Dr. Slava Shut

When our joints are working well, our bodies can move well. While the bones make up the main support structure of the body, it couldn’t move without the joints. Where bones connect, there are delicate structures of ligaments, tendons, and muscles working together. Our backs, knees, elbows and fingers all rely on a balance in order for us to do things in our day to day lives.

And as long as everything is working together perfectly, we don’t notice much about our joints. It’s only when something goes wrong with a joint in our body that we really start to think about it.

Welcome to Topic Tuesday, where we dive into a topic specifically related to health, business, or life in general. Today, we’re going to talk about a few things you can do to help keep your joints healthy so you can think about something other than how you’re going to get to the fourth floor.

Chronic Knee Pain

Our knees are responsible for supporting the entire weight of the body. They have to do this in a variety of positions and sometimes under a weighted load. While most people can walk around safely without a problem, I have patients that have struggled with this in their lives. When the knees are working correctly, most people barely even notice them. Healthy body parts tend to be ignored.

But when something goes wrong with the knee it can quickly remind you how important the joint is. Chronic knee pain has many sources. I’ve seen cases resulting from injury and from disease.

Knee pain can be caused by a number of factors. Since I have so much experience treating thousands of patients I know that there are ways to keep your knees healthy and safe.

Losing Weight

When a patient comes to me with a problem, I always do my best to try to find out the cause. Treating the symptoms are important for making people more comfortable in their bodies. But symptoms are not the only thing I’m after. On top of easing their pain, I try to help my patients prevent further pain in the future.

That’s why I try to make sure that people understand how dangerous obesity really is. Now, it’s a very common ailment in the U.S. Although it was a rarity at one point, it’s actually pretty common for people to be overweight. Don’t let the fact that it’s common make you think it’s safe. Obesity often leads to other, more serious chronic issues. You’re going to be safer if you’re healthier.

Obesity tends to lead to alignment issues. Often, the back, shoulders, knees, hips, and ankles can be affected and require caring correction. Alignment issues can easily cause injuries.

A healthy body can still get injured, just like a less healthy one can. But people that are in shape tend to recover more quickly, and have less difficulty in their recoveries. There are a lot of reasons for this. Not only does the heart work more efficiently and give you more energy and better rest, but the organs are also much more efficient when they’re all working together well. 

A lot of these effects happen internally, and you might not even feel some of the consequences. But if you’re already too heavy, and you hurt one of your knees, for instance, your chances of hurting the other knee become much higher.  

Range Of Motion

Since they’re responsible for supporting your weight no matter where you try to move, the legs should have the freedom to move throughout their full ranges. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need the flexibility of a ballerina just to be healthy. While you don’t need to be able to do the splits, you do need to be able to take stairs, stand in line at the bank, and get in and out of the car.

Patients that struggle with range of motion in the knee will often tell me they experience clicking or grinding. Sometimes it’s associated with pain and weakness. That pain can cause them to use the joint less. While rest and elevation can be the right treatment for some problems, too much inactivity can cause problems.

Are you suffering from chronic knee, back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, or ankle pain? Manual therapy is a great physical therapy option to consider. Let’s find the path to your recovery together. Contact my team to schedule a 1-on-1 with me today!