How does body weight affect your knees ?
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Your knees are crucial parts of your body that make standing, walking or running possible. Depending on how active you are, you probably spend a lot of time on your feet. One factor that determines how well your knees function is your weight because the more weight you have, the more pressure is placed on your knees.As a result, it is important to understand how your body weight affects your knees.
One of the most common problems associated with being overweight is chronic knee pain. Being overweight or obese significantly increases your risk of experiencing knee pain as well as other diseases such as osteoarthritis. This often happens because the excess weight causes the wearing away of the cartilage that cushions your knee. As this cartilage gets worn away, the bones in your knees begin to rub against each other, thus resulting in knee pain.
Obesity is a health disorder involving the accumulation of excess body fat in the body. The accumulation of these large amounts of fat in the body can result in serious health issues including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. Excess weight can also affect your skeletal system as it causes your skeleton to carry more weight than it is designed to. These effectsare especially more serious in your knees. Several studies have linked obesity to a higher risk of experiencing knee problems.
Excess weight, especially in children can negatively affect bone and joint growth, especially in the knees. Since their bones are not yet fully formed, being overweight can cause malformation or irregularities in their knees and other parts of their skeletal system, resulting in musculoskeletal issues in the future. It can also result in a higher risk of early arthritis and broken bones.
Excess weight can also cause your knees to get dislocated .A knee dislocation occurs when the bones located in the knees are pushed out of place. This often occurs as a result of vehicle crashes or involvement in contact sports. Obesity increases the possibility of developing complications as a result of knee dislocations.These complications may arise from the fact that the risk of the dislocated knee injuring the main artery which is located behind the joint are twice as high for obese people than they are for patients with a normal weight range. If not treated, this complication can evenresult in leg amputation.
To avoid experiencing some of these knee problems, it is important that you maintain a healthy weight range. As you walk around, your knees are under constant pressure of about 1½ and above of your total weight so it important that you do not put too much stress on them. If you are overweight or obese, you need to start focusing on how to reduce your weight to lower your risk of developing knee problems or other serious health issues related to excess weight. This may involve starting a weight loss regimen by combining physical activity with a healthy diet.