Age reverse - maintaining healthy joints
A joint is simply where two bones meet. In this blog post I will be looking at synovial joints. A synovial joint is one that is enclosed in a ‘capsule’ and lubricated by synovial fluid. The ends of the bones in a synovial joint are covered in cartilage. There are six types of synovial joint - ball and socket (for example hip and shoulder), hinge (for example elbow and knee), condyloid (in the wrist), plane (in the hands and feet), pivot (in the neck), and saddle (for example the thumb)..
There may be several problems as we age - the cartilage can wear,and the synovial fluid becomes depleted. You can see where this is going - there is nothing then to protect the ends of the bones forming the joint and the bones rub together leading to osteoarthritis. Ouch! Stay with me though because this is by no means inevitable. Another problem as we age is that there the ligaments tend to shorten and lose flexibility so that joints become stiffer. Also there can be a loss of muscle mass as we age - now muscle pulling on bone helps make bones stronger so if there is less muscle this may accelerate the development of osteoporosis, further deteriorating joint health.
Key to joint health is exercise - with joint mobility it is definately a case of ‘use it or lose it’. Yoga in particular put the joints through their range of motion, strengthens the muscles that support the joint and longer held yoga such as in yin yoga work at a deeper level, on the connective tissue - ligaments, tendons and fascia. On the yoga blog at the moment we are practicing for strength and flexibility. You might want to look at the following blog posts and yoga videos on my 'sister' blog-
Strength and flexibility - hips
Strength and flexibility - shoulders
And look out for more yoga practices on strength and flexibility in the coming weeks.
For a yin yoga ‘taster’ practice which also includes more familiar yang yoga please also see my 'sister' blog:-
Yoga to rebalance - yin/yang
Also on the yoga blog this week we are practicing a sequence in which we work all the joints of the body. Please see 'Youth boost yoga-Joint mobility'.
Exercise also supports cartilage health and helps prevent the synovial fluid becoming depleted.
For muscle strength try working with weights, resistance bands, push-ups, squats etc. Also please see the following blog posts on my 'sister' blog:-
Yoga for muscle strength Part 1
Yoga for muscle strength Part 2
Yoga for muscle strength Part 3
In terms of diet make sure your diet includes calcium and magnesium, along with trace minerals such as boron. Vitamins D and K work with magnesium to promote strong bones and vitamin D helps the absorption of calcium. Vegans can get these vitamins and minerals from fortified milks and cereals, leafy greens, nuts, seeds, whole grains, mushrooms, chickpeas, apples and beans.
For cartilage and synovial fluid maintenance consider taking a supplement of glucosamine with chondroitin. Please see ‘Natural help for osteoarthritis’ on this blog.
There are some yoga videos to help prevent osteoporosis on my You Tube Channel:-
Osteoporosis 1-Part 1
Osteoporosis 1-Part 2
You might also like the other blog posts in this series:-
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