By Dr. Molly Casey Summer is coming. It’s easy to get excited about being outside into the spring …
How Your Weight Can Impact Back and Joint Pain
By Sara Butler
Your weight is one of the factors you can control in the fight against back and joint pain. If you notice you are having pains while walking or walking up and down stairs, or you’re worried about arthritis due to genetics, your weight may just hold the key to helping you feel better. It’s important to be aware of the ways in which your weight can have an impact on pain your experience every day. Here’s what you need to know and how your chiropractor might be able to help.
How Your Weight Puts You at Risk
There are a couple of ways in which your weight puts you at risk for developing arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the result of normal wear and tear on a joint. When you have extra body weight it places additional stress on your joints that bear most of your weight, such as your knees. As you walk across the ground, the amount of weight your knees are subject to is equal to one and half times more than your body weight. If a person weighs 200 pounds, then 300 pounds of additional pressure is put on the knees with every step. Over time this places additional stress on the joint that leads to additional wear and tear above and beyond what is considered normal and may mean painful symptoms of arthritis of your joints earlier in life.
Losing just 10 percent of your body mass can have a tremendous impact on the wear and tear of your joints and lower your risk of arthritis later in life, too.
The other way in which your weight puts you at risk for developing arthritis is through inflammatory factors. Increased body mass may contribute to inflammation in other, non-weight-bearing joints such as your hands.
What You Should Do
Have you considered that your chiropractor is a great resource to help you get healthy? They can help to treat your current symptoms, and they can also give you practical exercise and nutrition tips to help you lose some of your body mass for the health of your back and joints.
Exercise is a great way to maintain a healthy weight because it burns calories and it helps to strengthen your muscles. When you strengthen your muscles you lend additional support to your joints and your back.
So, if you are ready to get healthy and work your way to a healthy weight, don’t delay in discussing it with your chiropractor!
