World Arthritis Day | Keep good habits and protect your bones and joints

October 12, 2023 is the 27th World Arthritis Day. When it comes to osteoarthritis, many people's first reaction is "a disease that only old people get." In fact, osteoarthritis is not "exclusive" to the elderly... Obesity, overweight, and sports injuries are important factors that cause osteoarthritis.

What are the main symptoms of osteoarthritis? How to determine whether you have osteoarthritis? How should we protect our bones and joints in our daily lives? Today, the editor will show you how!

Osteoarthritis: a potential killer in walking

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease and one of the most common causes of disability in adults. Osteoarthritis often occurs in weight-bearing joints and joints with high activity (such as knees, hips, etc.). Excessive use of these joints will lead to increased joint degeneration and subsequent osteoarthritis.

What are the symptoms of osteoarthritis?

The symptoms of osteoarthritis mainly manifest in three aspects: joint pain, stiffness and limited movement.

Joint pain is often dull pain. In the early stage, it is mainly manifested as joint pain during activities. It improves after rest. Cold and humid environment will aggravate the patient's pain.

Joint stiffness often occurs when you get up in the morning. The duration of morning stiffness usually ranges from a few minutes to more than ten minutes, and rarely exceeds half an hour.

Limited joint movement is mainly manifested as limited knee flexion. Hip arthritis may result in patients being unable to cut their toenails, and may also result in limitations in going up and down stairs, walking, and doing housework.

Four criteria for self-diagnosis

Osteoarthritis develops gradually over a long period of time. How can we determine whether we have osteoarthritis as early as possible?

1. Joint tenderness

If you feel tenderness when your joints move or are under pressure, you should consider the possibility of osteoarthritis.

2. Joint stiffness

Many osteoarthritis patients experience joint stiffness. Some patients experience stiffness in their joints when they wake up in the morning and need to slow down before they can move.

3. Frictional sounds when joints move

Osteoarthritis patients often feel friction in their joints when moving them, and sometimes even hear a "click" or other friction sound. However, many patients will not experience this symptom in the early stages, so if you experience this symptom, you must pay great attention to it.

4. Joint swelling

Joint swelling is also one of the symptoms of osteoarthritis. In the early stages, it manifests as localized swelling around the joints, thickening of the bursa, or joint effusion.

If the patient finds the above symptoms during self-examination, it is recommended to seek medical attention in time and ask a professional orthopedic physician to make a clear diagnosis and actively treat the disease.

How to take preventive measures

As a degenerative disease, does osteoarthritis occur in all people when they get older? The answer is no. Some osteoarthritis can be prevented. Clinical practice has shown that maintaining good living habits and taking some correct preventive measures can effectively reduce or delay the occurrence of osteoarthritis.

Reasonable diet: low-sugar and low-fat diet, control calorie intake. Because obesity is the main cause of osteoarthritis development. Patients should eat more foods rich in calcium and vitamin D, such as milk, fish, shrimp, walnuts, etc.

Moderate exercise Exercise is one of the effective ways to prevent osteoarthritis. People at risk of the disease and osteoarthritis patients are advised to do relatively mild exercise, such as Tai Chi, walking, swimming, etc. Avoid excessive or strenuous exercise, especially avoid standing, sitting, lying, climbing, cycling and other activities for a long time, and do less squatting.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle. In daily life, you should pay attention to moisture-proof and keep warm. Cold can easily induce or aggravate acute symptoms such as osteoarthritis pain. If a joint is accidentally injured, seek medical treatment in time to avoid causing more serious joint damage. Elderly people should hold the handrail when going up and down stairs, and support themselves with their hands when sitting to reduce the pressure on the joint cartilage, and avoid sitting on low stools.

Osteoarthritis is preventable, controllable and treatable. Once diagnosed, the doctor will propose individualized and step-by-step treatment measures based on each person's different symptoms and disease development stage, in order to save every degenerated joint as much as possible.