Many people think of joint pain as something that goes hand in hand with growing older.  Mention joint to an older adult and oftentimes they will grimace in pain and grab their knee, wrist, or shoulder. Maybe this will be followed up by a reference to an old sports injury or arthritis that runs in the family.  For older adults, their joints can cause pain.

Does it have to be this way?

Perhaps you’ve heard the joke about the man who walks into his doctor’s office. The doctor asks, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s my left knee,” the patient answers. “It hurts when I walk.”

“Well, you’re 70,” says the doctor. “That’s what happens as you get older.”

“But doc,” the patient exclaims, “my right knee is the same age, and it feels fine!”

Is joint pain a natural consequence of aging?

 “Nuisance Pain” Versus Arthritis

Some doctors say that it is natural to experience “nuisance pain” as we age. This pain is from physical wear and tear as the cartilage that cushions our joints, and the disks that cushion the vertebrae in the spine, deteriorate over time.

But arthritis is not nuisance pain; it is chronic pain from inflammation of the joints, often accompanied by swelling, stiffness, and fatigue. Doctors seem to agree that this kind of joint pain is neither natural nor inevitable as we grow older.

In fact, arthritis afflicts all age groups. According to the Arthritis Foundation, almost 300,000 babies and children in the US have arthritis or a rheumatic condition. The CDC says that 23 percent of all adults in the US suffer from arthritis and 60 percent of these adults are of what is considered to be working age (18 to 64 years).

So, if arthritis affects all age groups – from cradle to grave – it is not a disease you should expect to get or accept just because you are growing old. Even though age increases your risk of getting arthritis, other factors such as injury, weight gain, genetics, and anatomical factors that affect joint mechanics can determine which joints are affected and the severity of the problem. In other words, you can take steps to help reduce the risk of suffering from joint pain as you age.

If you keep your joints healthy throughout your life, you will be able to run, walk, jump, play sports, and do the other things you like to do at a pace and in a manner that does not bring you pain or cause you injury.

5 Tips to Keep Your Joints Healthy

Here are five useful ways you can keep your joints healthy throughout your life. If you are already affected by arthritis, these approaches will not cure you, but they will help you effectively manage your pain so that you can continue to do the things you enjoy.

1. Eat right

I know you’ve heard it time and again, that you should eat a healthy, balanced diet. And you’ve been given lots of advice on what makes a healthy diet. There are so many good things to eat, it might be more helpful for you to know the foods you should avoid, or eat only in moderation, so that you can enjoy healthy joints.

Avoid foods that trigger the release of cytokines, and you can help reduce the opportunity for inflammation in your joints. Cytokines are chemical messengers that cause inflammation in the body. What are the foods that trigger cytokines?

• processed foods
• refined carbohydrates
• sugars
• foods that are high in Omega-6 fatty acids, like tilapia and catfish

2. Get moving

Remember: it’s natural to have some nuisance pain as you age. But if you stop moving your arm, leg, shoulder, or back to avoid that pain, you are harming yourself in the long run. Inactivity reduces the supply of blood to the affected area, and arthritis will set in when the blood supply to joints, muscles, and surrounding structures is reduced.

Therefore, it is essential to remain or become active as you age. Do not interpret nuisance pain as a signal to stop moving. Do not accept chronic joint pain as a part of aging. Keep moving. Get moving.

It is best to have a lifestyle that encourages movement. So, reduce the amount of time you sit at a desk or in front of a television set. WebMD recommends that you change positions often. “Take frequent breaks at work and stretch or go for a short walk. If you can’t leave the office, try taking phone calls while standing.”

You should also participate in specific exercises:

Low-impact exercises such as walking, swimming, bicycling, and dancing. Why? These types of exercises help to keep your joints healthy without wearing them down.

Exercises that strengthen your core: specifically focus on strengthening your chest, back, and abdomen. Why? “Stronger abs and back muscles help you keep your balance and prevent falls that can damage your joints.”

Exercises that strengthen your muscles: “Strong muscles support your joints. If you don’t have enough muscle, your joints take a pounding, especially your spine, hips, and knees, which must support your entire body weight.”

Pilates, Tai chi, stretching, and qigong may be part of a good fitness program to help you achieve these exercise goals.

3. Make supplements a part of your diet

If you are eating a healthy, balanced diet, you may not need to take vitamin supplements. However, there are two supplements you might want to add to your diet: vitamin D and glucosamine. If you have questions about whether adding vitamin supplements is a good fit with your diet, speak with your health care professional.

Vitamin D is needed for healthy bones, teeth, and muscles. And glucosamine is a natural compound found in cartilage – the tough tissue that cushions joints. The supplement is made from the shells of shellfish or in a lab. The glucosamine supplements in sulfate and hydrochloride forms are known to provide some relief for people suffering from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, respectively.

Cosamin DS, which includes glucosamine HCL and chondroitin sulfate, works at the cellular level to inhibit enzymes that break down cartilage. As a result, the supplement has proven to be very effective.

There are also spices that you can add to your foods to reduce pain-causing inflammation. The most popular anti-inflammatory spices are ginger, curcumin, and turmeric.

4. Maintain your ideal weight

It is particularly important for you to remain within your ideal weight throughout life. Your body is mounted on a musculoskeletal system that includes the bones of the skeleton and the cartilage, ligaments, and other connective tissue that stabilize or connect the bones.

The purpose of this system is to support the weight of the body, to maintain the body’s position, and to produce controlled, precise movements. Without the skeleton to pull against, contracting (tightened) muscle fibers could not make us sit, stand, walk, or run.

When you have excess weight, you are placing more weight on your skeletal frame than it is designed to support. This combined weight places stress on your joints—especially in your hips, knees, and feet. And it adds to the wear and tear that can cause arthritis as you grow older.  If you want healthy joints as you age, do not keep more weight on your frame than it was genetically designed to bear.

5. Love yourself

Yes, love yourself. Loving yourself is about adopting a mindset that makes positive and healthy lifestyle choices.

Decide that you will love yourself rather than merely use yourself to get the things you love. When you love yourself, you eat foods that help your body remain healthy, and you develop and support a lifestyle that keeps you active and within your ideal weight.

Perhaps you’re not aware of the “hate” you direct toward that leg, arm, or shoulder that’s been hurting you. Love yourself by directing compassionate thoughts instead toward those areas of your body. Those thoughts may activate healing in that area of your body.

This approach is similar to an effective technique in bodybuilding called the mind-muscle connection, which is used to activate a muscle even before lifting begins by focusing on that muscle.  So, go ahead and love that joint, and remind your body that it is wonderfully made to heal itself.

Love yourself by getting sufficient quality sleep. Sleep is an investment in your health. Invest in yourself and recognize your responsibility – and ability – to take good care of yourself. No one can take care of you better than you can.

Get Started Today

Is it a relief to know that you don’t have to experience joint pain as you age because arthritis is not an inevitable consequence of growing older? Now you can focus on protecting your joints so that they are healthy as you age. No excuses.

“What we need to do,” says Dr. Grant Cooper, sports medicine physician,  “is to change the mindset of how we look at the body as we get older and to recognize that if we do a good job of keeping our muscles strong and limber and help the muscles take the pressure off the joints and the back, then we can really do a lot to prevent these kinds of wear and tear types of changes as we get a little bit older.

And when the pain does arise, and we do develop knee pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, back pain, et cetera, we have good treatments to be able to take away that pain, and then we need to get hooked back in with the right kinds of exercise and the best way to prevent that pain is to stay strong and stay flexible, and that’s how we stay healthy going into the future.”

Let’s go into the future with the right mindset, eating healthily, being active, and loving ourselves.