your fitness program.