News and Tips

You may have heard arthritis described as a “wear-and-tear” condition—implying that the more you use your joints, the worse they’ll get. This idea is most often associated with osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. With osteoarthritis, the protective cartilage that cushions your joints gradually wears down, leading to increased friction, stiffness, and pain.

Even though cartilage may wear down over time, exercise and joint use aren’t to blame—in fact, staying active can help reduce pain and improve function, but how?

There are three primary reasons exercise is such good medicine for arthritis.

Exercise Prevents Weight-Gain and Joint Strain

When people experience the pain and stiffness that comes with arthritis, they often avoid exercise because it can be painful or uncomfortable. However, avoiding movement can increase the risk of weight-gain, which puts more strain on the joints that are already struggling.

According to the John Hopkins Arthritis Center, being overweight can increase your risk of osteoarthritis up to 4-5 times. Further, just being 10 pounds overweight can increase the pressure on your knee joints 30-50 pounds with every step.

Exercise Helps “Grease”  and Nourish Your Joints

Most joints in your body are synovial joints, which allow for a large range of motion. The joint cavity, the space between the two bones, is surrounded by the synovial membrane. The synovial fluid fills the joint cavity and acts like a lubricant for the joints.

In people with osteoarthritis, the cartilage between bones wears down. When the cartilage is thin, the bones come in contact with each other causing friction and pain. Exercise stimulates production of the synovial fluid, helping the joints move against each other smoothly.

Synovial fluid also helps to nourish your cartilage because the cartilage in your joints don’t have a blood supply. Cartilage depends on nutrients including vitamins, fats, proteins, and antioxidants, which are floating in the synovial fluid around the cartilage. When weight is applied to the joint, the cartilage is compressed and expels water, like a sponge. When the weight is lifted, and the cartilage expands, water rushes back in, bringing the nutrients from the synovial fluid with it.

Exercise Strengthens the Muscles and Reduces Strain on Joints

Stronger muscles help absorb shocks and stabilize the joints, which decrease the wear on the cartilage between bones.

Muscle strength is directly related to joint stability by resisting external forces put on that joint, according to the National Library of Medicine. For example, having strong quadriceps and hamstrings helps distribute weight evenly over the knee joint and stabilize the bone.

If you or someone you know struggles with chronic health issues, it’s important that you work with people who understand and can address the problem safely and effectively. Those people work at New Heart and approach each patient with compassion, understanding, and enthusiasm because they’ve seen just how impactful prescribed exercise can be.

Our New Heart New You program allows our exercise specialists to tailor your program to fit your needs. Learn more today.