Prevent knee pain by preventing weight gain

Have you considered the impact of excess weight gain and its effect on your knees?  Here’s an example – if you walk across level ground, the force on your knees is the equivalent of 1 ½ times your body weight.  That means a 200 pound man will put 300 pounds of pressure on his knees with each step. If walking up an incline, the pressure will be even greater with the force on each knee two to three times your body weight going up and down stairs and four to five times your body weight when you squat to tie a shoelace or pick up an item you dropped.

Even being only 10 pounds overweight increases the force on the knees by 30-60 pounds with each step.  Think about that for a moment.  Approximately 69% of adults living in the United States age 20 years and over are considered either overweight to obese.  That is a lot of people walking around in pain due to excess weight. 

Knee pain due to excessive weight is a valid concern and burden for anyone experiencing it.  Having pain in the knees can be due to many causes but being overweight to obese often starts the process and certainly doesn’t help it. 

Unfortunately, many Americans believe knee pain to be an inevitable part of the aging process.  They resign themselves to thinking it’s just a part of life.  But being overweight to obese, particularly for years, puts undue pressure on your joints in addition to the extra body fat increasing inflammation.  And this is where osteoarthritis (OA) becomes a factor. 

Osteoarthritis and knee pain

We are well aware of the many risk factors commonly associated with being overweight to obese such as heart disease and diabetes but osteoarthritis is a very real but not often talked about risk factor too.

Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder with symptoms not only in the knees but also in the hands, hips, back, and neck.  An increase in inflammation due to extra body fat is associated with osteoarthritis – when the cartilage between the bones at your joints wears away – and inflammatory arthritis – arthritis marked by swollen, warm joints.

A link has consistently been shown between being overweight/obese and development of osteoarthritis of the knee.  In fact, the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES 1) showed obese women had nearly 4 times the risk of knee OA as compared with nonobese women, while obese men had nearly 5 times greater risk for knee OA. 

Can weight loss reverse knee OA?

The quick answer to this is it appears weight loss can be a potentially important modifiable factor in treating knee OA.  It would make sense that if weight gain can lead to the development and progression of knee OA, then losing weight should bring relief.  A study from 1988, The Framingham Study, showed women who had a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or greater, that for every 11 pounds of weight lost the risk of knee OA decreased by greater than 50%. 

A more recent randomized controlled trial study showed that women losing a modest amount of weight – at least 5% of their body weight which again is equivalent to about 11 pounds – were 25% less likely to develop knee OA than women who don’t lose the weight. 

A 2013 cohort study found that body weight changes of at least a 10% weight gain or reduction do make a difference when it comes to changes in pain and the individuals functioning ability of the knee. 

How to ease knee pain with weight loss

A person carrying extra weight and suffering from osteoarthritis knee pain should be encouraged to strive for reduction of body weight to help ease the discomfort.  Just knowing the health benefits of small weight losses with emphasis on the positive effects losing weight has on OA symptoms can be strong incentives to want to begin weight loss efforts.

The steps necessary to help with weight reduction include:

·      Set a goal to lose at least 10% of current body weight.

·      Lose weight slowly at about 1-2 pounds a week.

·      Reduce calorie intake – include more fruits, vegetables, lean meat, fish, beans, whole grains and cut back on junk foods.

·      Increase physical activity but consult with your physician on exactly how to go about this.  Everyone will be different as to what they can do for exercise.  The key is choosing activities gentle on your joints.  Swimming is a good example of an exercise that doesn’t put too much pressure on arthritic joints. 

·      Resistance training such as lifting weights, using resistance machines or elastic bands can be good ways to build muscle, improve balance and keep joints moving.

·      Yoga is another great activity easing the pain and stiffness of joints.

Not all knee pain is due to osteoarthritis and carrying excess weight.  But for a good majority of Americans that is the case.  If you weigh more than you should and your knees are hurting, slow but gradual weight loss along with appropriate exercise that won’t harm the knee any further can be a great way to lessen the pain.  Check with your physician for their advice on losing weight and seek out methods of working out that keeps the knee joint flexible and moving.