Spring has finally sprung and people across Canada are enjoying the warmer weather by spending more time outside and participating in activities like running, hiking, cycling or playing soccer. Exercise plays an important role in promoting a healthy lifestyle, but high-intensity movement can put stress on the knees, hips and ankles, contributing to joint pain or even leading to injury.
We asked Dr. David Wasserstein, trauma and knee reconstruction specialist in the Schatzker Joint Preservation Initiative for Active Adults and the Holland Bone & Joint Program at Sunnybrook, for some tips on how to protect your joints so you can keep doing the activities you enjoy most.
What impact can high-intensity exercises like running have on your joint health?
From a medical-evidence perspective it is currently unclear whether high-intensity exercise increases the risk of joint breakdown. In fact, there is evidence on both sides, suggesting there may even be a protective effect in addition to concern for early breakdown. This is typically relevant to load bearing joints like the hips, knees and ankles, and in persons who are performing high levels of impact exercise like running and jumping.
Acute injuries, like sprains, strains and fractures, are more common in sports due to contact or when someone is placed into an awkward or uncontrolled position like landing from a jump.
For high-volume impact activity athletes, we are also concerned for injury around the joint. Most commonly they experience tendon injuries including overuse and inflammation. They may even experience stress injury to bone that results in fractures.
What are your top tips for preventing pain and injury while living an active lifestyle?
People run into to trouble when they do too much of one thing. So, even if you are training for something specific, like running a marathon, don’t forget to vary the exercise and training. Maintaining strong cardiovascular health that is needed for this type of high-volume exercise can be achieved in several ways in addition to just running, things like cycling, swimming, or rowing, for example. Taking an approach of cardiovascular training that ‘rests’ the usually overloaded parts of the body can be helpful.
Resistance or strength training is critical for bone, joint and tendon health. It should be incorporated into any fitness routine. Sufficient rest and adequate nutrition are also key elements of maintaining optimal health and reducing the risks of injury.
The benefits of an active lifestyle cannot be understated from the perspective of musculoskeletal health but also for every organ system, including mental health. So definitely stay active!
What should people do if they’re experiencing joint pain while exercising or participating in other high-intensity activities?
First is to rest and then consult a physician or therapist. Although we live in a world of ‘access to information,’ that information exists largely unregulated in social media spaces. Those spaces can be a good place for information but they can also be a good place for misinformation. I would exercise caution and rely only on trusted sources!
