8 Ways to Prevent Major Joint Pain as You Age
We Are/Getty Images
If your hips and knees function well and are totally pain-free, you might just take it for granted. When you need to power through a workout, kneel in your garden, or climb a set of stairs, you just do it without a second thought. But even if you can’t feel it, these joints are working really hard. And one day, all that wear and tear may catch up to you if you don’t show these major joints a little love and care early on.
Take your knees, for example. They are the biggest joints you’ve got and help you stand, move, and balance the entire weight of your body. Same for your hips, which are essential for most movements and provide support for your back and knees. Because you use them every single day and in so many ways, these joints can become a source of pain and misery if they’re injured or due to wear and tear over time. It’s actually extremely common: About 70% of adults over 50 have arthritis or some level of joint pain that limits their activities—and women are more likely to experience this than men, according to the 2022 University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. As a result, surgeons perform more than a million hip and knee replacements every year to relieve pain and improve mobility.
The good news here is that the earlier you start taking care of your joints, the better. “You only have one body, two knees, and two hips—keeping your bones and joints healthy is important for lifelong mobility,” Jocelyn Wittstein, MD, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Duke University School of Medicine and an Arthritis Foundation expert, tells SELF. Doing so will also help minimize pain and the likelihood of injury, which might reduce your risk for arthritis later on.
Below, experts share some habits you can add to your routine to help—some of which you may already be doing without even realizing it.
1. Wear comfortable, supportive shoes.
A cute pair of heels may be your go-to party shoes, but if you wear them too often, you could be wrecking your hips and knees and damaging your posture. Heels force your knees into a more bent position and put pressure on the knee cap, Dr. Wittstein says. Prolonged walking in heels can strain your feet, the backs of your legs, and hips, adds Mallory Behenna, PT, DPT, a physical therapist at Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville, Florida. A small 2014 study found that higher-heeled shoes may even contribute to an increased risk of osteoarthritis in women. If you want to wear heels to an event or while giving a presentation, Dr. Behenna suggests carrying a pair of sneakers with you to change into.
Ballet flats may seem like a good option because they don’t have a heel, but they typically don’t offer much support or cushioning. This lack of structural support for the tendons, ligaments, and muscles in the feet may increase stress on your joints and “can cause pain that goes up into the hips and to the lower back,” Dr. Behenna says.
When choosing shoes, “you want to be comfortable, and you also want to be supported,” Cassandra Lee, MD, chief of the division of sports medicine at the University of California, Davis, tells SELF. Dr. Wittstein suggests opting for footwear with arch support and minimal heel rise to keep pain at bay. You can add a shoe insert or orthotic for extra cushioning and support.
2. Switch up your workouts with cross-training.
It’s great to have go-to forms of exercise that you love to do over and over again. It’s also great for your joints to switch things up occasionally and cross-train, Mary Kathryn Mulcahey, MD, division director of sports medicine at Loyola Medicine in Chicago, tells SELF. This approach lets you work many different muscles—including the tiniest ones—in different ways, which helps you avoid overuse and potential injury.
So what counts as cross-training? It can be any physical activity that works your body in a slightly different way from your main mode of exercise—thereby spreading out the strain and giving your most-used joints some reprieve. In general, Dr. Mulcahey recommends yoga, Pilates, or low-impact cardio like swimming and cycling (indoor or outdoor), which “don’t put a ton of stress on the hips and knees.” Walking, using a rowing machine, and water aerobics are good options too.
“Yoga is a great habit to start early on,” Dr. Wittstein says. “If I could go back in time, I would embrace this as part of my workout routine in my 20s.” Yoga is known to build core strength and improve flexibility and balance, helping prevent falls and associated injuries. It can also strengthen the back and pelvis muscles, which helps support and protect the hips.
3. Start strength training.
Strength training is one of the best things you can do for healthy joints, Dr. Lee says. That’s because it builds muscle, and muscle protects the cartilage and tendons surrounding your joints and absorbs some of the shock that impact puts on them. Having extra muscle also helps you maintain balance and bone strength.
After you turn 30, you naturally start to lose muscle mass at a rate of about 3% to 5% a decade. Bone density starts to gradually decline after age 40 and accelerates for many women in the years leading up to menopause. Dr. Wittstein says starting weight-bearing exercises as early as you can keeps your joints strong and reduces your risk for injury and conditions like osteoporosis down the road.
