Eliminating Chronic Joint Pain

Author : William Mccombs 

For some people, getting up from bed especially a low bed and in the morning can be very challenging and painful. Even younger ones are affected by stiff, aching joints.

Joint pain is currently the most common pain in the world. One in about three adults suffers from chronic joint pain. Contrary to common belief, this condition does not only affect the elderly.

More than 40 percent of the US population between the ages of 45 and 65 suffer from this debilitating condition and 19 percent under age 44 have this joint problem. Some patients receive COX-2 inhibitors treatment; although it may be helpful it does put a person at risk for heart disease and stroke.

Our body comprises of 143 joints acting as hinges, levers, and even as shock absorbers. These functions allow us to perform different motions such as walking, running, dancing, and jumping.

Our joints depend largely on our articular cartilage to maintain smooth, pain-free motions.

When you rub two ice cubes together, you'll notice that they glide easily and quickly across each other. Now, imagine that as our joints only eight times more slippery.

Any disease or injury to our cartilage leads to painful movements and sometimes to more serious problems.

Amateur athletes are prone to this problem such as a trauma to the hip or other joints depending on the nature of their sports. Although these traumas are gradual, the repetitive and combined effects of these small traumas can result to a bigger problem down the road.

What happens when trauma occurs is that the cartilage is damaged and without healthy cartilage, your bones will rub on each other causing severe pain or even small fractures. The joint lining becomes inflamed as your joints degenerates. As a result, your joint lining or in medical terms called synovium reacts by producing more synovial fluid to lubricate cartilages. This may sound good but actually it's not. This is because this fluid fills up the joint space causing swelling, pain, and more problems.

The last thing you want to do is to take drugs because these produce side effects such as ulcers, strokes, kidney disease, and heart attacks.

In order to restore healthy joints, you need to maintain your ideal body weight. You also have to make sure that you exercise regularly. However, not just any exercise will do. You have to determine the appropriate types of exercise, the frequency as well as the intensity of each exercise.

Pushing yourself to your limits or doing the wrong type of exercise can actually contribute to deterioration of your joints rather than solving the symptoms. Consulting a knowledgeable and experienced personal trainer can show you the proper exercises to help you preserve your joint health and prevent long term problems.