This winter season is seeing a spike in arthritis cases and while it may not be at the top of your mind now, it’s important to pay attention to these little habits you do that can cause the risk of developing joint pain. Read on to know the symptoms and solutions
Arthritis is caused by an inflammation of the joints that adversely affects one joint or multiple joints and leads to joint pain, stiffness and swelling. While there are several medicines, rehabilitation and physiotherapy methods to help in treating the arthritis patients, the condition can be improved if one is being physically active, maintaining their weight and indulging in yoga and joint relaxing.
Winters can be especially harsh for those who suffer from arthritis and women are more prone to joint pain in the cold season than men. If left untreated, it may inhibit your movement altogether since arthritis is a debilitating condition that restricts your range of movement and affects your functional life.
Symptoms:
Dr Biren Nadkarni, Senior Consultant Orthopedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon at Sitaram Bhartia Institute and Holy Family Hospital in New Delhi shares, “Regardless of the type of arthritis, one may experience fever, lymph nodes swelling, weight loss, tiredness, inability to use your hand, difficulty in walking, and poor sleep. Here is how you can distinguish regular pain from early signs of arthritis – joint pain, stiffness and swelling in joints, your range of motion may also decrease, redness of the skin around the joint, unexplained joint pain usually accompanied by fever, difficulty in carrying out daily chores due to joint pain while pain killers also cannot cure joint pains.”
Who are at the risk of developing arthritis?
Arthritis may not be at the top of your mind now, it’s important to pay attention to the little habits you do that can cause issues down the road so, don’t delay and connect today as soon as you notice any of the above stated symptoms and immediately see an orthopedic doctor. Revealing a list of people who are at the risk of developing arthritis, Dr Biren stated:
1. People who are overweight or obese are more likely to develop arthritis. The more weight you put on, the more is the amount of burden you give to your hips, back and feet.
2. Consumption of over processed foods like Sugar and white flour and the o can lead to weight gain, which is hard on sore joints. Replace them with fruits, nuts, and whole grains.
3. Texting frequently and holding your phone in the exact same position can cause “smartphone thumb.” Texting stresses joints in your hands, especially your thumbs. So, if you want to keep arthritis at bay – minimize thumb texting or use the voice function to keep texting hands-free. Texting can be bad for your shoulders and neck, too.
4. Wearing high heels all the time places your feet in an awkward position that stresses joints, strains muscles, and can throw your back out of alignment. So, women who wear heels daily must keep this point in their minds that this habit may increase their risk of developing osteoarthritis and foot pain.
5. Injuries also act as risk factors. People who injured a knee in adolescence or young adulthood were three times more likely to develop osteoarthritis in that knee, compared to those who had not suffered an injury.
Lifestyle changes are important
Additionally, one needs to monitor lifestyle changes so as to not develop a risk of arthritis. Dr Biren asserts, “Eat sensibly, control your weight, and exercise regularly — these are all mantras for keeping knee problems at bay. Apart from it:
1. Maintain a healthy body weight
2. Keep injuries at bay
3. Pay attention to your posture, avoid high heels
4. Keep a regular tab on your vitamin B12 and vitamin D3 levels, the latter being slightly more important in case of arthritis.
5. Eat good diet, include nuts and seeds like walnuts, cashew nuts, pistachios in your diet. Also include more vegetables such as garlic and onions into your diet
6. When it comes to your rotis, try those made of jowar, nachani, raagi and bajra. These are great for your arthritis-ridden joints because they contain nutrients that help ease your pain.”