Health Tips

Do you know the bones in your body meet at a wonderful place called “the joints”? Yes, joints are what connect bones and allow them to move. There are many types of joints in the body. Some of them don’t move (called fixed, they are the suture joints in our skull), some move a little (such as your vertebrae) and most of them move a lot, called the mobile joints. 

By www.scientificanimations.com - http://www.scientificanimations.com/wiki-images/, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74552215

Here are some examples of mobile joints that you should know:

• Ball-and-socket joints. Ball-and-socket joints, such as the shoulder and hip joints, allow backward, forward, sideways, and rotating movements.

• Hinge joints. Hinge joints, such as in the fingers, knees, elbows, and toes, allow only bending and straightening movements.

• Pivot joints. Pivot joints, such as the neck joints, allow limited rotating movements.

• Ellipsoidal joints. Ellipsoidal joints, such as the wrist joint, allow all types of movement except pivotal movements.

Joints are not just simple surfaces. They are in fact amazing structures that consist of the following:

• Cartilage. This is a type of tissue that covers the surface of a bone at a joint. Cartilage helps reduce the friction of movement within a joint.

• Synovial membrane. A tissue called the synovial membrane lines the joint and seals it into a joint capsule. The synovial membrane secretes a clear, sticky fluid (synovial fluid) around the joint to lubricate it.

• Ligaments. Strong ligaments (tough, elastic bands of connective tissue) surround the joint to give support and limit the joint's movement. Ligaments connect bones together.

• Tendons. Tendons (another type of tough connective tissue) on each side of a joint attach to muscles that control movement of the joint. Tendons connect muscles to bones.

• Bursas. Fluid-filled sacs, called bursas, between bones, ligaments, or other nearby structures. They help cushion the friction in a joint.

• Synovial fluid. A clear, sticky fluid secreted by the synovial membrane.

• Meniscus. This is a curved part of cartilage in the knees and other joints.

By Madhero88 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10158699

Collectively, they provide nutrients to the joints as well as allowing smooth movements, so that you can do your morning jogging without problem (or run to your favorite fast food restaurant).

A healthy joint is also what helps Wonder Woman save the world (We guess?)

Why chug you with a bunch of mundane anatomy knowledge, you ask? Well, it can be useful to get familiar with these terms. With so many nutritional supplements for joints in the market today, do you even know how these products work on your joint? (or, do they even work? Eh-hem) Read our article on glucosamine here.

As it turns out, maintaining a healthy joint is not so much about what you eat (although that is important too), but how you use it.

Ouch! My joint hurts!

But before we get into how to protect your joint, we first have to ask ourselves: why do joints hurt? Joint pain is a very common problem with many possible causes, but it is usually a result of injury or arthritis. 

Take back pain for example, most people (about 85 percent) have what doctors call "nonspecific" low back pain, which means that the pain is not clearly caused by a specific disease, abnormality, or serious injury of the spine. While it can be frustrating to have pain with no identifiable cause, it may help to know that this type of back pain typically improves on its own within a few weeks, and there are few things you can do to feel better in the meantime, such as applying heat and avoiding bed rest. 

In some instances, however, joint pain can be caused by arthritis, which is a disease that leads to the inflammation of the joint. Middle-aged and obese individuals are especially prone to osteoarthritis. In very rare cases, joint pain is caused by serious diseases, such as infection or cancer tumor. If you have any doubts about your joint pain, consult a healthcare professional. 

A healthcare professional is trained to diagnose your joint pain based on physical examination, history taking and medical tests (if necessary). So just because Google said your back pain might be caused by a tumor in your back, it doesn’t mean that you have to believe it.

Tips for a Healthy Joint

If you have joint problems, healthcare professionals are an important part of managing arthritis. For example, your doctor can make sure you're taking the right medications, and physical or occupational therapists can help you find safe and effective ways to exercise and modify your daily activities. But ultimately, the day-to-day work of managing your arthritis falls to you.

Whether you have joint pain or not, it doesn’t hurt to learn these tips that can help you avoid stiffness and lighten the burden on your joints.