Luckily, many of the same exercises benefit both your hips and knees, she says. Lunges, weighted squats, bridges, lateral lunges, deadlifts, and clam shells are some examples, Dr. Wittstein says. These lower-body exercises strengthen your glute muscles and the smaller muscles surrounding the hips that allow your thigh to rotate, as well as your quadriceps, which help support your knees.
If you’re not used to strength training, start slow, with just one day a week, and then build on that, Dr. Mulcahey says. (SELF’s 6 Weeks to Stronger workout program is a great place to start!)
4. Warm up before any activity.
Before you do anything physical—a workout, hike, or even just yard work—do a quick warm-up, Dr. Behenna says. It gets your blood pumping, moves oxygen throughout your body, and primes your muscles for movement, which minimizes strain and prevents injury.
Take 5 or 10 minutes to do a brisk walk, jumping jacks, or jogging before you dive into your full activity, Dr. Wittstein suggests. (Here are two warm-ups you can do before any strength workout, and a few five-minute warm-ups perfect for a cardio workout.)
Afterward, Dr. Mulcahey says to cool down your muscles. This gradually lowers your heart rate (so you don’t feel lightheaded), prevents stiffness, and increases blood flow—and with it, the delivery of oxygen and nutrients—which helps aid in the recovery process. (Here are five post-workout stretches to loosen tight muscles and a yoga cool-down.)
5. Give your body time to rest in between workouts.
Running, playing sports, or doing other repetitive movements can put extra stress on your joints and the tissues and muscles surrounding them. This overuse can lead to injury and pain. For example, it can cause a painful condition called bursitis or swelling in the small sacs surrounding your bones and tissues that are filled with fluid and act as bubble wrap.
Taking rest days between workouts or other physical activity can help prevent joint overuse and pain, according to UCLA Health. It also gives your body time to recuperate so your muscles can build back even stronger. In general, it’s a good idea to take a rest day at least once a week, though the exact amount of down time you need will depend on how intense your workouts are and how you feel after them. (More on planning your rest days here.)
6. Mind your posture.
Improving your posture may also have a meaningful impact on your joints. Here’s why: Sitting all day and hunching over your phone or laptop promotes bad posture and puts extra stress on your hips, accelerating wear and damage. The Arthritis Foundation suggests focusing on standing up straight with your shoulders back and feet shoulder-width apart; align your head with your body and tuck in your abdomen. When sitting, keep your back against the chair, feet flat on the floor, and your knees bent at the same height as your hips.
It can also help to change up your position throughout the day, alternating between a sitting and standing desk (if that’s an option) or even just getting up to stand and quickly stretch or walk every hour or two, so that you’re never stuck in one posture for hours on end.
7. Quit smoking
If you’re a smoker or vaper, actively work on quitting. There’s a strong connection between smoking and pain and joint damage, according to the Arthritis Foundation. (There are plenty of other good reasons to quit, too, that have nothing to do with your knees or hips.)
Vaping may seem like the lesser of two evils, but it can indeed hurt your lungs (and it’s hard to quit). It can also be harmful to your joints: A 2022 study found that using e-cigarettes was a risk factor for arthritis diseases.
8. Pay attention to your pain.
Some muscle soreness after a strenuous HIIT class or a slightly achy knee after a hiking session likely isn’t anything to worry about—especially if it goes away after you rest. But if it doesn’t get better after a few days and you have swelling, loss of range of motion, numbness, or difficulty walking, see your doctor, Dr. Behenna urges. You might not realize you have an injury that needs to be treated—and definitely see a doctor if you know you’ve injured yourself and the pain isn’t getting better, Dr. Mulcahey says.
Your joints might seem invincible when you’re younger, Dr. Lee says. But, as you age, you may realize they’re not as resilient as you thought. She urges everyone to start taking steps to protect their knees and hips now. “We want you exercising, we want you moving,” she says. “Taking your joint health seriously when you're younger helps you lead a more active, interactive, and productive, functional life.”
Related:
Get more of SELF's great service journalism delivered right to your inbox.
Originally Appeared on Self
