Our body has quite a lot of sensitive areas, but one of the most crucial ones that we should take additional care of are the knees. As time passes by, our knees get worn out naturally, and while in most cases people live their whole life without knee surgery, sometimes certain lifestyles and diseases intertwine that fate and surgery are a must.
However, there are things that everyone can do in order to lower the risk factors of knee surgery, and most of them involve will not only reduce the risk, but they will also improving other aspects of your life as they are generally healthy habits.
Knee injury risks
- Improper training
While not exercising at all is certainly a much bigger risk that can potentially lead to a knee injury in the future, exercising incorrectly is also a significant risk factor. This is especially the case if you are working out at the gym by lifting weights.
Doing workouts incorrectly at smaller weights might not seem noticeable and it will not cause any pain or injury, but once you break that threshold and enter the heavy-weight area, doing things wrong can lead to a severe injury. If you are not particular about doing a certain workout correctly, make sure to consult with a professional.
Improper training can often lead to a knee injury
- Osteoporosis
According to an orthopaedic doctor from Mid North Coast Hip & Knee Clinic, one of the biggest risks of a knee injury that leads to knee replacement surgery tends to be Osteoporosis. This is a disease that weakens the bones over time, and it eventually gets to the point where they will break very easily.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for this disease, but there are some warning signs that could help you improve your lifestyle in order to minimize the effects. The main ones are back pain and loss of height over time, and of course, if a bone broke much easier than expected. In order to avoid getting osteoporosis, it is necessary to maintain healthy calcium levels and to have an active lifestyle.
- Sports with sudden changes in direction
While not exercising and exercising incorrectly are certainly two very important factors that can eventually lead to a knee injury, which is then followed by a knee replacement surgery, sometimes even correct exercise can be a risk.
This is often the case in high-impact sports where a person would have to quickly and suddenly change their direction, putting a lot of additional force on their knees. Tennis is probably the best example of a sport like this, but basketball, football, soccer, and gymnastics are also sports where there is a high risk of a knee injury.
Knee surgery procedure
If it every gets to the point where you might be in a situation where you have to get a knee replacement surgery in Taree or from your local surgeon, here are some basic points of the procedure that you might want to know.
- Prepare the bone and position the metal implants
The first thing the surgeon is going to do is prepare the bone by removing the damaged cartilage at the end of the femur and tibia. Small amounts of underlying bone are removed as well in order to position the metal implants that recreate joint’s surface. These implants may be cemented or “press-fit” into the bone.
- Resurface the patella and insert the plastic spacer
While some surgeons tend to avoid this part of the procedure, it is quite common to cut the patella of the kneecap and resurface it with a plastic button. Once that is done, a plastic spacer will be inserted between the metal components with the goal of creating a smooth gliding surface.
How can you lower the risk of knee injury?
- Lose weight if needed
You would be surprised just how much weight has an impact on our knees. For every few pounds that you take off, it is removing a lot of gravitational force from the knees when you are in a standing position. Keeping your weight at lower and healthy levels is not only good for knee injury prevention but for your general health as well.
- Strengthen your leg muscles and stay flexible
Exercising and keeping your body ready for all kinds of movement is a very good prevention of not only knee injury, but any injury that could be caused due to your body being “surprised” by the new moves. Warming up by stretching the muscles and increasing flexibility is the core of every exercise routine.
Once you are done stretching and warming up, you can build up leg muscle strength with various leg workouts. If you are not sure which workouts will strengthen your leg muscles that can help knees carry the weight, ask a coach at your local gym, they are always willing to help with things like this.
Make your leg muscles strong to avoid knee injury
Final word
When it comes to exercise as knee injury prevention, it is a double-edged sword. While in general, exercise is great for the health, sometimes repeating certain motions too many times or exercising by playing sports where knee and other injuries are expected should be avoided.
