There’s a reason car manufacturers tell you to change your oil often. (And it’s a different reason than oil companies have for telling you the same thing.) It’s simple: Metal, rubbed against metal, wears down. A good coat of fresh oil allows metal parts to slide by each other without damaging friction.
Bone is no different. The moving parts of our bodies—the joints—come with a protective coat of lubrication at the points where the ends of bones would otherwise rub or grind. That slippery tissue is cartilage, which allows bones to glide over each other and helps absorb the shock of movement.
Unfortunately, we can’t go in for cartilage changes every twenty years or 5,000 miles (whichever comes first). Instead, over time, the top layer of cartilage breaks down, becomes rough, and finally wears away, allowing the bones to rub together. Without a way to do routine cartilage changes, you don’t have a choice over whether you’ll develop osteoarthritis. Fact is, it happens to everyone eventually. But you do have some say over when it will happen.
Osteoarthritis is considered a disease of old age only because it takes that long for symptoms to appear. The process actually begins in our teens and twenties. Sprains, especially repeated sprains to the same joint, can alter the mechanics of not only the sprained joint, but others involved with it. High-impact activities, such as the hard stops and jumps involved in many sports, take a toll on cartilage—so do strains and twists, or even simple activities if they’re repeated consistently for long enough. Any stiffness, grinding, or crunching you feel in joints now is an indication of arthritis already at work.
The biggest problem, though? Excess weight. Not only do the pounds place additional load on the skeleton, but also a circulating metabolic factor in obese individuals speeds the breakdown of cartilage in non–weight-bearing joints such as the hands and fingers.
Helping people put off arthritis as long as possible is a priority for the orthopedic specialists at Brigham City Community Hospital. By encouraging healthy lifestyle choices, they hope to keep you active and strong. Adhering to a few basic principles can help you keep arthritis at bay:
- Maintain a healthy weight. Be honest with yourself about weight that creeps on gradually. You have to work harder as you age to maintain muscle mass and support your skeletal system.
- Exercise wisely. The best activities involve resistance, but not impact, such as walking, cycling, and weight lifting. Yoga and pilates offer the added benefit of incorporating flexibility, which is an essential component of joint health.
- Pay attention to mechanics. Proper mechanics get a lot of attention in athletes, and for good reason, but they’re equally important in performing everyday activities such as lifting, reaching, and bending. The Arthritis Foundation has good tips for being mindful about how you perform routine activities.
Unfortunately, we don’t have window stickers reminding us to take care of our joints like the ones that remind us about car maintenance. But by making arthritis prevention a lifestyle habit, you can make sure your joints outlast any car on the road.