When it comes to taking care of your bones and joints, you have a lot of control. Taking good care of your bone health can reap rich benefits in your old age. The following are ways to keep your bones and joints healthy.
Exercise
Exercise is a great way to keep your bones and joints healthy. Weight-bearing exercises, such as lifting hand weights, performing bodyweight exercises like push-ups or squats, or simply walking at an incline, can help maintain your bones healthy by boosting bone density. By strengthening your bones, you make them less prone to fracture. You can also lower your risk of osteoporosis, characterized by low bone density.
Exercise can also help protect your joints by strengthening the surrounding muscles, reducing pressure, strain, and stress on the joints. For example, strengthening your quadriceps (the muscles on the front of your leg) and hamstrings (the muscles on the rear of your thigh) can help you avoid knee joint injuries.
If you have pre-existing joint issues, such as persistent hip, knee, or back pain, non-weight-bearing workouts like swimming or other pool aerobics can be quite beneficial.
Avoid Smoking
Smoking can harm your bone health. Smoking harms the health of your musculoskeletal system by lowering blood supply to your bones and impairing their ability to store calcium. Researchers discovered a relationship between smoking and decreased bone density, which can lead to shattered bones. Even if you do smoke cigarettes, you can reduce the influence it has on your bone health by cutting back or quitting completely.
Smoking can also influence your joint health since it reduces the amount of cartilage around your joints, making you more susceptible to illnesses like arthritis and persistent pain.
If you do have an orthopedic injury that requires a procedure or surgery, smoking can also increase the amount of time it takes for your wounds to heal.
Reduce Drinking
Excessive alcohol consumption can have a number of negative consequences for the health of your bones and joints. First, excessive alcohol use might impair your body's ability to retain and recover minerals from your bones. This can have an impact on systems other than your bones, such as your cardiovascular system.