7 Lifestyle Habits That Can Worsen Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is a debilitating condition. It affects virtually every aspect of your life. If you live with osteoarthritis, you already know that pain, stiffness, and swelling in the joints are difficult to avoid.
An important part of successfully managing arthritis is understanding the lifestyle habits that can worsen the condition.
You can begin by taking an honest look at your daily habits and knowing which ones to stop and which ones to improve on. Let’s take a look at the lifestyle habits that can worsen arthritis.
Ignoring Therapy
Non-adherence to medication use worsens arthritis. To effectively manage arthritis, you need to adhere to medications and stop fearing pain management procedures that can be beneficial for your arthritis. You can benefit from a medication change or a new arthritis pain management procedure.
Eating Foods That Worsen Arthritis
An unhealthy diet may be the reason for poor recovery from osteoarthritis pain. Certain types of diet may improve recovery from arthritis pain, and some other types may affect effective osteoarthritis treatment.
For instance, a diet rich in calcium and Vitamin D is beneficial for the joints. A diet rich in weight-bearing fats, on the other hand, may contribute to excess weight, which may worsen osteoarthritis.
Leading A Sedentary Lifestyle
Understandably arthritis pain could be the reason why you are giving into a sedentary life. But if you’re living with arthritis, you need to find a way to strike a balance between rest and activity.
Coping with arthritis begins with engaging in activities that will improve your muscle strength and also joint health. However, a sedentary lifestyle does the opposite by progressively weakening your joints and muscles.
Excessive Smoking
Smoking has been associated with swollen joints that are characteristic of osteoarthritis. Beyond that, it reduces bone density which is a surefire way that worsens the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Quitting smoking is beneficial for reducing osteoarthritis.
Letting Stress Take Over
Physical activity is a component of managing arthritis. However, overstressing your joints could be a risk factor for joint pain which may increase the risk for wear and tear of the joints.
Converging lines of evidence have discovered that many individuals living with arthritis have had one or more cases of stressful life events in the past.
Carrying Around Excess Weight
What causes osteoarthritis could actually be very visible to our own eyes. The weight you’re carrying is what you see every day. Excess weight may limit your ability to exercise regularly and impose more extra pressure on weight-bearing joints. This can lead to joint damage and stiffness.
Doing Too Much High Impact Exercise
Physical activity is great for managing osteoarthritis. But high-impact exercises can slowly wear out the joints resulting in worsening symptoms of osteoarthritis. Exercise moderately and respect pain signals while exercising.
We provide opportunities to live a healthy life for our patients at Hadi Medical Group through advanced personalized care services. Contact us for osteoarthritis treatment in Brooklyn, Hempstead, Long Beach, and Plainview. Schedule an appointment today and improve the quality of your life.