Good Habits for Healthy Knees and Hips

The hip and knee joints are essential for your mobility and you need to make sure you are taking care of them. This can be done primarily by maintaining an active lifestyle. It is important to be active from the time you are young; today, many of us are consigned to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen all day which can be detrimental to our health.

There are certain conditions that can affect mobility such as arthritis and tendinitis and you can visit an orthopaedic surgeon Melbourne whenever you are experiencing pain in these joints as they will be able to find the cause and come up with a treatment plan. When you have excess weight, then there is excess pressure on the knee and hip joints which will put you at a higher risk for developing arthritis. This is why it is so important to maintain a healthy weight. You can check your BMI to get a very rough idea of what your weight range should be according to your height. And there are many things you can do to get your weight under control. It can be an uphill battle but in addition to relieving the pressure on your joints, shedding some weight can improve your overall wellbeing as well. A good way of maintaining a healthy weight is by exercising. You need to make sure that you carry out regular exercise so that the muscles around these joints stay strong and flexible. This will reduce the chances of injury and improve your joint health.

If there is a certain goal that you are working towards, you can even ask your primary caregiver about how to get into exercising and the types of exercises that can help you reach the goal. Some of the exercises that are good for your knee and hip health are low impact activities such as cycling, walking, swimming etc. These activities can reduce the impact on your joints. But before you start exercising, you need to warm up and do some stretches. This will reduce the chances of injury during exercise. You can improve your flexibility and your range of movement by doing some gentle stretches and getting your body ready to do some heavy exercise. If you skip the warming up procedure, you may end up getting a strain or sprain afterwards.

In addition to being active, you need to think about what you are wearing when exercising and when you are working. If you are working a job where you have to be on your feet the majority of the day, it is very important to wear supportive shoes. Make sure that you choose shoes that come with cushioning and good arch support when you are walking, running etc. as it can absorb shock and reduce the risk of you getting injured. And if you are working in a job where you do repetitive motions, take frequent breaks so that the load on your joints is reduced. Your posture also has an impact on hips and knees. If you have poor posture, then there will be additional strain on these joints and you will experience pain.