Exercise Is Good for Knees After All

Being active, contrary to previous research, has been found to be good for knees according to a new report. This is the first work to look at the impact being active has on the individual elements of the knee itself. Even though exercise has been associated with bony spurs known as osteophytes, the team believes that being active is very worthwhile for the healthy functioning of your knees.

It turns out that exercise affects every aspect of the knee in a different way, and this may explain why the conflicting research findings.

This latest review examined information from 28 studies that had data on 9,737 participants the world over. Each study examined by the team looked at the relationship between being active and knee osteoarthritis, and also included MRI images for both osteoarthritic knees and healthy knees.

Where once X-rays were the norm for assessing the state of your joints, today MRI technology lets experts see, and measure, that all-important joint cartilage. This is what made it possible for the team to examine the relationship between exercise and cartilage in the knee itself.

Osteoarthritis (OA) attacks cartilage and the underlying bone, a degenerative joint disorder that often strikes the knees, hips or hands. Though the cause of OA is not known, it's generally considered to be part of ageing, with adults often seeing symptoms like pain, swelling and stiffness in middle age. This painful, disruptive condition is part of life for an estimated 27 million people in America and is the main cause of disability in adults.

And while exercise was found to be associated with osteophytes (also known as bone spurs), there were no detrimental changes in the joint space where the cartilage is located. That's a significant finding to be sure.

What's more, there were beneficial effects on cartilage health and fewer visible defects. It may be that osteophytes, without cartilage damage, may simply be an adaptation by the body to mechanical stimuli. The team didn't look at links between different exercises (jogging, tennis, etc.) and osteoarthritis.

We all know that being active is an important part of an overall healthy lifestyle. Doing anything that gets you up and moving - walking, working in the garden, housework, hiking, pushing a stroller, riding a bike, climbing the stairs, dancing or sports like golf, soccer and tennis are what you're after here. Whatever activity you end up choosing, you want to spend up to a half-hour a day doing it on most days of the week.

If you're at risk of OA, experts suggest that exercise can be a good thing when you listen to your body and start slowly, building over time. Take things to the limit of what you can do, but not beyond. Low impact activities like walking, biking or an elliptical machine are all good choices for getting things going in the right direction. High impact activities like running and playing basketball should not be done on hard surfaces nor be an everyday activity. Before you start an exercise program, be sure to talk with your doctor to make sure you've chosen one that is good for knees.