Overweight Knee Pain: Causes and Solutions
Overweight Knee Pain – Most people with obesity frequently suffer from knee pains. So, why is it so? It turns out that excessive body weight puts additional pressure on your knee joints. Thus, people with extra weight unknowingly exhaust their knees every day. After all, our knee joints are responsible for carrying out body mass. Hence, it only makes sense that these are the first joints to feel the extra pressure once a person gains excessive weight. Here’s what you need to know about knee pain and how to reduce it.
Risks of Prolonged Joint Pain
The wear-and-tear disease can affect knee joints in the long term if a person with obesity lives with such pain for a prolonged time. Chronic joint pain not only in the knees but also in the rest of the body can also signify inflammation. In this way, the body receives signals of an injury and directs its inflammatory cells to the hurting place. However, with no improvement in the joint condition, inflammatory cells remain in the area for too long, causing extra pain.
Excessive weight can also be a reason for osteoarthritis. Such a disease affects joints, causing swelling and pain. When unattended, osteoarthritis can reduce one’s chance to use the affected joints to their full ability, thus, resulting in reduced mobility and lack of physical activity.
The Positive Effect of a Body Weight Loss
The best solution to reduce knee pain lies in losing weight. As long as not much damage has been done to the joints, weight loss should be enough for a person to feel better. After all, our body mass index has a direct correlation to the health of our knee joints. When knee pain becomes your constant companion, it’s time to take action.
Diet and exercise should be the first step in dealing with knee pain due to being overweight. A balanced and healthy diet should normalize calorie intake and provide a person with all the necessary nutrients and vitamins. While exercising will exhilarate weight loss and ensure a more active lifestyle.
However, people with knee pain should approach exercising with extra care. Already suffering knee joints should not face even more tension.
Overweight Knee Pain – Exercises for Suffering Knees
A specially designed exercise knee routine for overweight people will ensure a gentle yet effective approach to the issue. Here are several exercises you should try at home:
- Up and down. Sit on a chair and slowly stand up. Try to control your movement. Repeat the up and down moves for about a minute.
- Heal raising. Use the back of your chair for support while you slowly lift and lower your hills. Feel the pressure in the calves. Complete a few sessions of 10 lifts each.
- Calf stretch. Stand behind your chair with one leg in front of another. Bring your weight to the front leg while straightening the back one. Feel the pressure in the back leg. Hold about a minute and change the legs.
- Knee twists. Lie on your back with your feet on the ground and your knees bent. Straighten your arms on the sides and turn your knees pressed together to one and then another side. Try to reach the floor.
Overweight Knee Pain – Bottom Line
People should not accept life with pain, especially when the solution is so affordable and simple. Weight loss will help people with obesity become more physically active while living a pain-free life. Our knee joints serve us great work by allowing mobility and freedom of movement. People should treat them with respect and reduce any unnecessary pressure on them when possible.
