Preserving Your Knees for a Lifetime of Use

Our knee joints absorb a lot of force over our lifetime. Yet they are rarely appreciated until an injury alters our ability to perform even the simplest activity. While it is not possible to avoid the daily wear and tear we impose on these load bearing joints, it is possible to minimize the stress by:

• Maintaining a good weight for your frame.
• Maintaining equally strong hamstrings and quadriceps muscles.
• Regularly exercising – both low impact and high impact.
• Regularly stretching.
• Eating a nutritious diet.

No joint supplement will work as effectively at preserving joints, particularly the knee joints, as these above.

By following these guidelines, you’ll be able to extend the life of your joint and become a candidate for partial rather than total joint replacement much later in life.

Athletes put an unusual amount of repetitive stress on their knees and must work particularly hard at caring for their joint - recognizing early signs of stress and giving their knees and opportunity to recover before more serious cartilage or ligament damage occurs. Warning signs of stress is inflammation, which presents with redness and a warm feeling around the knee. There may also be swelling.

The most common injuries and conditions affecting the knee include damage to the meniscus, cartilage tears, anterior cruciate ligament tears and posterior cruciate ligament tears. If any of these go untreated, the knee joint becomes increasingly unstable and eventually results in joint deterioration and osteoarthritis.

Understanding your limits and recognizing a problem early will help prevent unnecessary wear.

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