Joint health is key to living well into your old age. At the same time, pain is a leading reason for not meeting our exercise goals, especially as we age. But what is joint health? And how can we maintain it longer?
Joint health is the ability of a joint to bear load through its full range of motion without pain. A joint is fundamentally a place where two bones glide over one another. This gliding happens inside of a fluid filled sac called the ‘joint capsule’. The parts of the bone that touch one another are lined with a slippery tissue called ‘cartilage’. Finally, the capsule is filled with a slippery, nutrient-carrying fluid called ‘synovial fluid’. The health of your joint is determined in large part to these three players – joint capsule, cartilage and synovial fluid.
So now we know some of the joint parts but how do they work? The health of any body part is dependent on the flow of nutrients to and the removal of waste from the
tissue. Muscles accomplish this via blood flow through our vast arterial network that perforates directly throughout the muscle tissue. Joints work differently because blood and blood vessels are not allowed in the joint cavity. That space is filled by synovial fluid, as you’ll remember from the description above.
In the case of joints, blood is carried right beside the joint to a selective membrane that allows only certain fluids and nutrients to cross inside the capsule. This can be a slow process, but the body has an elegant solution to speed things up. To aid the flow of nutrients across the membrane, the body uses the natural pumping action of a moving joint to exchange this fluid better by creating pressure changes. Once inside, these nutrients can aid repair and maintenance of the cartilage.
“This means that joint movement is critical to the exchange of nutrients in and out of the joint capsule.”
I’ll use the analogy of a sponge that is wet, dirty and even starting to smell. If you want to clean it, you could just run it under the tap water for hours and eventually you might slowly dissolve away all the dirt and bacteria. But we can all agree it would be better to wring the sponge out, relax, let it fill with clean water and then wring it out again and repeat. This forces old water out and new water in. Picture a moving joint accomplishing the same thing!
Movement is key to optimal joint health, but what types and how much is enough?
Incorporate the following four practices into your weekly schedule for long term joint health!
1. Walking
“The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is the best” – Thomas Jefferson
Start with walking! The most basic of all human movements. The rhythmical nature and the slight ‘up and down’ motion creates the pumping action that was described above. The golden rule is 10,000 steps/day. This number is not hard to get if your job requires you to be on your feet. If you have a desk job, you’ll have to get creative! Try a ‘walking meeting’. Consider this – all steps are not created equally. Hiking uphill outdoors is a lot harder than flat and level ground. If you’re looking for a challenge take your hikes to the hills! Or even carry a backpack with an additional 10-20lbs. Enjoy!
2. Stretching
Incorporate a light daily stretching routine. It can be done all at once or throughout the day. This is not meant to be hard, sweaty work; there should be no need to change clothes. Pick two or three movements and move through a full range of motion. If you work a desk job it is especially important to incorporate this every hour or two to break up the sitting. Some examples – pigeon pose, side bends, arm circles, holding the bottom position of a lunge, toe touches, couch stretch or my personal favourite, hanging from a bar. You can search these stretches online for visual aid. Just do what feels good and don’t strain yourself.
3. Resistance Training
This is the ‘hard work’ portion and it is meant to be sweaty, tiring and difficult. Join a group fitness class or find a Youtube video at home with weights. Allow me to plug my favourite activity here – indoor rock climbing! Nothing is better than staying fit while having fun with the whole family (kids can safely do this too!)
4. Cardiovascular Exercise
Another sweaty activity that can potentially be combined with the last suggestion of resistance training. It’s important to boot up the body’s metabolic processes regularly and there is no substitute for hard work here. There are so many options here – running, swimming, group fitness, hill hiking, walking up and down your stairs at home; any sport that makes you sweaty. Just pick something that you’ll enjoy, and grab a friend if possible!
Sometimes specific joint limitations from past injury will stop you from reaping the benefits of these movements. That’s where an Osteopath and other physical therapies can help. We can help restore joints to full range and remove imbalances that created the problems in the first place.
Wishing you and your joints good health!
Aaron Coulthard M.OMSc
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