Avoid Joint Pain: 6 Essential Tips for Healthy Joints

Once we reach a certain milestone in our lives, we begin to think about things that we wish we knew when we were young and naïve.

The journey of life and navigating one’s way through the world can be both exciting and overwhelming, however we often feel like we’re going up a river without a paddle.

We reflect on things we wish we could’ve done, and many of these thoughts revolve around our health choices.

For those who suffer with pain in their joints, they now have thoughts of what they could’ve done to avoid joint pain, and often regret some of their health choices.

However, when we’re younger, we don’t normally know what these preventative measures are until it’s too late.

If you wish to try to avoid joint pain in the future, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Keep Your Body Moving to Avoid Joint Pain

Maintaining physical activity is a great way to keep the joints healthy.

While some may debate that exercise could potentially cause joint pain due to overworking the body, the truth is, not enough exercise can do just as much damage.

If the body doesn’t receive enough movement, it will lack the proper joint mobility and it could potentially cause joint stiffness.

Low-impact exercises that are recommended to avoid joint pain are:

• range-of-motion exercises
• swimming
• aerobics
• stretching
• walking
• biking
• low intensity strength training

Protect Your Joints

If one feels pain in any pressure points, bones, or joint areas, pay attention to it immediately.

Use ice to decrease any type of swelling and try to consume anti-inflammatory supplements to rid any pain from the body.

Another way to actively prevent joint pain later in life is to maintain a healthy weight to ensure that the joints aren’t carrying extra pressure.

Also keep in mind to not crack your knuckles or other joints on purpose as this can potentially pull a muscle or tendon.

Eat an Anti-Inflammatory Diet to Avoid Joint Pain

Bacteria is in everything from the things that we touch to the foods that we eat.

Foods that contain added sugars, processed chemicals, red meats, gluten, cholesterol, nightshades, etc. will likely cause inflammation to any infected areas.

Reducing inflammation is a large part of keeping joint pain symptoms under control and can help to improve joint health in the future.

Recommended foods are:

• Omega 3 Fatty Acids,
• garlic
• ginger
• broccoli
• cabbage
• Brussel sprouts

LifeWorks Wellness Center recommends the Paleo Diet to its patients to help reduce inflammation within the body and to extract all bad bacteria that is possibly causing irritation.

Take Your Vitamins!

Have you ever heard that milk builds strong bones? That’s because milk contains calcium.

Although, at LifeWorks Wellness Center we encourage our patients to stay away from dairy products, so rather than drinking milk, we recommend replenishing one’s calcium intake with supplementation.

Calcium supports healthy and strong bones, meanwhile people with a low calcium intake are associated with a decreased bone density and an increased fracture risk.

More calcium intake will build better and stronger cartilage and tendons and reduce the risks of developing and helps to avoid joint pain as one ages.

Other supplements that are encouraged is Vitamin D, Turmeric, and PerfectAmino to build strong muscles.

Please speak with a practitioner first before starting any supplements.

Stop Smoking!

While nicotine helps induce pain short-term, it can cause a lot more harm in the long-run.

The Cleveland Clinic reported that smokers are actually three times more likely to develop lower-back pain, abdominal pain and joint pain as compared to the average person¹.

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also added that smokers make up 50% of joint pain cases¹.

As a whole, people who have a long-term history of smoking have an increased risk of developing osteoporosis, bone fractures, bursitis, tendonitis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

If you wish to prevent and avoid joint pain in your later years, it’s definitely a good idea to throw away those cigarettes.

Wear Comfortable Shoes

Certain shoes that we wear play a role in the development of joint pain in the feet.

For women, high heels (that are about 3 inches or higher) can cause pain in the arches, ankles and causes stress in the knee joints.

A blog written by the Arthritis Foundation describes high heels (such as stilettos) as responsible for both foot pain and future arthritis².

Flip-flops have an increased falling risk, do not support arches and may cause tendonitis in the toes³, however they create significantly less knee stress as compared to other shoes².

The ideal shoe for those who worry about developing joint pain are shoes that:

• are comfortable, flexible, and supportive of the arches and ankles
• are either squared or rounded around the toe
• are the perfect size to offer the right support
• contain rubber soles

Tennis Shoes are often the perfect shoe type for combined comfort and joint pain prevention.

Treatment at LifeWorks Wellness Center

At LifeWorks Wellness Center, we offer our patients the best care and treatment options as a means to heal their joint pain and prevent it from returning.

If you are suffering with a joint pain condition, please schedule an appointment at 727-466-6789.

References:

1. Why Smoking Will Worsen Your Chronic Pain – Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic
2. Shoes for Arthritis: the Best and Worst Options for Your Pain
3. Are Flip Flops Good For Your Feet? | Southeast Orthopedic Specialists (se-ortho.com)