Running: Can reduce your risk of Arthritis!

We've all heard it all before, "I can't run, it is bad for my knees". Sadly, this is utter nonsense. The only reason people get knee pain is due to muscle imbalances higher up the body, namely the gluteals. I have blogged on this previously.

A new study by Alentorm-Geli et al (2017) has identified that recreational running has a correlation with a lowerincidence with hip and knee Osteo-Arthritis (OA).

OA occurs when our shiny surface, our hyaline cartilage wears away and becomes replaced with roughened, hardened bone resulting in a narrowed joint space, as seen on the image. This commonly occurs mostly in the knee, followed by the hip. OA should not be confused with rheumatoid arthritis, RA, an inflammatory condition affecting many joints of the body. To the sufferer, this results in pain, loss of movement and an effect on quality of life. OA is irreversible and in extreme cases where function is significantly impaired, a knee replacement maybe considered. Although this is not always a guarantee for a success. Many sufferers regret having their knee replaced and wish they had been more active in their formative years.

Therefore prevention should always be better than cure. The authors above recently conducted a systematic review and established that recreational runners have a lower incidence of knee and hip OA. This is when compared to those leading a sedentary lifestyle and even those who perform levels of high intensity running!

Recreational runners: defined as non-professional or amateur

Intensive runners: defined as professional / elite athletes

Sedentary: defined as non-runners Whereas on one hand, critics critique those who perform in recreational running suggesting it is not an effective method for weight and health management and favour intensive running, I feel they should read this article before disparaging the effects of recreational running. I would highly recommend that if you are concerned of risks of OA later in life, then perhaps recreational running could be for you. If you would like more information on OA or struggle to already manage your OA, then contact us or like us on Facebook; facebook.com/mikestampphysiotherapy for advice and support.