Dr. Viral Gondalia, Consultant Orthopedic & Joint Replacement Surgeon

Shalby Orthopedics Centre of Excellence, Ahmedabad

Everyone aspires to live a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle. For many, enjoying a fast-paced lifestyle and balancing between health and work can be challenging and may result in living a sedentary lifestyle. A sedentary lifestyle (sometimes known as “sitting illness”) is one in which a person does not engage in regular physical exercise. A typical sedentary individual of working age may have a sedentary employment that keeps at the desk all day. To live a healthy life, one must get out of sedentary habits and expose themselves to morning sunlight and engage in exercise, running, cycling, and other physical activities. Due to lack of this coupled with a lack of calcium and vitamin “D” deficiency, countless individuals are falling prey to joint problems and difficulty in mobility. Even the rise in cases of arthritis can be attributed to the increase in sedentary lifestyle. Coupled with sedentary lifestyle, drinking, smoking and being overweight make people prone to develop arthritis of knees, hips and shoulders.

At Shalby Orthopedics Centre of Excellence we have developed the concept of 3 F Screening for arthritis of the knees, especially in those with inactive lifestyle. This is : Females, Fatty and Forties. Overweight women in their forties are recommended orthopedic consultation, digital x-ray of knees, serum uric acid, sugar and Vitamin B12 & D3 tests.

Sedentary lifestyle can lead to many orthopaedic problems. People most commonly report knee pain, followed by shoulder and hip discomfort. Joint pain, on the other hand, can strike anywhere on your body, from your ankles and feet to your shoulders and wrists. Age-related osteoarthritis, auto-immune rheumatoid arthritis, or damage to the ligaments, bursae (lining between the bone and soft tissue), or tendons around the joint can all be causes of joint pain. Bone and joint health can be maintained by eating nutritious foods and exercising regularly. If one is experiencing joint discomfort, it is critical to consult an orthopaedic doctor to get it assessed and treated as soon as possible, in order to avoid future complications.

People who maintain healthy body weight and are physically active, with flexible joints and strong bones, have the best chance of preventing joint discomfort. Although the ageing process cannot be reversed, it can be delayed. And the key is to keep your muscular strength up to par with your exercise level. Orthopaedic patients face two consequences: Joint Discomfort/Stiffness and limited mobility and movement. This makes it difficult for individuals to carry out their everyday activities such as walking, cooking, and other home duties. Fever, lymph node swelling, weight loss, weariness, inability to perform day to day activities, difficulty in walking, and poor sleep are all symptoms of arthritis, regardless of the type.

Here’s how to tell the difference between regular pain and early signs of arthritis:

• Joint pain, stiffness, and swelling, as well as a reduction in range of motion.
• The skin around the joint is red.
• Fever is commonly accompanied by unexplained joint pain.
• Difficulty performing daily tasks owing to joint pain
• Joint pain not responding to pain relievers.

It’s critical to make lifestyle changes such as eating properly, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly as these are ways of avoiding knee problems. Aside from that, it is equally critical to maintain healthy body weight. One can do so by adopting the below lifestyle changes.

• Attempt to keep injuries to a minimum.
• Maintain good posture and avoid wearing high heels.
• Monitor your vitamin B 12 and vitamin D 3 levels on a regular basis, with the latter being slightly more crucial in the case of arthritis.
• Eat a Healthy Diet that includes nuts and seeds such as walnuts, cashew nuts, and pistachios. Include extra vegetables in your diet, such as garlic and onions.
• Curcumin is a good source of antioxidants and helps to relieve arthritis related stiffness
• Eat jowar, nachani, raagi, and bajra-based rotis. These are excellent for arthritis-affected joints since they contain nutrients that reduce discomfort.
• High Calcium diet like Eggs, Dates, Soybean, Pulses & Milk and Milk Products

It is high time that people recognize the need for physical activity. With many unknowingly adopting a sedentary lifestyle in the aftermath of the pandemic, its impact on the health challenges is increasingly surfacing among the population at an alarming rate. Lack of mobility can negatively hamper physical agility and may give rise to impaired bone health. Healthy bones are necessary for effective mobility and physical fitness has a clear effect on bone health and enjoying a healthy lifestyle.