Joint life span is only 60 years? Stop now! These habits make your knees age faster

Experts in this article:

Yu Tong, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Orthopedics, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

Zhang Zhihai, Chief Physician, Department of Orthopedics, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

It is a familiar saying that people’s legs age first.

I often see this statement on the Internet: the life span of human joints is only 60 years. Is this true?

What habits make joints age faster? How can we protect our knee joints? No matter how old you are, you should know more about this!

The lifespan of joints is only 60 years?

Joints actually have a lifespan. As we age, the frequency of joint use increases, and the articular cartilage will gradually wear out and degenerate, leading to symptoms of osteoarthritis such as cartilage damage and bone hyperplasia (bone spurs), which is what we often call joint aging.

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How long is the aging time? Is it 60 years?

In fact, 60 is an approximate number, and the specific time is related to gender, lifestyle and body function. For example, women experience joint degeneration earlier than men, and obese people with excessive weight also experience joint degeneration earlier.

What habits make your knees age faster?

1. Sitting for a long time: affects the circulation within the joints, and the articular cartilage cannot be fully lubricated and nourished.

2. Standing or walking for a long time: causes fatigue of soft tissues around the knee joint, such as muscles and ligaments.

3. Obesity and overweight: increase joint pressure and accelerate joint wear.

4. Excessive amount or intensity of exercise: muscle strain, decreased stability and injury.

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5. Regularly engage in stair and mountain climbing exercises: repeated flexion and extension of the knee joint increases wear between the patella and femur.

6. Kneeling, squatting, bending knees, and sitting on a low bench frequently: increases the load on the knee joints.

7. Inappropriate shoes: For example, women who often wear high heels or flip-flops will experience changes in posture during activities, which will lead to changes in the load line during knee joint activities, causing wear and tear on the knee joint.

Can I still exercise if I have a bad knee?

Some people say that the more painful your knees are, the more you should exercise, but this is actually incorrect.

Knee pain often indicates that inflammation has occurred in the knee joint due to some reason. At this time, rest should be the main focus to help eliminate the inflammation and relieve symptoms.

Therefore, when pain occurs in the knee joint, we should try to reduce squatting, climbing, going up and down stairs, etc., and stop doing actions that cause pain.

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But it does not mean that all sports cannot be performed. It is okay to do some rehabilitation training that does not cause knee discomfort, such as muscle strength training under non-weight-bearing conditions, joint mobility training, swimming, etc. The specific movements vary from person to person and need to be performed under the guidance of a professional doctor.

How to protect the knee joint?

1. Reduce the load on the knee joint and reduce inappropriate activities

In daily life, we should reduce exercises such as climbing stairs and mountains, because the knee joint will frequently flex and extend during exercise, which will repeatedly cause friction between the patella and femur. Over time, this will cause greater wear and tear on the patellofemoral joint, especially for women after the age of 50. Estrogen levels gradually decrease and joint degeneration worsens, so we should try to avoid climbing stairs or mountains.

Similarly, try to avoid deep squats, especially repeated squats, because when we squat, the friction on the cartilage on the moving track between the patella and femur is very strong, and the articular cartilage is extremely susceptible to wear.

2. Avoid sitting for long periods of time and sitting on low benches

Don't sit for long periods of time, and don't cross your legs when you sit. When you sit up, pull your feet back first. It's best if the chair has armrests so you can stand up easily, which will reduce the pressure on your knee joints. At the same time, don't sit on a very low stool, because when you stand up from a low stool, your knees need to bear a lot of pressure, which can easily cause injuries.

So what is the best way to sit? Just sit so that your knees and hips are on the same plane.

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3. Keep warm and avoid catching cold

After entering middle age, many people often experience cold knee joints, fear of cold and wind, and even in the hot summer, they feel a cool breeze blowing through the gaps between their bones.

Generally speaking, with age, the cartilage of the knee joint wears out, and the joint degenerates and proliferates, inflammation in the knee joint occurs, which increases the pressure in the joint cavity. The blood flow in the capillaries in the joint slows down under the high pressure, and the nerves become sensitive. When encountering wind or in a cold and humid environment, the symptoms of knee joint discomfort will be aggravated. Therefore, we should pay attention to keeping warm in daily life, and we can also relieve the symptoms through physical therapy and hot compresses.

4. Strengthen joint stability through muscle training

Decreased joint stability is an important risk factor for knee joint degeneration and injury. The stability of the knee joint is mainly maintained and protected by the surrounding muscles, ligaments and joint capsule, while the muscles provide dynamic stability to maintain the static posture of the joint and the joint during movement. Therefore, reasonable strength training of the muscles around the knee joint can improve the stability of the knee joint, thereby slowing down degeneration and reducing the occurrence of knee joint injuries.

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5. Reasonable dietary structure and good living habits.

Pay attention to adequate calcium intake, which can be supplemented through foods high in calcium such as milk, soy products, and dried shrimps. Eat more liver, fish, and eggs, which are high in vitamin D and can promote calcium absorption. At the same time, get more sun exposure to promote the activation of vitamin D. Fresh fruits are rich in vitamins, so make sure you have enough every day. Do not smoke or drink, eat less sugar and high-salt and high-fat foods, reduce coffee, cola, and strong tea, and eat less pickled vegetables, bacon, and other pickled foods.

6. Pay attention to controlling your weight. Excessive weight will increase the burden on the knee joints and cause joint wear.

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