When we’re young and agile, we probably don’t pay much attention to our joints, but as we get older and decades of stress and natural aging begins to take its toll, we may start to notice discomfort or weakness in certain joints like our knees, hips or shoulders. Some natural joint degeneration is inevitable as we get older, but injuries and bad habits can actually speed up joint deterioration and make movement uncomfortable.
If you’re smart in your approach, you can work to preserve the health of your joints and increase your likelihood that movements remain comfortable for years to come. In today’s blog, we share some tips for preserving the health of your major joints as you get older.
Keeping Your Joints Strong As You Get Older
Your joints provide the connection between bones that help to allow movement. They are made up of cartilage, ligaments and tendons, but these soft tissues are also prone to injury to degeneration as a result of cumulative stress. Working to preserve the health of these tissues can ensure you can continue to walk, bend, lift or twist your body without discomfort. Here’s a look at some of the best ways to strengthen and protect your joints as you age.
- Stay Active – It’s not uncommon to naturally slow down a bit as you get older, but if you become overly sedentary, life is going to be harder on your joints. Too much inactivity can cause these soft tissues to become weaker and less flexible. When this happens, joints can become unstable, leading to discomfort and even pain. This discomfort only tends to beckon more inactivity, which only further worsens the problem. Stay active and keep naturally strengthening your joints with activity and movement.
- Weight Management – It’s also very important to try and maintain a healthy weight as you get older. This can be challenging as our metabolism also tends to slow down a bit as we get older, but extra weight on your body means extra stress on your joints. Pairing regular exercise with a healthy diet can help you avoid weight gain and added stress on your joints.
- Improved Diet – A healthy diet full of a range of vitamins and minerals is obviously important for helping you maintain an ideal weight, but a smart diet can also help you keep joint inflammation at bay. Sugary and fatty foods can be pro-inflammatory, causing inflammation in your joints that could make movement painful and slow you down. Make it a point to regularly consume a range of lean proteins, whole grains, leafy vegetables and vitamin-packed fruits.
- Stay Hydrated – One of the easiest things you can do for your joint health is to stay hydrated throughout the day. When you’re adequately hydrated, it’s easier for your joints to produce synovial fluid, which keeps the joint lubricated and facilitates comfortable movement. An easy way to get enough water each day is to take your weight, cut it in half and drink that many ounces of water every day.
- Stop Smoking – There are so many health-related reasons to kick the smoking habit, and you can add joint preservation to that list. Smoking can speed up natural joint degeneration and make it harder for your joints to get the healthy blood they need to thrive. Give up smoking and you may soon notice less joint pain.
- Consult With HyperCharge – Finally, if you really want to keep your joints healthy no matter your stage of life, consider connecting with the rejuvenation experts at HyperCharge Clinic. We have a number of therapy techniques that can improve your health on a cellular level, which can strengthen supportive soft tissues and make it easier for you to find the energy you need to exercise regularly. Whether you’re interested in red light therapy, pulsed electromagnetic field therapy or another one of our scientifically-backed wellness techniques, consider reaching out to our team today. We’d be happy to explain in detail how we can help improve your body on a cellular level so that it can function more efficiently.
If you do all of these things and you are willing to see how the experts at HyperCharge Clinic can help your joint health, we’re confident that you’ll have strong and functional joints long into old age. For more information, or for help with a different health and wellness issue, give our team a call today.