Happy Hinges

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Looking after your joints is often overlooked aspect of wellness. Looking after your joints is fundamental cornerstone of good health because it affects so many aspects of life. Focusing on better joint health can enhance your performance in your favorite sport or hobby, or simply your ability to walk upstairs. It help you to get a good night’s sleep, It improve balance, range of motion, and also offers a better chance of recovering after injuries and maintaining quality of life as the years roll by. You’re never too young to start thinking about what you can do to boost your joint health, but it’s also never too late to make improvements. 

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Our joints are complex structures, they function like the body’s hinges, connecting the bones using complex systems of cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and muscles. The human body is remarkable machine comprised of 270 bones at birth which later decreases to 206 due to fusion of some of our bones as we age. The joints connect bone to bone, and there are 360 joints in our bodies, including ball and socket (to be found at the hip and shoulder joints), which allows movements in all directions; and hinge joint (such as the knee and elbow), which opens and closes in one direction. These complex structures, with different types of tissue working together are vulnerable to injury and disease, such as arthritis, which cause pain and inflammation.

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Osteoarthritis, sometimes are known as wear-and-tear arthritis, is the most common form, and occurs when the cartilage is damaged over time.

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People often only start thinking about improving their joint health when they’re in pain, when they are struggling to climb the stairs or can’t sit at their desk because of a flare-up of back pain. Your osteopaths and physiotherapists can help you in a short term, however, the long term road to better joint health is your commitment to certain lifestyle choices.

The two most important changes you can make are to increase or start strength training, or resistant training and maintain a healthy body weight plus flexibility. Think about it as being strong for life.The effect of weight on the joints is as you lose 1 lb of body fat, that’s the equivalent to 4 lb load across your knees when you are walking. Looking after your joints at whatever age is an insurance policy for your independence in the future. Most people face illnesses and injuries at some point, but you can picture yourself as a fighter, training in advance to be able to withstand those blows that life throws at you.

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own healthy tissues. The attack happens mostly in the joints of the hands and feet and causes redness, pain, swelling and heat around the joints. Drug and non‐drug treatments are used to relieve pain and or swelling.

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Acupuncture is a non‐drug therapy being in which thin needles are inserted into the body at specific spots. Acupuncture works by releasing chemical compounds in the body that relieve pain, by overriding pain signals in the nerves or by allowing energy (Qi) or blood to flow freely through the body. Acupuncture is drug free , safe way with minimum to no side effect therapy for Arthritis. Several studies indicated that  acupuncture recommended as a beneficial alternative therapy in patient with osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis particularly for chronic patients and those currently undergoing long-term pain and help them increasing quality of life. Acupuncture reportedly relieves chronic knee and back pain and improves physical function in patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis, but the duration of these effects are different based on each individual.

Acupuncture helps by:

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• Relieve joint pain, swelling, and stiffness.

• Stop further joint damage

• Help reduce symptom in RA patients within 2 weeks in some patients

• Help less RA fatigue

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Five pointers for stronger joints

• Be strong for life. Aim for at least two simple strength or resistance training session each week.many of these exercise can be done at home and using only your own body weight.

• Mix it up. Try new hobbies or classes, and different online tutorials. Keep challenging your body in different ways.

• Consider a daily 10. Move for 10 minutes every morning, search on line for the best 10-minute workouts you can do anywhere.

• Try to maintain a healthy body weight. Remember that making even small changes can be beneficial for joints.

• Tweak your diet. Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables and a wide variety of natural, unprocessed food is helpful. Try to avoid refine sugar, trans fats, and excessive alcohol consumption, all of which can increase inflammation. 

• Tune Up with acupuncture treatment.

References: 

Casimiro, L., Barnsley, L., Brosseau, L., Milne, S., Welch, V., Tugwell, P., & Wells, G. A. (2005). Acupuncture and electroacupuncture for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (4).

Berman, B.M.,Langevin, H.M., Witt, C.M., &Dubner, R. (2010-). Acupuncture for chronic low back pain.”New England Journal of Medicine, 365 (5), 454-461.

Lin, X., Huang, K., Zhu, G., Huang, Z., Qin, A., & Fan, S. (2016). The effects of acupuncture on chronic knee pain due to osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis. JBJS, 98(18), 1578-1585.