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Be good to your bones; they’re your original support system.

October is Bone and Joint Health Awareness Month – a perfect time to highlight the vital role of bones and joints in our overall health. They serve as the body’s scaffolding, supporting us in every activity, whether walking, running, lifting or sitting.

Bone and Joint Health Action Week, October 12-20 – raises awareness about the prevention, management and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders, such as arthritis, back pain, spinal deformity, trauma, pediatric conditions and osteoporosis. Bone and joint conditions affect more than half of U.S. adults, which can lead to disability and diminished productivity and quality of life.

Five days are dedicated to musculoskeletal disorders during Bone and Joint Health Action Week:  

Here’s something you knee to know!

One of the largest and most complex joints of the body, the knee is crucial to movement, which means protecting knee joints should be a priority. Our knees make it possible for us to walk, jump, dance, pedal a bicycle, climb steps or ladders, kick balls or tires, squat to sit, or bend to lift a child – all while bearing the weight of our bodies. The Arthritis Foundation offers these tips for healthy knees:

1. Get moving. Your joints were designed for movement. Regular physical activity can help your knees and other joints in a number of ways. It’s important to pick exercises that are gentle and safe to decrease your risk of joint injury and to try a combination of activities that promote flexibility and range of motion (such as yoga or exercises prescribed by a physical therapist), muscle strengthening (such as working out with weight machines or resistance bands), or cardiovascular fitness (such as walking, swimming or bicycling).

2. Maintain a healthy weight. If you are overweight, every excess pound puts additional stress on your knees that can increase cartilage wear – and pain. Research shows that for people with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, losing even a little weight can help. Although it makes sense that excess weight can be harmful to knees – which bear the body’s weight – the weight-joint connection is more complex than just the mechanical forces extra pounds put on the knees. Fat itself produces and releases chemicals that promote inflammation. Thus, excess fat is associated not only with OA, but with various forms of arthritis involving inflammation, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and gout, all of which can cause joint damage. 

Maintaining a healthy weight may be one of the best things you can do for keeping your joints healthy.

3. Protect knees from injury. Injury to an arthritic knee can cause further damage to the joint. Injury to a healthy knee may lead to arthritis down the road.  

To protect your knees, avoid activities that involve repetitive pounding such as jogging or high-impact aerobics, sports that involve pivoting or contact such as basketball or football, or any activity where injury is likely. Listen to your body – if you experience pain in a joint or joints, rest for a while. To reduce your risk of injury while lifting or carrying something heavy, use your largest, strongest joints and muscles to take stress off smaller hand joints and to spread the load over large surface areas. Hold items close to your body, which is less stressful for your joints. For joint safety, slide objects whenever possible rather than lifting them. 

4. Treat injuries promptly. If you do injure a knee or other joint, reduce swelling and promote healing by practicing RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation).

5. Pay attention to pain. If you experience new or worsened pain in a joint or joints, it’s important to speak with your doctor. Pain can be a sign of injury or increased disease activity, both of which may require treatment to prevent further damage to your joint(s). Day-to-day osteoarthritis knee pain can also be a threat to your joints’ health if it keeps you from being active. For that reason, it’s important to find pain treatments that work for you. Some to try: medications, nutritional supplements, hot and cold therapy, splints and braces, and relaxation techniques. Talk to your doctor to see what’s best for you.

6. Kick the habit. If you smoke, add joint health to yet another reason to quit. For almost two decades, research has connected smoking with more severe pain and joint damage in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. A 2022 study published in Frontiers in Pharmacology suggests trading in your cigarettes for e-cigarettes or vape pens won’t necessarily help.

7. Eat a healthy diet. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts and beans and low in processed foods and saturated fats can not only reduce your risk of cardiovascular and other diseases of aging, but it may also promote healthy joints. Studies suggest that eating a Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of developing OA and reduce joint-damaging inflammation and disease progression in people who have OA.

8. Practice good posture. Over time, bad posture can place abnormal stresses on your joints, leading to excess cartilage wear and damage. Consistently practicing good posture decreases those stresses by allowing your muscles to work more effectively to support the joints. To practice good posture, stand up straight with your shoulders back, head level and in line with your body, abdomen tucked in, and feet shoulder-width apart. When sitting, keep your back against the back of the chair, your feet flat on the floor, a small space between the backs of your knees and the chair, and your knees at the same height or slightly lower than your hips.

9. Take care in selecting footwear. The wrong shoes can not only hurt the joints in your feet, but they can also throw off your posture and affect joints all the way up your body. High heels, for example, put extra stress on your knees and may increase your risk of developing osteoarthritis. For your joints’ sake, choose shoes with a low or no heel. Look for flexible, supportive shoes with a square or rounded toe that allows your toes to move around.

10. Be good to your bones. Your joints can’t be healthy if the bones that join to form them aren’t. Many of the habits you practice to help your joints – regular exercise, which may include resistance training to increase bone density and help prevent bone breaks and fractures, and a healthy diet – are also essential for strong bones. For bone health, ensure that your diet is high in calcium and vitamin D (naturally available in tuna, salmon, swordfish and egg yolks, as well as in fortified milk, juices and cereals).

Helpful Links

To learn even more about bone and joint health, visit these Hally® links:

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