1. Keep moving

Or we should say: avoid holding one position for too long. Joints that are kept in one position for long periods of time tend to get stiff (known as gel phenomenon). You certainly can relate to this when you feel stiffness in the body after sitting for a long period of time. Well, stand up and stretching every 15 minutes can really help. Some people relieve stiffness by sitting on the aisle so they have the room to periodically stretch out bent knees during a play or movie. 

2. Reduce excess body weight

If you’re a food lover, reducing extra body weight is the bane to your existence. 

But it is true that excess weight puts a strain on the body, especially lower extremity joints such as hips, knees, and ankles. These are the weight bearing joints that often get damaged the most if you are overweight. A meta-analysis of the impact of overweight and obesity on the population prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA) found that the population-attributable risk percentage (PAR%), ie, the proportion of knee OA that would have been avoided if there was no obesity in the population, is 50 percent for symptomatic OA in the United States, where the prevalence of obesity is high. In contrast, in China, where obesity prevalence is lower, it is only 8 percent. 

But we don’t want you to harm your health by starting drastic dietary changes, especially if you have other medical conditions such as diabetes. Instead, express your interest to lose extra weight to a healthcare professional you trust. He or she will advise lifestyle changes suitable to your weight loss needs.

3. Use good posture and body mechanics

Good body mechanics and posture can have a powerful impact by minimizing musculoskeletal strain and thereby preventing or reducing pain. For instance, we should always sit in a neutral spine position, which suits the normal curves of the spine. 

Image credit to https://backforever.com/blog/2019/05/13/neutral-spine/

In other words, no slouching and not too-arched. However, using good postures and body mechanics can be tricky as people are often unaware of the impact of poor body mechanics and posture on their body. We suggest that you work with a healthcare professional, such as an occupational therapist or chiropractor, on this issue.

4. Why work hard when you can chill?

Okay, we don’t mean that for your life in general but only your joints. Why stress your joints out when you can use a special device that saves your labor? For example, use electric mixers instead of hand mixing when baking. Opening a tight lid can be difficult if you have hand arthritis. One solution is to set the jar on a cloth, lean on the jar with your palm, and turn the lid using a shoulder motion. Better yet, purchase a wall-mounted jar opener that grips the lid, leaving both hands free to turn the jar. 

For patients with painful hand and wrist problems, specially made or adapted devices allow forces to be spread over larger areas and permit joints to operate nearer the mid-range of their motion. Lightweight equipment with built-up handles of about one inch (2.5 cm) in diameter can decrease the amount of force on joints. Built-up handles can also help individuals with weak hands. 

A study of 53 women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) showed that pain was significantly reduced when assistive devices were used for activities of daily living. Foam pipe insulation, widely available, can be cut to length and can be used as grip cushions on tools, handles, brooms, etc.

All in all, avoid positions or movements that put extra stress on joints. 

5. Plan ahead and ask for help when necessary

Don’t be like Joker – you should plan ahead if you have joint problems.

Simplify life as much as possible. Eliminate unnecessary activities (for example, buy clothing that doesn't need ironing). Organize work and storage areas; store frequently used items within easy reach. Keep duplicate household items in several places; for example, stock the kitchen and all bathrooms with cleaning supplies. But also, we understand that it may not be easy for one person to plan this extensively. Educate your family members and friends about your joint pain and limitations it imposes and enlisting their support. Ask for help with specific tasks.

A word from Doc2Us

If you have any questions related to joint pain, you can consult our professional doctors and healthcare professionals on Doc2Us. Doc2Us is a mobile application that allows you to talk to a doctor or any healthcare professionals via text chat at any time and from anywhere. 

Download Doc2Us app on Apple App Store, Google Play Store and Huawei App Gallery; or use our web chat at https://web.doc2us.com/

Till then, stay at home and take care!

References

1. Stanford Children’s Health - Anatomy of a Joint

2. UpToDate - Overview of joint protection

3. Harvard Health Publishing - Simple tips to protect your joints

Disclaimer: As a service to our users and general public, Doc2Us provides health education contents. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

Written by

Ms Joyce Toh