You Can Let Weight Loss Help Knee Pain

By Neil P. Hines

If you're among the many people that are suffering from severe knee pains, you can take heart. Larger adults that have osteoarthritis in that area that lose at least 10% of whatever their weight is, could significantly lower their aches, walk much faster and generally improve their own mobility. A recent study shows that you can let weight-loss help knee pain.

The diets had been tailored for the individuals.At the start of this study, the people could pick consuming as many as two 300-calorie shakes daily (or some other meal replacements, like protein bars and calorie-controlled cooked meals) and a meal that had between 500 and 750 calories, being very low fat none the less. After six months, the dieters were given the option of gradually stopping the use of meal replacements.

The were given the option of swapping them with some other low-calorie, healthy foods.The exercise -and- diet group had to follow both, the exercise program and meal plan. The dieting group had to follow a calorie-restricted plan for eating.

Obesity presents a huge risk factor to developing osteoarthritis in your knees. There are basically two pathways to getting this form of osteoarthritis. The first is biomechanical, this means that the loading of the joint causes certain effects to the knees, and the second is increases inflammation, something that could affect your muscles' functioning and the sensitivity of your nerve endings.

The participants in the exercise -and- diet group felt less aches in their knees, walked a bit faster and also felt better when it came to performing activities that daily living requires. This includes walking up sets of stairs and climbing out of seats. This was more improved than in the ones in the group that exercised.

A test was done with 454 obese and overweight adults that had osteoarthritis of the knees. They had reported pains in the knees almost every week day. All of them were at least 55 and were considered sedentary. During the 18-month course, participants had been assigned into one of just three groups.

One was an only- diet plan; an exercise -and- diet plan, as well as an only-exercise program.The group based on exercise was set to working out for an hour each day. This was done three times a week, over the course of 18 months, focusing on moderate and mild -intensity strength training and walking. The results were quite staggering, when you realize what a huge difference a few pound can make.

About the Author:

Neil P. Hines is passionate about providing intelligent, unbiased and highly relevant medical information for people dealing with a wide range of pain conditions and related orthopedic needs, including back pain, knee pain, joint replacements, sports medicine, lumbar fusion and more. If you are interested in learning more about Orthopedic Capabilities- Video Clips he recommends that you visit his friends at St. Mary Medical Center.

Let Us Go Ahead

by Nina

Melting Ice by Michele Macartney-Filgate

This weekend a friend of mine was telling me that even though practicing yoga at home made her feel better, she had been having a hard time getting herself to do practice lately. She asked me whether this was because she somehow felt she wasn’t worthy of setting aside all that time for herself. I just shook my head and said, “Don’t worry about why, just do whatever it takes to get yourself to practice, even just one pose. Bribe yourself by promising yourself a reward afterward, trick yourself into it by casually doing a stretch without even changing your clothes, or find a friend who you have to report back to about how your practice went. These are pretty much the same things I always say to people who are having a hard time getting themselves to practice.

Then the next day, I was reading through the soon-to-be-released Sparks of Divinity from Rodmell Press, which  contains the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar compiled by Noelle Perez-Christiaens. And I just had to laugh when I saw the following quote:

Sometimes the body says, “Yes,” and the mind says, “Excuse me today.” Sometimes the mind says, “Yes,” and the body, “Excuse me.” I always say, “Let us go ahead.”

Maybe it’s a simple as that.  Sometimes your body has a physical inertia and resists the idea of practice. Sometimes your mind has a mental inertia and resists the idea of practice. And sometimes both your mind and body resist. But without over-analyzing the reasons, you can train yourself to acknowledge that inertia and then just tell yourself, “Let us go ahead.”

Because my friend was having some back pain, I suggested a couple of poses she might try to make herself feel better. Just try them, I urged her. Don’t worry about doing a complete, long practice. Tell yourself the poses are your medicine and you have to take them. Who knows, maybe once you get going, you might feel like doing more. Or maybe that is your practice for now. At least practicing on your own you have the power to do the poses that may make you feel better, rather than just hoping your teacher will present a sequence that will help you.

I’ll check in with her later this week to see if my advice helped. In the meantime, I wanted to share that little gem from Iyengar with you. I’m sure I’ll be sharing many more gems from this book in the days to come, but if you’re interested in reading it for yourself, I highly recommend it.

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° Join this site with Google Friend Connect