As the saying goes, “people get old before their legs get old”, and the earliest problems with the legs are in the knees. Many elderly people suffer from knee pain, the former flexible and robust posture no longer exists, walking far away, climbing down the slope can not, the former simple squatting up and down is now very difficult to do. This is because our knee joints have degenerated.
The so-called degenerative osteoarthritis, simply defined, refers to the loss of elasticity of the cartilage on the surface of the joint, which increases the stress on the bone beneath the cartilage, resulting in accelerated wear and tear of the joint, thinning, and narrowing of the joint space. As a result, the force is transmitted directly to the subchondral bone during movement, causing bone hardening, deformation, cystic degeneration, etc., which leads to the failure of joint function.
Generally speaking, after the age of 30, cartilage begins to gradually wear away, and thereafter, as we continue to age, joint damage and cartilage destruction become more and more serious, eventually leading to the emergence of age-related arthritis. Therefore, it is important to take care of your knee joints when you are young, just like taking care of machine parts, to delay the onset of knee osteoarthritis as much as possible.
Why is the knee joint prone to aging?
Our knees bear almost all of the weight of our bodies, whether it is from sports, walking, stairs, etc. The cartilage in the joints is subjected to the weight and impact caused by various activities every day, and is the most “stressed” of all joints. Under natural conditions, the knee is affected by age, chemicals, and muscle use, and needs to be kept active through diet, posture, and proper activity.
As early as adolescence, the articular cartilage begins to deteriorate. As we age, the blood circulation and muscles weaken, the joint area becomes dry due to reduced lubrication, the soft tissue becomes less elastic and more susceptible to the threat of strain, and the cartilage becomes prone to spalling; the meniscus also begins to deteriorate and lacks the ability to rebuild, a problem that is exacerbated by weight gain. Physiological structures such as bent legs, flat feet, dropped ankles, and pronation, combined with frequent injuries, can cause the knee to fall off its growth path. It is important to understand that the linkage from the foot to the hip is highly independent and if one part is off “track”, the whole system will fail.
Excessive use of muscles for a particular sport or exercise can result in disproportionate muscle tissue. Cyclists, for example, have unusually well-developed anterior thigh muscles. Some sports are high vibration for the knee, such as running and most ball games, which can increase the likelihood of knee injury if not combined with low-vibration sports such as swimming and cycling.
Knee care
Joint-friendly recipes
Joints, like other parts of the body, need a good supply of vegetables and fruits. Eating at least five types of vegetables and fruits a day is the only way to get micronutrients – vitamins and minerals – that you can’t get from other foods. The body needs calcium, zinc and vitamin C to heal, and multivitamin tablets may be effective, but there is no better source than fresh food. Refined oils are also good for your joints, and adding deep-sea fish (or Omega-3 substitutes), olive oil, avocados and almonds to your diet a few times a week can help significantly.
Focus on cold and dampness prevention
Since the knee joint is “skin and bones” and lacks muscle and fat protection, it does not receive sufficient heat supply and therefore has a lower temperature than other parts of the body. Don’t sleep in dark and humid places, and don’t rinse your knee with cold water immediately when you sweat profusely in summer.
Weight control
The main cause of knee degeneration is long-term wear and tear, weight bearing and aging of the joints, coupled with calcium loss, and many middle-aged and older women with fat bodies are the main victims of knee osteoarthritis. Therefore, weight control is the most direct way to reduce the weight on the knee joint and is very important to slow down the aging of the joint.
Choose a scientific approach to exercise
There is a common confusion among people with osteoarthritis as to whether or not to be active in osteoarthritis. The general principle of the answer is: regardless of prevention or treatment of osteoarthritis, exercise is necessary. Exercise can make bones strong, muscles strong, enhance the nutrition of cartilage in the joints, improve and delay the aging of cartilage, which is the fundamental way to prevent osteoarthritis.
But the key is to have a correct method and activity level.
Focus on preparatory activities when doing physical exercise should do a good job of preparing for the activity, gently stretching the knee joint for at least 1 minute.
Change your position and posture often and avoid sitting or standing for long periods of time. When you are sitting or squatting, stand up and walk around every once in a while, or massage the knee joint so that it is not fixed in the same position for a long time. This not only helps to promote blood circulation in the knee joint, but also reduces the adhesions of tissues inside and outside the joint.
To strengthen the lower limb activity exercise here are two exercise methods.
Method one is to take the supine position, put a pillow about 10 cm high behind the knee, let the lower leg alternately lift up to the knee joint completely straight, and then put it down, each time to do 20-30 times, can be arranged in the morning wake up and night before bed, so that the knee joint can be fully stretched, rotation, to prevent its stiffness and straightness.
Method two straight leg raise functional exercise. Supine position, lower limbs completely straight and raised, raised from the bed about 30 degrees. Insist on 5~10 seconds, put it down and relax for 2~3 seconds. Each exercise 15 minutes, twice a day. The main point is that the whole process of knee should be completely straight, not bent, the purpose is to exercise the muscles around our knees, muscle strength is the best support for the knee.
Generally speaking, people with poor knee function should avoid 3 types of exercises:
Weight-bearing exercises, such as long-distance running, mountain climbing, etc.; exercises that require frequent twisting of the knee joint, such as twisting the rice plantation song, etc.; and repeated squatting exercises.
Activities such as swimming, bicycling and stretching, which are less weight-bearing for the joints, are ideal.
Treatment of osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis of the knee is a very common chronic rheumatic disease, and there is no cure for it worldwide. However, the onset of the disease is generally slow, with intermittent episodes, and joint pain increases after climate change, trauma and exertion. If left untreated, the rate of disability is very high in the late stages, and when disabled, treatment not only increases the pain, but also the cost of treatment is quite high, with one side of the knee joint replacement surgery costing tens of thousands of dollars.
Now there is a new medical term called “time window”, “time window” refers to the best time to treat the disease, when this “window” is open, it means that the disease can be cured or controlled at this time. When this “window” is open, it means that the disease can be cured or controlled at this time, but when this “window” is closed, it is the same as missing the best treatment period, and it is not easy to cure when treated again, so early prevention and early treatment is the key to preventing disability.
The goal of treatment for osteoarthritis is to reduce symptoms, delay structural changes in the joints, maintain joint function and improve quality of life.
In 1995, the American College of Rheumatology proposed a pyramid scheme for the treatment of osteoarthritis, and in 2000, the European Rheumatology Federation proposed recommendations for the treatment of osteoarthritis, which are basically in three areas: non-pharmacological treatment, pharmacological treatment and surgical treatment. The treatment plan is not in the above order, and the appropriate treatment should be given according to the severity of the disease.
Non-pharmacological treatment should pay attention to life guidance, reasonable physical exercise, physical therapy such as heat therapy, hydrotherapy, infrared, electrical stimulation, etc. Medications include anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs (aspirin, ibuprofen, nimesulide, etc.); symptom-relieving drugs such as glucosamine, glucosaminoglycan, chondroitin sulfate, etc., and joint cavity injections of hormones or hyaluronic acid.
Some symptom-relieving drugs take several months to take effect, and it has been shown that the use of symptom-relieving drugs can significantly delay the progression of the disease and is a key treatment option to prevent disability.
Intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid, a major component of joint fluid, can protect joints, lubricate and shock absorb, relieve pain and improve joint function. For patients with very severe disease and significant joint dysfunction, surgery may be considered. Surgical options include knee arthroscopy and artificial joint replacement.