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Archive for April 7th, 2011

Contrary to popular belief, exercising does not wear out joints. Joints start to wear out for a variety of reasons, usually due to age, arthritis or other medical conditions, and injuries accumulated over a lifetime. Activity is rarely the culprit, as joints are designed to move. When joints aren’t moved, they begin to stiffen up.

It’s sort of a catch-22. Joint pain leads people to move less because movement can hurt, but without movement the pain can become more severe. One way to battle pain is to take joint health supplements, then, get moving! Even a walk around the neighborhood once a day can help keep your joints from stiffening up further.

Knee Joint

Knee Joint

A joint in the human body is where two or more bones come together.  The knee joint is where the thigh and lower leg meet, and it is the largest joint in the Human body.  It is a very complicated pivotal hinge joint that allows your leg to bend and straighten while at the same time turn slightly inward and outward.  When you walk your knee at times supports the entire weight of your body.  That is why it so susceptible to osteoarthritis, or wear-and-tear arthritis.

The knee is also a synovial joint.  A synovial joint is the most common and moveable joint in the Human body.  A capsule protects the synovial joint that is filled with a lubricating fluid.  This synovial fluid helps protect the surfaces of the knee that move against one another.  We will look at synovial capsules and fluids in a later blog post.