We are accepting new patients. Book your appointment today!
Americans are no strangers to knee pain — the problem affects one-quarter of adults in the United States and drives about 4 million visits to primary care providers each year.
If you’d rather move away from these statistics, our team of joint health and sports medicine experts at Western Orthopaedics want to help improve your knee health.
Whether you’re already dealing with achy knees or you’d like to stay one step ahead of knee pain, read on for some strategies that will safeguard these all-important joints.
Instead of relenting, the obesity crisis in our country is going in the opposite direction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts that 64% of our population (250 million people) will be overweight or have obesity by 2050.
These excess pounds can wreak havoc on all areas of your health, including your musculoskeletal health. Furthermore, of all your major joints, your knees are arguably the most affected by carrying too much weight.
As an example, being overweight or having obesity is one of the major risk factors for knee osteoarthritis, which affects 365 million people around the world.
Since the new year is on the horizon, we want to support any resolutions you make to lose weight in the new year because from where we stand, your knees will thank you.
Perhaps the second-most common New Year’s resolution is recommitting to exercise, which is a great way to support your knee health. These joints are designed to move, and when you exercise, you’re also building more muscle strength in your legs that can take the pressure off of your knees.
Your joints work best when they’re part of an aligned whole, and your feet provide foundational support that helps your knees and hips to function smoothly.
If you have a problem in your feet, such as feet that tend to collapse inward or outward, this can throw your knees out of alignment and lead to pain.
So, if you have issues with your gait or in your feet (think flat feet), you want to ensure that your feet are well-balanced with supportive footwear and custom orthotics.
This is an important point. At the first sign of knee pain, we want you to curb your activity and come see us. All too often, we see patients who have soldiered through months, and sometimes years, of knee pain, and by the time they come to see us, considerable damage has been done.
Early intervention is critical with major joints like your knees as our team can quickly pinpoint the issue and get you going in a direction that supports healing.
If you have more questions about improving the health of your knees or you’d like to come see us for a baseline evaluation, please contact one of our offices in Arvada or Denver, Colorado, to schedule an appointment.
