Back & Joint problems
As a result of carrying around the extra weight, not surprisingly, obesity can have some serious negative impact on your joints, especially the ones that are called weight-bearing joints. These would include your back, hips, knees and ankles.
Joints are built to withstand tremendous strains and pressures from regular activities. However, they have their limits! When they are continuously being put under excessive strain, parts of them will start to break down and you will begin to experience pains. Often, you will develop bursitis which, if left untreated, can progress to arthritis.
Obviously losing weight is a key to relieving the stress on the weight bearing joints. Because of the way your joints are built, 10 lbs weight loss takes 40 lbs off your knees! Other things that can be done are sitting at bus stations or while waiting for something, wear comfortable, cushioned shoes, and choose swimming or cycling as your preferred form of exercise.
Joint pain can be debilitating and can interfere with your obesity treatment. Treating both can be very difficult but with the help of your doctor, physiotherapist and a strong support group, both can be accomplished.
Obesity and extra weight can cause low back pain
Along with other health issues that arise from having an unhealthy weight level, obese and overweight patients have an increased risk for back pain, joint pain and muscle strain. In particular, overweight patients are more likely to experience problems in their low back than patients at a healthy weight level.
This is especially true for people with extra weight around their midsection as the extra weight pulls the pelvis forward, strains the low back and creates low back pain. In addition to muscle strain, spinal structures such as the discs can be negatively impacted by obesity.
Patients with significant excess weight also may experience sciatica and low back pain from a herniated disc or from a pinched nerve if the discs have been damaged from compensating for the extra weight.
For most back problems, exercise and movement are the natural stimuli for the healing process. Controlled, gradual and progressive exercise, rather than inactivity and bed rest, most often provides the best long-term solution for reducing back pain and preventing (or lessening) future episodes of pain.
People who are overweight or obese and suffer from back pain may not be aware that their excess weight is actually contributing to their back pain. While it has not been thoroughly studied exactly how excess weight can cause or contribute to back pain, it is known that people who are overweight often are at greater risk for back pain, joint pain and muscle strain than those who are not obese.
In addition to back pain, symptoms exhibited by persons who are obese or severely overweight may include fatigue, as well as difficulty breathing and shortness of breath during short periods of exercise. If the fatigue and shortness of breath causes one to avoid activity and exercise, then this can indirectly lead to back pain as lack of exercise contributes to many common forms of back pain.
Managing weight through diet and exercise not only reduces existing back pain, but can also help prevent certain types of back problems in the future. For example, overweight and obese patients have an increased risk for osteoarthritis.
The additional strain on the joints from the excess weight can cause arthritis in patients whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is too high. For patients who already have osteoarthritis, weight loss is one of the recommended treatments.
The key to a healthy diet and good nutrition is balance. Patients should consume adequate amounts of vitamins (micro) and (macro) nutrients . Any deficiencies can be highlighted by having blood tests specifically for this.
Consuming a balanced amount of recommended vitamins and nutrients is also important because certain nutrients and vitamins work in concert while others work against each other and as a VLCD (such as Howard’s Way) has all the micro nutrients you require at the correct levels, it is by far one of the best ways for reducing your weight when suffering from back/joint problems.
