If you suffer from joint pain, then you know how difficult and painful completing daily tasks can be. Struggling to get out of bed and perform even simple movements can damper one’s quality of life.
The good news is that there are simple steps you can take to improve your joint health and make daily activities easier to perform. By integrating these tips and tricks into your daily life, you can protect your joints, experience reduced pain, and enjoy greater mobility.
7 Tips to Protect Joint Health
Stretch in the morning: The first thing you should do to set the right tone for your joints is stretch in the morning. Stretching helps improve muscle elasticity and stretched muscles can work more effectively to protect the joints and support movement.
Perform low impact movements at home: Perform balance exercises to keep joints strong. You can use home items like chairs and tables for support and work your way to balancing without any support. Another good technique is to lower yourself to a chair and get up without support.
Use a foam roller: Foam rollers are a great way to give yourself a deep tissue massage in the comfort of your own home. Tense muscles are more likely to become injured and don’t offer as much protection to the joints as eased muscles. There are many guides you can reference to properly use a foam roller.
Eat the right foods: Try to eat more anti-inflammatory foods like dark leafy greens, squash, carrots, sweet peppers, and berries. These foods ward off inflammation, which can worsen joint pain. They are also high in antioxidants which fight off free radical damage that can worsen joint health.
Keep good posture: Standing up straight can help protect the joints all along your spine and even down to your knees. Try to stand up straight as much as possible with eyes focused forward and chin up.
Find the right sleep position: Sleeping in the wrong position can leave you sore and stiff in the morning. Depending on where you experience your joint pain, there are certain sleeping positions which can alleviate it. You can use pillows to prop yourself up in certain ways or to prevent joints from hitting each other. For example, a pillow between the legs can prevent knees from touching. There are specialty pillows to support the head and neck in a certain position. Playing around with sleep positions and pillows can help support joints and ease pain.
Walk: Walking is a great low-impact activity which can keep your joints healthy. You can even walk in a pool so less weight and impact are put on the joints.
Devon Andre has a Bachelor of Forensic Science from the University of Windsor and went on to complete a Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh. This article was originally published on BelMarraHealth.com
