When you think about preventative health, what immediately comes to mind? Is it diet and exercise? Is it taking vitamins? How about getting enough sleep? Of course, there’s also the aspect of getting those annual checkups too. Well, in general, preventative care has a lot of aspects. While sure, you can’t always predict what will happen to your body, especially if it’s an unknown condition, it’s also still important to know that preventative care isn’t just picking and choosing things to watch over.
Preventive care should also be focused on even the smaller things that you might not inherently think about, such as not running or jumping too much since it’s bad for your knees or cutting down on high-cholesterol foods both for your heart and to prevent gallstones.
But it’s not just about taking preventative measures for your heart, colon, blood, mouth, or even skin; you have to think about your orthopedic health, too. In fact, you’d be surprised to know that this will massively affect your life and daily activities with age. But how can you prevent any future issues? Well, here’s exactly what you need to know!
You’ll Still Need to Keep Active
If you want to fully prevent the need for orthopedic surgery in the future, the first step is to keep being active. You’re already more than familiar with the fact that regular physical activity is crucial for building strong bones, muscles, and joints. These are just elementary things. So, with that said, you’ll need to keep active. So, what does your current regiment look like? It’s going to be helpful to incorporate a variety of exercises into your routine, so this might even include aerobic activities (such as walking, running, or cycling), strength training (using weights or resistance bands), and flexibility exercises (like yoga or stretching).
Yes, this advice might even be super overdone, but it’s seriously important not just for preventing orthopedic issues but also for other issues. Just be sure you’re not overdoing and not overexerting yourself, especially in the feet, ankles, knees (pay close attention to that one), and wrists. If you can (and you really should), try to aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week to maintain optimal orthopedic health.
If you don’t have a routine yet, start building one that’s sustainable. This isn’t just about looking good, but you need something that will help your health and help you prevent any issues down the line.
Be Cautious When Active
It was already mentioned above, but it’s best to do a bit of a deeper dive on this. You need to be careful when doing high-impact sports. While running and jumping can be wonderful for cardiovascular health, overall, too much of something can be bad. Why can it be bad? Well, if you’re putting excessive strain on your joints, you’re essentially increasing the risk of injury.
So try to put more low-impact exercises into your regimen. Yes, these can still provide cardiovascular benefits without placing undue stress on your joints. For example, you could look into swimming, cycling, walking, and using elliptical machines since these are all excellent options that help improve joint flexibility, strength, and endurance while still minimizing the risk of joint injury.
How’s Your Posture Looking?
Posture isn’t just about making your clothes drape better on you or even about looking better (and it does do that), but your body needs it. Your shoulders, neck, and back all need this. This is something that’s being hammered down more and more, and for a good purpose, too. If you’re young especially, you shouldn’t be having back or neck pain.
Good posture plays a significant role in preventing orthopedic problems such as back pain, neck strain, and joint stiffness. So, you really need to start being mindful of your posture throughout the day, whether sitting, standing, or walking. There are plenty of tutorials online you can take a look at, but it takes a while to build a habit into good posture. So you could also look into getting a girdle or one of those posture straps from Amazon or your local drugstore.
Getting ergonomic furniture can help, too granted they’re usually fairly pricey. But at the end of the day, you need to make a habit of being aware of your posture; you can’t be hunched back with a drooping neck; this is basically just begging for orthopedic issues down the line.
Keep an Eye on Your Weight
This could be considered low-hanging fruit in terms of advice, but honestly, it’s still important to think about it and look into it. As you may know, your weight impacts your health in multiple ways, including your spleen, kidneys, colon, stomach, joints, and so on. While, yes, everybody is different, weight itself can still have an impact, and the same goes for your orthopedic health.
So why do this? Well, having a healthy weight just basically means that you’re lowering the risk of different types of orthopedic conditions, such as osteoarthritis and joint pain. Your older self will be thanking you for this.
Be Selective of Your Footwear
This one usually surprises people because when it comes to shoes, it’s usually about comfort, right? Sure, during special occasions, it’s okay to feel a little uncomfortable, but for the most part, it’s usually about feeling good while doing whatever activity you’re doing. But sometimes comfort doesn’t always mean a good thing, yes, it’s true! In general, proper footwear is essential for supporting your feet and maintaining proper alignment throughout your body.
Again, sometimes (not always) comfort doesn’t mean that it’s inherently doing this. So, you need to look into choosing shoes that provide adequate arch support, cushioning, and stability for your specific activities and foot type. Again, sometimes comfortable shoes like sneakers immediately get the job done, but again, it’s not always the case.
However, extremely uncomfortable shoes tend to be a dead giveaway that they’re going to be bad for your orthopedic health. For example, you might want to avoid wearing high heels or shoes with unsupportive soles for extended periods, as these are known to contribute to foot pain, ankle instability, and postural imbalances.
Conclusion
In summary, taking preventative care measures is crucial for maintaining good orthopedic health. By engaging in regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, practicing proper posture, avoiding repetitive stress injuries, and wearing appropriate protective gear, individuals can greatly reduce their risk of orthopedic issues. However, if you are currently dealing with chronic pain or struggling with muscular or skeletal issues, it is highly recommended that you seek the expertise of a healthcare professional. They can provide accurate diagnosis and develop a personalized treatment plan to alleviate your pain and improve your orthopedic health.
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