Hip Pain Problems and Excess Weight
January 8, 2011 by Eric
Filed under Joint Pain Causes
The many causes of joint pain:
Although we are constantly reminded of the benefits of losing weight, we rarely consider the strain that carrying around extra weight exerts on our bodies, and particularly, our joints. When you realize that the force put on your hips and knees from simply walking around is equal to three times your weight, you may reconsider that second piece of pie. Especially knowing that it could become more of a burden on your joints than you may have realized when considering the negative effects of obesity. Shedding those excess pounds becomes even more critical when, after many years of carrying around extra weight, we find ourselves in need of a joint replacement procedure. This article I found at John Hopkins Health Alerts brings this point home quite well:
“Excess weight causes more than just increased load on the joints. In a recent study in the journal Obesity, researchers looked at 855 people who had arthritis and were scheduled for hip replacement. The investigators found that in people with the same amount of osteoarthritis damage to the hip joint, a higher body weight was associated with more severe pain and disability. Because obesity is known to promote inflammation throughout the body, the researchers concluded that mild inflammation in the joint might have accounted for the increased pain and disability. Taken together, added joint stress and inflammation may help explain why significantly overweight people tend to need joint replacement at a younger age.
Overweight and obese people also face more challenges during and after joint replacement surgery. Surgeons have a harder time operating on larger, heavier patients than on smaller, lighter ones. After surgery, overall complication rates are more than double in obese people. Some studies show that obese people are more likely than individuals of a normal body weight to develop infections after surgery. Blood clots and pneumonia also occur more often after joint replacement surgery in obese people, than in individuals at a near-normal body weight.
Postsurgical rehabilitation is yet another challenge for obese people facing joint replacement surgery. After the operation, it is important to get the affected joint moving again, and the larger the joint and limb, the harder this will be. In another study in the journal Obesity, orthopedists found that compared with people of normal body weight, those who were morbidly obese progressed more slowly during in-hospital rehabilitation after knee replacement surgery. Bottom line: If you are overweight or obese, you can still benefit from joint replacement surgery. But it’s important to understand how much better the outcome may be if you lose some weight first”.
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- Eric
To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
-Buddha
Photo Credit: Tobyotter
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