The Impact of Weight Management on Arthritis Pain: Podiatrist Insights
Did you know that obesity is considered one of the modifiable risk factors for osteoarthritis (OA)? Osteoarthritis is one of the most common painful joint conditions and your weight plays a huge role in making it worse. However, you can protect your joints by losing that extra weight. Learn how weight affects your joints and what you can do about it. Log on to www.doralhw.org for a consultation.
How does weight affect your joints?
Your body weight can have a huge effect on your joints. It not only increases the risk of arthritis, but it also causes several other effects as well:
Increased joint degeneration:
The joints that bear your body weight are very vulnerable to arthritis. The upper body weight pressures your spine, mainly your lower back. And if you’re overweight, this causes facet joint arthritis in the vertebral joints. Your knees and hips joint also have to bear the brunt of excess body weight. Every time you take a step to walk, the force from the foot hitting the ground travels up your legs. Your joints then absorb and transfer the force, over time this leads to joint wear and tear leading to osteoarthritis.
For instance, when you walk, the force on each knee is 3 times more than your body weight. And when you jump, the load is 10 times your weight. As you gain weight and stress increases on your joints, the protective cartilage also degenerates and wears away at a faster pace which contributes to osteoarthritis development.
Elevated joint inflammation:
Your excess weight can lead to joint inflammation because fat cells produce biochemicals that cause inflammation throughout the body, including your joints. So, that means more body weight, more biochemicals, and higher levels of inflammation. This can increase the risk of developing arthritis and make existing arthritis worse.
Faster disease progression:
It is found that joint degeneration of arthritis happens faster in people who are overweight. This can damage the joint severely which may lead to replacing the joint surgically.
Complications
Your weight can not only increase the risk of arthritis but also lead to other complications:
Stress on foot joints: Even with some extra pounds on the body it can create serious complications on your feet. As your weight increases, the balance and body structure change, which creates new stresses on your feet. This uneven weight distribution can lead to pain, even when you’re performing simple tasks like walking.
Diabetes related foot problems: Overweight people are at serious risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which further impacts on feet health. As you get older, your diabetes may get worse, which could lead to loss of feet sensitivity, sores, and bruises. This also increases the risk of various infections.
Plantar fasciitis: Being overweight can put pressure and stress on muscles, joints, and tendons triggering plantar fasciitis, which is an inflammation of tissue that is connected to the bottom of the foot.
What can you do?
To keep your joints healthy and manage your arthritis pain, you need to lose weight. Here are certain tips that help you lose weight. It includes:
Pick your plate/portion size:
Use smaller dishes to reduce the amount of food you eat by 20%. Plate and portion sizes that have increased over time are the reason people eat and drink more than needed. Because of this, most people have started eating larger portions.
Be water wise:
Most Americans take their daily calories from beverages, so switching to water is an effective way to lose weight. Research shows that drinking water before meals can make you feel fuller and help you shed pounds too.
Sleep to slim down:
Poor sleep habits can trigger a part of the brain that manages the urges to eat and stay up late at night to eat unhealthy foods. Most people who tend to eat more after a bad night make poor food choices to eat late at night. Sleep deprivation also slows the body’s production of leptin, a hormone that makes you feel full, and boosts up the hunger hormone ghrelin.
Group activity:
Ask your friends or join a group that’s also working to lose weight. Doing this can provide encouragement and motivation. One study shows that people who work with successful dieters are 20% more likely to succeed in losing weight.
Eat with different hands:
If you’re right-handed, use your left hand to eat and vice versa. Research shows people eat less when they use different hands to eat because they can’t eat mindlessly at the time. You also eat more slowly. Scientists say eating slowly allows time for your stomach to transmit a feeling of fullness to your brain, which allows you to eat less.
Slowing down is Good:
Eat your food mindfully by focusing on the food and enjoying each bite without getting distracted like watching TV. People can reduce their daily consumption by 300 calories by eating more slowly and giving their brains to understand how full they feel, according to one study.
Move to lose:
Reducing your calories allows you to lose weight, however, it also slows down your metabolism. To get better results, combine exercise with a nutritious diet to lose weight healthily. Walking, low-impact exercises, and water aerobics are great options; however, you should talk with your doctor before starting any new physical activity.
Water exercises:
If you have joint pain, water exercises are an excellent way to lose weight while keeping your joint pain in check. Swimming, water aerobics, and walking laps in the pool are good options. When your body floats in water, weight doesn’t put stress on your joints so moving doesn’t hurt much. At the same time, water provides resistance that activates your muscles without burdening your joints.
Weight management for arthritis pain is very helpful because it reduces the load the joints have to bear while walking and standing. The more you weigh, the more stress your joints have, which can make your arthritis worse. That’s why you should consider losing weight by using the above-mentioned tips for losing weight and improving your arthritis pain and overall health of the joints.
If you need help with arthritis pain, visit our podiatry clinic in Brooklyn to get professional medical help. Call us to book your appointment now!!!
Doral Health & Wellness employs Podiatrists with extensive education and expertise. Trauma to the tendons, muscles, and bones of the foot is quite common, as are infections secondary to systemic diseases. It’s not a promising idea to put off seeing Foot Doctor Brooklyn until you’re in a lot of pain. Our address is 1797 Pitkin Avenue, New York, NY 11212. To make an appointment, please call +1-347-384-5690 or send an email to info@doralhw.org.