What are the prevention methods for arthritis?

The core of arthritis prevention currently recognized in clinical and sports rehabilitation fields is actually to reduce unnecessary excessive wear and tear on joints in daily life, while improving the support of muscles around joints and reducing the risk of inflammation. There is no one-size-fits-all recipe.

When I helped in a sports rehabilitation center two years ago, I met a 43-year-old sister who was obsessed with climbing stairs to lose fat. She climbed up and down 30 floors every day. After half a year, her knees began to hurt. She went to check for signs of early chondromalacia patellae, which will develop into degenerative arthritis. Later, she changed her exercise to swimming, elliptical machine and other activities that put less pressure on the knees. In conjunction with the exercise of the quadriceps on the front of the thigh, the discomfort completely disappeared in less than a year, and now there are no joint problems during follow-up.

Many people still think of arthritis as a "senile disease" and think that young people don't need to worry about it. In fact, there are a lot of people in their thirties who suffer from early joint wear and tear. Most of them are caused by the habit of not paying attention to the use of joints. For example, people who like to cross their legs don't take it seriously when their knees creak when they stand up, or squat on the toilet for more than ten minutes while playing with their mobile phones. The joints are always bent and under pressure. Over time, the cartilage is prone to irreversible wear and tear. Cartilage is like the cushioning insole in shoes. Once it is worn away, it cannot regenerate. When the bones are directly rubbed against the bones, the pain will be really painful.

There are many opinions about prevention, and there are quite a lot of controversies. For example, the ammonia sugar has been highly praised recently. There is currently no unified conclusion on the effectiveness of prevention in the academic circles. In the domestic osteoarthritis guidelines, it is only recommended for patients who have already suffered from cartilage wear and tear to supplement as needed. The daily nutritional intake of healthy people through diet is enough, and eating extra has no clear preventive effect. There is no need to spend so much money. Some people have been wondering whether squatting hurts the knees or protects the knees. In fact, it all depends on the individual situation. If your movements are standard and you have no basic joint problems, unloaded squats can train the muscles around the joints, which is equivalent to installing an extra "stabilizing bracket" on the joints, which can help the knees share a lot of pressure. However, if you already have knee pain and discomfort, and you still squat with heavy weights, it will definitely put more burden on the joints.

In addition to exercise and daily habits, weight control is really the most cost-effective way to prevent it. Research data shows that for every 1 kilogram of weight that exceeds the normal range, the knees have to bear 3 times the weight when walking, and 6 times when running and jumping. If you think about it, if you gain 10 kilograms, your knees will be equivalent to carrying a 60 kilogram child when you go upstairs. Can you not waste it? Some people always say that "arthritis is caused by freezing." This also depends on the situation. For healthy people, occasional freezing will not directly induce arthritis. However, if you already have joint wear and tear, the cold will worsen local blood circulation and prevent inflammatory metabolites from being discharged, which can easily induce pain. Therefore, in late autumn and early winter, don't bare your ankles or wear ripped pants. There is no harm in keeping your joints warm.

Many of the people I have come into contact with who have early-stage joint discomfort have mostly adjusted their living habits for two or three months, and the symptoms have completely disappeared. Preventing arthritis is really not a complicated matter, just pay more attention to it and don't use your youth as a capital.