Joint Pain

Are you at risk for having serious joint pain and even osteoarthritis later on in life?  There are several risk factors that can play a role in how healthy your joints are or will be as you age.

What is your age?
Primary osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, usually develops gradually after age 40.  As you age, cartilage degenerates and loses its elasticity.  In fact, an astounding 75% of people over the age of 65 suffer from osteoarthritis.   But don’t let age slow you down, staying physically fit and healthy is an important way to protect your joints.  Strong, fit muscles support joints more effectively, protect joints from undue strain and injury, and help you perform everyday tasks more efficiently and with less pain.

Do you fit any of the following?
•      Have you experienced repeated trauma or surgery to the joint structures?
•      Were you born with abnormal joints?
•      Do you have gout, diabetes, and other hormone disorders?

All of these life factors can cause secondary osteoarthritis.  Repeated trauma can increase the mechanical stress placed on joints.  People with gout may also experience crystal formation in their joints causing damage to the cartilage tissue.  Diabetes, some hormone disorders and congenital (at birth) abnormalities of the joints may also lead to increased wear and tear.

Are you male or female?
Osteoarthritis is more common in men before age 45, but more prevalent in women after age 45.    Though the symptoms of osteoarthritis can vary between patients, the most common symptom is pain in the affected joint, which may worsen later in the day or after repeated use.  The joints may also be tender, swollen and warm and you may hear or feel creaking.  Osteoarthritis can also cause pain after an extended period of rest.

What is your BMI (Body Mass Index) underweight, normal, overweight, obese?
Excess weight can also contribute to secondary osteoarthritis. Weight control and injury prevention measures can lower a person’s risk of developing osteoarthritis. Weight loss also can reduce symptoms for people with knee osteoarthritis. Excess weight can place undue stress on our weight bearing joints. Therefore, it is important for the health of your joints (and your overall health), that you maintain a healthy weight. If you find weight maintenance difficult, a registered dietitian (RD) can help you achieve your goal weight.
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Risk of Developing Painful Knee Osteoarthritis Increases with Weight 
Healthy Weight 30%
Overweight 47%
Obese 61%

Source: Arthritis Care and Research 2008; 59:1207-13

How often do you experience joint pain?
Joint pain is often the first sign of osteoarthritis. Pain is a signal from your body that something is wrong. Osteoarthritis causes some chronic joint pain. Though your joint pain may make you cringe at the thought of exercising, exercise can actually help relieve some of your pain, ensure that you maintain a good range of motions, make the joint more stable, help you lose weight or maintain your weight and keep your spirits up. Which type of exercise should you choose? That depends on what joints are involved, whether you’ve have surgery on any of your joints and your current range of motion. A combination of strength training, aerobic exercise and proper stretching are often recommended for osteoarthritis patients. And, a physical therapist can prescribe a program tailored to meet your needs and goals.

Read about stretching for joint pain


Have you had any serious joint injuries in your life?
Damage to a joint can contribute to the development of osteoarthritis in that joint.  This is especially common in athletes who have repetitively injured their joints over the years.  If you are an athlete try switching sports or taking time in between your soccer matches and running for non-impact activities such as swimming and stationary cycling.  You’ll still obtain the benefits of exercise but give your joints a break.

Does your family have a history of osteoarthritis?
A history of arthritis in your family can put you at higher risk for also getting the disease.  More and more doctors today believe in a hereditary cause behind several forms of arthritis. As with many other conditions, a mixture of environmental and genetic factors is attributed to the onset of disease or disorder. Most current research, though, focuses on showing substance behinds models of hereditary arthritis.  A recent study found that a form of knee osteoarthritis is the newest addition to the collection of genetically-caused arthritis.  Rare variants in the GDF5 gene have been associated with disorders of skeletal development, and more common variants recently have been tied to susceptibility to osteoarthritis of the hip and knees.  If anyone in your family has a history of osteoarthritis, it is even more important to take preventative measures to help prevent the onset or at least postpone it and make it more manageable.

Do you currently or have in the past, engaged in heavy physical activity for 3 or more hours per day such as heavy lifting, standing or bending?
Athletes and people who have jobs that require doing repetitive motion, such as landscaping, typing or machine operating, have a higher risk of developing OA due to injury and increase stress on certain joints.  Certain occupations involving repetitive knee bending and squatting are associated with osteoarthritis of the knee.  If you are experiencing joint pain or have been diagnosed with arthritis, it may become necessary to alleviate or decrease the amount of heavy physical activity you do.  Repetitive motions for long periods of time can accelerate the onset of osteoarthritis.

Do you experience joint stiffness in the morning or do your joints ache more if there is a change in the weather?
Stretching when you first get up is a great way to alleviate joint pain.  According to the Arthritis Foundation website, stretching will keep your body limber and improve flexibility. Gentle stretching exercises should be done every day and are the most important of all your exercises. Flexibility exercises can help you protect your joints by reducing the risk of joint injury, help you warm-up for more strenuous exercise by getting your body moving, and help you relax and release tension. These can be done on land or in water such as a pool, hot tub or warm bath. These exercises can be particularly useful for easing those stiff joints in the morning. Good range-of-motion exercises include tai chi and yoga. Work up to 15 minutes of flexibility exercises a day. Once you can do 15 continuous minutes, you should be able to add strengthening and aerobic exercises to your routine. 

Get more exercises here

It’s never too late to start a preventative maintenance program for your joints.  Maintaining a healthy weight and exercising are very important and you can also take a liquid glucosamine and chondroitin to help maintain joint flexibility.  See here

Read more about how glucosamine and chondroitin work here