10 Things you should be doing to avoid a knee replacement – tips for seniors!
Are we all destined to need knee replacement surgery as we get older?
Thankfully no. Knee osteoarthritis is not genetic but people could inherit the predisposition for arthritis but not arthritis itself.
So if your mum or dad needed a knee replacement later on in life, this should be your wake-up call to start following these tips to reduce your chances of developing osteoarthritis and even reducing the impact on your knees even if you have already been diagnosed with it.
The great news here is that all of the following tips are simple and easy to follow and if implemented, will diminish your risk factors for needing a knee replacement in the future due to osteoarthritis.
Tip 1 – Improve your Knee Mobility
You can address this in two ways. Mobilising the knee joint by working it through its available range little and often throughout the day and also by challenging the joint if it has already become stiff.
Basic movements like bending and straightening the knee joint 10 times every time you sit at your desk. Or perhaps performing a simple quadricep stretch followed by a hamstring stretch regularly throughout the day, especially any prolonged period of inactivity.
If your knee is already stiff and you have noticed that you have lost some of your available range of motion, this becomes even more important. Regularly mobilising the joint with basic knee mobility drills can help nourish the joint and improve circulation, both essential for maintaining top knee health.
Tip 2 – Strengthen your Glutes
The glutes have such an important part to play in placing the joints below it in the most optimal position for walking, standing and running. If they get weak it can impact on the correct biomechanics and lead to muscles around the knee not being able to engage fully. This in turn places more stress on the cartilage in the knee.
Great examples of bum-strengthening exercises include glute bridges, standing hip extensions or even buttock clenches.
Tip 3 – Prime your Glutes before walking or prolonged activity
Use the exercises mentioned in tip 2 above to wake the glutes up to prepare them for exercise. By exercising the glutes before you set out for a long walk or even just some gardening they will be primed and active and therefore take the appropriate pressure off the knees during the activity ahead.
Try this out if you already have knee pain.
Tip 4 – Hydrate
If you’ve been reading my other blog posts and this one in particular: Hydration and Musculoskeletal Pain
You’ll know how important maintaining adequate hydration is for having healthy joints.
You should consult your doctor before hugely increasing your water intake but the recommended daily allowance should be anywhere between 2-3 litres depending on how active you are.
Synovial joints like the knee are nourished by the lovely fluid inside them and this is optimised when we are appropriately hydrated.
Tip 5 – Take Joint Health Supplements
There are so many supplements for joint health available but how do we wade through them all to select the best ones?
Luckily you don’t have to because I’ve done that for you!
I recommend the following stack for all my patients who are seeking some additional help from their nutrition to protect and nourish their joints with supplementation.
I know, you were expecting Glucosamine and Chondroitin weren’t you?
The research however suggests that these three supplements are the ones to be taken to improve the lubrication of the joint (OMEGA-3), reduce any inflammation (TUMERIC) and keep bone uptake/health in order (BORON)
Please consult your doctor before starting any of these supplements as they may not be right for you especially if you are taking any other regular medication.
Tip 6 – Strengthen your Toes and Ankles
By taking some time to work on your ankle strength and mobility and also the strength in your toes, you’ll create a strong base for all the joints above to work from.
Stronger ankles result in better knee biomechanics and in turn, decreased work for the shock-absorbing structures in the knee and therefore less abrasive forces over time. All of these are important for maintaining top knee health.
You could start very simply by improving your balance. Single-leg balance with eyes open or eyes closed is a great starter. As is, towel scrunches with your toes to build toe flexion strength.
Tip 7 – Start strength training in your Quads, Hamstrings and Glutes with low resistance high repetition exercises (but then get heavier)
To facilitate stronger joints we need to load them. If you’re over the age of 55 and have never done any strengthening work before, then it’s important to start doing exercises that you can perform multiple repetitions of.
By performing exercises at low weight, we can initially de-load the meniscus and minimise the pressure on it. The exercises will build strength and stability of the knee and also promote improved blood flow and lubrication to the joint as a really useful side effect too.
As we condition the knees to accept load slowly by performing low-weight, high-rep exercises we are at the same time preparing them to move into the next stage of training which looks at incorporating body-weight and increased-weight exercises to further strengthen the joints. This is vital for reducing the demand on the meniscus and improving the longevity of the joints.
Tip 8 – Avoid sitting for more than 1 hour at a time
This heading should read – Avoid sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time – but there needs to be some trade-off between tips that are practical and effective.
When we sit for longer than 30 minutes at a time, the synovial fluid that nourishes and lubricates the knee becomes thick and more viscous. If we are looking at knee health we don’t want this.
Just by getting up and moving around for 60 seconds, we can increase our joint core temperature and affect the viscosity of the joint fluid. We want it to be less viscous. We know that in this form it performs its duties more efficiently.
Also by getting up and moving around we are mobilising the joint and keeping the soft tissue happy.
Tip 9 – Lose Weight
The knees are load-bearing joints. The menisci act as shock absorbers and liners of the ends of the bone and manage the compressive loads when we stand, walk or run. When we are carrying extra weight these loads are increased. If you are overweight, losing even 10% of your extra weight will benefit your knees greatly.
Research has also shown that as well as taking pressure off the knees, when we lose excess weight the nutritious synovial fluid that bathes the joints and aids with mobility can move more freely and is thinner and able to lubricate the joint more efficiently.
Tip 10 – Consider seeing a Physiotherapist for specialist review and treatment
If you feel like you’ve tried the previous 9 tips and things haven’t improved for you, I would recommend getting an in-person appointment for a review and a personalised programme to help you bulletproof your knees and avoid knee surgery.
Physiotherapists are ideally placed to do this. If you’d like to book an appointment to see me you can do it here Book an Appointment.
Conclusion
If you follow all the tips that I have assembled above, you will have the best chance of avoiding knee replacement surgery.
The health of your knee joints is in your hands – get started today and avoid surgery in the future!
Research has also shown that as well as taking pressure off the knees, when we lose excess weight the nutritious synovial fluid that bathes the joints and aids with mobility can move more freely and is thinner and able to lubricate the joint more efficiently.
