Professor Hart’s key message for joint health: ‘Run or cycle to avoid replacements’
The Guardian newspaper rounds up compelling advice from UK medical leaders
Health & Wellbeing tips to protect our joints
In an article this week entitled “Don’t be afraid to slouch and always wear trainers: six simple tips for healthier joints from the experts,” the Guardian’s health section included views from Professor Hart as one of six joint experts.
Professor Hart was cited as ‘the orthopaedic surgeon’, along with a physiotherapist, foot and ankle surgeon, osteopath, clinical director and musculo-skeletal physio. The resulting article is a fascinating look at the simple things you can do to look after your joints.
‘Run or cycle to avoid replacements’
In the article, Prof Hart is quoted as follows:
“People often think that running will damage their knees, but over the past decade I have conducted studies with the research group Exercise for Science that have shown how distance running can actually be good for rebuilding the health of middle-aged knees, provided injury-prevention exercises are done beforehand.
“Non-runners shouldn’t be scared of taking up running, since we haven’t seen evidence of the sport damaging joints further than what might be normally expected by middle age. In fact, exercise as a whole has been shown to improve bone quality in the knee by increasing blood supply and providing muscle strength and definition, allowing the surfaces around the joint to move better.
“Equally, cycling can be very good for working the knees and hips with its simple, inline motion. Building up to 30 minutes of movement on an exercise bike every other day can really help to reduce the destruction of our knee and hip joints. Even though we have metal joints that we can surgically substitute, nothing quite compares to our own bone and cartilage, so we must look after these joints to begin with.”