Arthritis Pain

Arthritis is a sort of joint disorder that usually involves inflammation of joints. There are more than a hundred types of arthritis, the common ones being, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease and rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that mainly attacks flexible joints.

These types of arthritis may also be genetic. Here are a few ways in which we can lower the chances of being affected by arthritis.

Control your weight

Excessive body weight puts a lot of pressure on the joints in the body, damaging them, while doing daily activities like standing or walking. Losing some of that extra weight, will take some pressure off the joints, and will reduce the wear and tear.  So if you are overweight, try to shed a few kilos to put your joints at ease. Once you’ve lost that extra weight, you’ll decrease the damage done to your hip and knee joint.

Exercise

Exercising is one of the best ways to prevent arthritis. Exercising helps you shed all those extra kilos giving you the upper hand. Exercises like cycling, swimming, walking for 30 minutes and even weight training improves circulation, keeps your joints warmed up and ‘well-oiled’ without abusing them.

Always stick to low impact exercises because running on concrete will do anything but any good to your joints. So low impact exercises will help you preserve your joints.

Stretching helps

Before you start your daily workout, it is advisable to stretch your muscles. Once your muscles are loose, you will be able to move freely hence your workouts will be much more productive as you won’t strain or stress your joints, leading to no damage.

Stretches should be done twice a held for 10 counts. It is not advisable to bounce while stretching as it may strain your muscles, tendons and ligaments, which in turn might lead to injury. Stretching is always a good start to the work out session as if may prevent chances of injury. But stretching after the workout is also important as it will prevent soreness.

Other steps to consider

  • Eat a well-balanced meal complete with vegetables, fruits and healthy grains. Do not overeat or overstuff yourself, steer clear of junk food
  • Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Calculate the amount of water like this: drink half your body weight in pounds in ounces of the fluid. For example if your weight is 140 pounds then you will require 70 ounces of water. Water should be had plain and not substituted by any other drink
  • Rest properly and in plenty as rest allows the body to recover from today’s wear and tear preparing it for tomorrow’s activities. Do not overwork the body as you may increase chances of injury

These are a few ways in which you can prevent or decrease chances of arthritis. However, you have to follow these steps meticulously and religiously.