If you are
familiar with my fitness record, you know that I had come to gym for health,
not for beauty. The problem was solved and I created a muscular girdle in the
core to support kidneys and not let them shift down. But soon life called me to
the next challenge. The knee joint pains lead me to doctors who diagnosed a
case of genetic knee arthritis.
It hurt to
tears during inflammation of the knee.
I started
studying the arthritis subject with innate systematic approach: discovered
other people’s experience, searched for sportsmen’s recommendations, and
consulted with orthopedists and rheumatologists.
In the
course of treatment I formed the following habits.
1.
Appropriate doctors are essential
You have
to surround yourself with professional medical support: that of orthopedist,
rheumatologist, ultra sonographer and radiographer. I found the right doctors
on recommendations of acquaintances. I would arrange an appointment with a
doctor, prepare a list of questions, visit the doctor and realize if he met my
requirements and if I could trust him. You’d better also do ultrasonography and
radiography in recommended clinics and undergo re-examinations at the same
places with the same doctors.
2. Tolerating
pain is forbidden
Knee pain
is the first stroke of joint inflammation. In case of arthritis, the cartilage
deteriorates and the bones start rubbing directly against each other. That’ s
why I agreed to take medicines prescribed by my orthopedist. I was on
non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and cartilage protectors.
3. Daily exercising is a
must
Your
physical therapy should be on a daily basis. There are no capillaries in knee
joints and important nutrients are provided by synovial fluid, which is
transported into the joint space from cartilage only when the joint is active,
i.e. during movement. Moreover, it is necessary to build leg muscles to create
a muscular girdle for your knees. But it is not recommended to do weight
exercises, such as squats, lunges and jumps at inflammatory state.
I
relocated my lower body workout from the gym to home mat. I performed light
45-minute leg and butt workouts every day. My orthopedist had provided
illustrated instruction sheet to those exercises.
I kept on
working out my upper body in a gym with sitting position exercises prevailing.
In that way, weight is distributed on hips, not on legs. I always warmed up by
cycling only.
I added
regular swimming to my training schedule for general joint support and my
overall muscular tone maintenance.
4. Eating avocado and
cottage cheese is good for you
In case of
knee arthritis, nutrition should be focused on cartilage repair. Firstly, your
diet should be healthy and balanced. Take lots of vegetables, fruits, green-stuff and safe drinking water. I had refused meat, gluten, roasted and
junk food long ago and this point was no hard task.
Secondly,
I increased the quantity of fatty fish, avocado, olive oil, prawns and other
rich in healthy fats products consumed.
Thirdly, I
added casein protein to my evening menu. I found out from several articles that
growth hormone in human organism is produced naturally throughout the whole
life, however, its level drops over the years. Protein tends to double up the growth
hormone production, which facilitates cartilage repair. Casein protein is
digested within few hours, which, in its turn, raises the chance of growth
hormone production. I tasted casein protein powder but was preoccupied with
body response. That was why I replaced it with 100-gram portion of skim cheese
and used to have it two hours before bedtime. At the time it was the only dairy
product on my menu. And currently there are no dairy foods at all. Collagen,
which is contained within aspic, is considered to be beneficial for arthritis treatment.
But I refrained from this experiment, as I didn’t feel like eating meat
products back then.
5. Taking care of your knees, by
all means
I ordered
special orthopedic insoles, as proper foot fixation is another foundation for
knee joints. And my personal experience proves it well. At least, now, that I
have new footwear and insoles, I don’t get tired from long time walking, as I
previously did. And you can easily displace your insoles from these or those
shoes to the other ones. Now I choose to buy new footwear only if my insoles
fit well in it.
Happy end
I have no
bum knees any more. The doctors have noted significant improvements. I have
gradually added leg workouts to my training and displaced my in-home physical
drills to the gym. I have built my muscles scrupulously and successively. Now
all kinds of exercises, seated or stand up, lunges or squats, are included into
my regular training programme. But I still tend to listen to my body and to
focus more on sets quantity and quality, than muscle mass gain.
My body
reveals and health strengthens.
To tell
you the truth, this is a great piece of luck to prove first-hand that
recuperating your health is possible at any age.
