Joint degeneration starts at younger age – finally leading to arthritis. If you are beginning to feel the symptoms, it is important to understand what is happening to your knee and take measures to delay or avoid arthritis. What should you do to avoid going down the path to knee replacement surgery?
Understanding Osteoarthritis
There are several causes of knee pain. The most common cause of age related knee pain is osteoarthritis. It occurs with breaking of cartilage cushioning the knee bones. This causes the bones to rub against each other causing pain. Following video is a simple illustration of knee anatomy and cartilage wear and tear.
Symptoms
Early symptoms include pain in the knee joint, cracking and popping sound. As arthritis progresses, you may have:
- Pain – in the morning, after periods of inactivity, while climbing stairs
- Redness, swelling in the joint
- Knee lock, reduced range of motion
- Deformation – knee bent outward or inward
Prevention
Healthy diet, exercises and maintaining healthy body weight help reduce the risk of arthritis. Acting pro-actively at early stage can delay or avoid arthritis. This may involve adopting more active lifestyle, quitting smoking and losing body weight etc. This video has more information.
Exercises
People with sedentary lifestyle lose muscle strength. Muscles from hip to toe, are all involved in good posture and support of knee joint. Exercises help regain the muscle strength. Following 15 minute workout improves strength, joint flexibility and range of motion – protecting your knee by building strong and flexible lower body.
A Different Perspective
This video challenges the existing methods of treating knee problems. It talks about the relationship between spine and various joints, and effect of one joint on another. It also discusses food and importance of healthy feet. This is long video but contains lot of interesting information.
WIsdom Talkies 
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