Healthy Weight a Key to Pain Free Joints

Shedding Excess Weight Could Save Your Joints!

Excess weight is often a leading cause of chronic joint pain. If you’ve been struggling to deal with chronic joint pain, a great first step could be to assess your weight. Shedding a few pounds can have a profound impact on joint health, both short and long term. When it comes to our weight, it is often a reflection of daily choices and lifestyle habits. Although losing weight might seem like a daunting task to some, you have to power to do anything you set your mind to!

Why Does Weight Have Such a Huge Impact?

The most glaring reason weight can have such a negative impact on the longevity and health of our joints is simply due to the fact that the more weight you carry, the harder your body has to work to support that weight. Weight-bearing joints such as the knees and hips carry the majority of this stress. Did you know that when you are walking on a level surface the impact on your knees is 1.5 times your body weight? This impact is even further magnified when doing activities such as climbing stairs and walking on an inclined surface. This can lead to conditions like early-onset osteoarthritis. The cartilage, a tough but flexible connective tissue that exists between joints to ensure smooth movement, can begin to deteriorate rapidly, leading to painful bone-on-bone contact.  It can be easy to let this manifest into a cycle where weight is put on, it becomes tougher and more painful to move than before, and then the weight is put on at an even faster rate.

Why Else Weight Might be Contributing to Pain.

Excess weight can also be a major cause of widespread inflammation. The excess storage of food (fat), stimulates a response from the body that induces widespread inflammation. Over time, this can negatively the following aspects of your life; sleep, immune system, energy, bone health, as well as mental health. Inflammation, over time, can even lead to the development of rheumatoid arthritis. However, you have the power to make adjustments to either change this narrative or prevent it from occurring in the first place. The most important influence to achieve a noticeable improvement is in your daily diet. Eating a healthy serving of fruits and vegetables is essential in fighting inflammation and keeping off excess weight. It can be as simple as substituting candy or cookies for an apple or banana. These changes won’t happen overnight, but it’s important to stay the course and take it day by day. Your joints will definitely thank you later!

How Can SimpleTherapy Help with Weight?

While the exercises within our platform are enough to get you moving, they are generally not rigorous enough to stimulate weight loss on their own. Where SimpleTherapy has the potential to make the biggest impact on your weight, is by helping to limit or prevent pain. Our stretches and exercises are essential in maintaining or improving your muscle and joint health. The better you feel, the more active you are likely to be. SimpleTherapy can help you build some much-needed momentum in the journey to improve your weight and overall health. Try our exercises and stretches today! It could be the activity that gets the ball rolling in your initiative for a healthier and more fulfilling life!