Joints are the connections between your bones that allow for movement. These complex meeting points are made up of cartilage, ligaments, and tendons. They also contain specialized fluids that reduce friction and cushion your bones. Healthy joints help you make movements easily and painlessly (such as walking, bending, lifting, and grasping).
Your joints are important to your health and mobility. Joint problems can happen at any age. But as you age, your joints can naturally wear down. This is partly due to age-related musculoskeletal changes. This includes decreased bone density, synovial fluid, cartilage, and muscle mass. These changes can lead to joint disorders or injuries such as arthritis, sprains or strains, and tendonitis. Maintaining joint health can help you prevent some of these changes that can affect your mobility and health.
When a joint is damaged or deteriorates, it can cause inflammation, pain, and stiffness. These symptoms can limit your ability to do certain activities.
People with joint problems (such as arthritis) are more likely to experience the following:
- Grasping small objects
- Pushing or pulling large or heavy objects
- Bending, stooping, or kneeling
- Sitting or standing for long periods of time
- Walking or climbing stairs without resting
- Reaching overhead
- Carrying objects weighing up to 10 pounds.
Osteoarthritis can also affect your overall health. For example, arthritis pain can lead to physical limitations that can affect your work and personal life. And for some people, poor mobility and independence can cause even more stress. That explains why adults with arthritis are more likely to report lower health-related quality of life than those without arthritis.
Ways to Maintain Joint Health
1. Try to Maintain a Healthy Weight
Some studies have shown that obesity is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis . Excess weight can put stress on weight-bearing joints, including the back, knees, hips, and ankles. So maintaining a healthy weight can help keep your joints in top condition. Since a healthy weight is different for everyone, talk to your doctor if you have any questions.
2. Exercise Regularly
Staying active can prevent or reduce joint pain, stiffness, and inflammation, and regular exercise can also protect against cartilage damage. Movement is the lubricant, so adding exercises to your routine can help keep your joints lubricated and healthy.
You can try these exercises:
- Walking: Low-impact exercises like walking put less stress on your joints. Regular movement also increases blood flow, which delivers nutrients to the cartilage that protects your bones and joints. In a recent study, walking was linked to less pain in people with osteoarthritis of the knee.
- Strength training: Strength training exercises can also help keep your joints healthy. It has been shown to improve muscle strength, joint function, and reduce pain in people with osteoarthritis.
- Neuromuscular training: Neuromuscular training aims to improve sensorimotor control and mobility. The training method combines functional and sport-specific movements. And it can help older adults, including those with hip or knee arthritis, improve physical function.
- Aquatic exercise: Resistance exercises performed in water help improve the thickness of knee cartilage.
For older adults, moderate exercise for 30 minutes 5 times a week is a great way to boost joint health and overall health.
3. Add anti-inflammatory foods to your diet
Chronic inflammation increases your risk of many different diseases, such as arthritis, and certain foods can help fight inflammation in your body, including your joints.
Foods that work well include:
- Green leafy vegetables: Broccoli, kale, and spinach
- Berries: Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries
- Nuts and seeds: Almonds, walnuts, and chia seeds
- Fatty fish: Salmon, trout, and sardines
These and many other anti-inflammatory foods contain important nutrients, including antioxidants, that can help protect your joints.
4. Make sure you drink enough water
Joint cartilage is mostly water, and drinking enough water helps create synovial fluid in your joints. This gel-like fluid protects your bones from wear and tear.
5. Warm Up Before and Cool Down After Your Workout
Skipping these important steps in your workout routine can increase your risk of joint injury. For example, just a 15-minute warm-up and cool-down can reduce your risk of injury.
Experts recommend starting your workout slowly to get your heart rate up and your muscles warm. To cool down, you can gradually reduce the intensity of your workout until your heart rate and breathing return to normal. Then, while your muscles are still warm, finish your cool-down with more stretching exercises. Try dynamic stretches to warm up and static stretches to cool down.
6. If You Smoke, Consider Quitting
Smoking can be harmful to your bones and joints, and smoking increases your risk of osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Research shows that people with arthritis who smoke may experience more cartilage loss and pain than non-smokers. So, if you smoke and want to improve your overall health and joint health, there are effective ways to quit smoking for good.
