Smile, though your joints are aching?
I’m a specialist in this area and it always really frustrates me we don’t pay enough attention to joint care and joint health. What have you done this week to protect your knees or ankles and make them stronger? Sadly, the usual answer is “nothing at all doctor – sorry!”
Let me ask another question – when did you last brush your teeth?
Dentists make sure that we learn to brush, floss, rinse, avoid sugar and have mouth hygiene check ups – with their education message starting from about the age of two. But what about a knee, ankle, elbow , back or shoulder?
Arthritis or joint pain is the single biggest reason for people over the age of sixty to visit their doctor or seek healthcare and many thousands of people younger than that experience daily stiffness, aches or niggling injury.
But have you ever been taught even basic information about protecting your joints? Somehow healthy teeth get all the attention while healthy joints are ignored and I strongly believe that we’re all paying the price for this as we creak and ache our way through daily life.
So what can you do today to change things for the better?
Well, you could start by treating yourself to a Healthy Joint Check Up.
The Healthy Joint Check Up is a thirty-minute high level consultation devoted entirely to assessing the current health of your joints and giving you a personalized plan of simple steps to make them strong and pain free again. You’ll take away individual and specific pointers about joint care exercises and how to pick the best shoes and footwear. I’ll teach you about the supplements or vitamins you can take to nourish cartilage and we will spend time exploring arthritis diets and other lifestyle issues.
Specialists like myself can also deliver cutting edge new ways to treat joints that feel pain or stiffness. Early intervention can get rid of pain and restore function and can often avoid a need for later surgery or invasive treatment. New injections can provide lubrication and remove pain from arthritic joints – sometimes transforming your life and getting you back towards normal function.
We can also take things forward if more is needed. X-rays or MRI scans show clearly the inner workings of your knee. DEXA scans check for thinning of the bones or osteoporosis and can also look at your overall body composition and weight distribution.
Dentists do great work and I’m all in favour of having a sparkling smile and a healthy set of teeth. But at the end of the day, having worn out, degenerate and agonizing joint pains might not leave you with very much to smile about.
For more information on the Healthy Joint Check Up go to: phone: 0131 447 2340 to get an appointment with Dr Gordon Cameron or one of their specialist consultants.
Posted on Wednesday, 14 April 2010 under Website