My knees hurt after running, what should I do? Does running destroy your knees? Causes of knee pain after running

Knee and joint pain is a common problem for all runners, whether they are seasoned professionals or beginners. The following 11 tips will help you avoid joint pain, prevent sports injuries, and enjoy every run.

Joints, like other parts of the body, wear out and lose their properties over time. Runners most often have problems with the hip, knee, ankle joint and spine. Even if you have perfect running technique, you are still at risk, since osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease) has a large hereditary factor.

A study (1) from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine found that long-distance running does not increase the risk of knee and hip osteoarthritis in healthy runners and may even have a protective effect against joint degeneration. But scientists admit that larger studies are needed to confirm this theory. big amount participants, and also sports injuries can contribute to the development and worsening of osteoarthritis in athletes.

The following study (2) from the Brigham Young Institute found that running may benefit the knee joint by changing the biochemical environment within the knee so that it moves more freely and smoothly.

1. Try to maintain a healthy body weight

Extra pounds while running increases the load not only on your joints, but also on your entire musculoskeletal system. One study (3) reported that reducing body weight by one pound (450g) reduced the load on the knee joint by almost four pounds (1.8kg) with each step.

2. Avoid hard and uneven surfaces

Running on hard and uneven surfaces can be hard on your joints due to the high impact, and you can easily injure your ankle or knee.

According to celebrity trainer Alberto Salazar: “Asphalt and other hard surfaces can cause injuries to joints, tendons and muscles. Try to run on dirt and grass as often as possible. My athletes do 90 percent of their training on soft surfaces.”

Alternate between training on soft and hard surfaces and stay as far away from concrete as possible.

3. Train in the right shoes

Running is one of the most popular and accessible types of physical activity, which requires a minimum of equipment. And it is the shoes you choose for your runs that are the most important thing which will affect your speed, comfort and likelihood of injury.

The right running shoes will reduce the stress on your legs and body, make your running more comfortable and safe, and help prevent knee, shin, and lower back pain.

Over time, running shoes lose their cushioning properties, which can lead to pain. To prolong the life of your running shoes, use them only for running.

4. Try to adhere to the correct running technique and step frequency (cadence)

5. Cross-train (cross-training)

6. Do strength training

Studies (4,5) have found that strength training helps maintain bone density. They can also help runners correct muscle imbalances, which will reduce stress on their joints.

7. Stretch

Regular stretching stimulates metabolic processes and blood flow, which makes joints more flexible and mobile.

With age, when muscles and joints become more rigid, the role of stretching increases significantly. Yoga and tai chi are great for developing flexibility and elasticity, but be careful as certain yoga positions can cause pain. The best stretching exercises.

8. Warm up/cool down

A warm-up will allow you to better prepare your muscles, joints and ligaments for the upcoming stress, while a cool-down phase will help you gradually reduce the intensity of your workout and reduce soreness in your joints and muscles. The best exercises to warm up.

9. Take time to recover

Rest is necessary for your joints to recover from the impact they are subjected to while running. Depending on your experience and fitness level, you may need one to three rest days per week.

10.Eat right

A balanced diet is essential for maintaining overall health and performing a quality workout. Include foods containing calcium and vitamin D in your diet. Eating fish more frequently / fish oil reduces inflammation and promotes joint health. Also, separate studies (6,7) have found that Omega-3 fats may be useful for the prevention and treatment of arthritis.

Run - great way for general health improvement and weight loss. Regular training can strengthen the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, improve immunity, and get rid of excess weight and cellulite. When running, the main load falls on the muscles and joints of the legs. This is why many runners often experience knee pain during and after running. Painful sensations can be a signal of a serious illness or result from incorrect technique. It's worth finding out more about possible reasons knee pain and find out what you need to do to avoid various complications when playing sports.

Causes of knee pain

The knee joints have a complex anatomical structure, thanks to which it is possible to significantly soften the jerks and jolts that occur when running. But if you do not follow certain rules, the load on your knees may be excessive, which will cause discomfort during or after exercise.

For professional runners, knee pain is quite common and is associated with constantly recurring microtraumas to the joints and tendons during intense training. But why do amateur and novice athletes sometimes have knee pain from running? There are several reasons for this:

• injuries;
• microtraumas leading to inflammation of the ligamentous apparatus of the knee;
• age-related changes in joint tissues;
• disturbances in the blood supply to the knee area.

The pain syndrome may appear during a run or occur several hours after it and recur with each exercise.

While running

First, let's find out why an athlete's knees hurt while running. The pain may appear suddenly, be sharp, aching and stop immediately after the end of the workout. What are the reasons for its appearance?

Since jogging is a type of aerobic exercise, it is especially popular among fat people in the fight against excess weight.

But compared to other cardio exercises for weight loss, running is the most traumatic and often provokes the development of diseases of the ligaments and joints of the lower extremities, the load on which increases by 5–10 times compared to regular walking.

So, injuries are the most common reason why knees hurt when running. No one is immune from them, but with excess body weight, the risk of injury increases even more. What are the consequences of jogging?

1. Subluxation and dislocation of the kneecap - displacement of the kneecap to the side. It occurs as a result of exposure to unfavorable conditions due to physiological (congenital) pathology or a previous knee injury.
2. Torn or sprained knee ligaments. Happens when jogging uneven surface, through negligence.
3. Damage to the meniscus. It happens with sudden intense movements while running in people with congenital or degenerative joint pathologies.

But injuries are not the only cause of pain in the legs that bother you when jogging. Knees can hurt while running for other reasons. One of them is circulatory disorders. Most often it occurs in adolescents, since the development of blood vessels during this period lags behind the growth of bones and joints, which is why nutrition in the knee area is disrupted. Vascular pain often appears in people with various vascular diseases (atherosclerosis, varicose veins veins).

Pain syndrome can be caused by acute or chronic diseases of the ligamentous apparatus of the extremities. Most often, discomfort continues after the end of the workout.

Causes of pain after running

Aching pain that increases with increasing load is often a sign of osteoarthritis - age-related deforming changes in the joint tissues of the knee. As a rule, with the development of this chronic disease, pain in the lower extremities accompanies any human movement and can also be observed at rest. But training often contributes to the exacerbation of arthrosis and leads to pain in the knee joints after running.

Intense pain syndrome also occurs in acute diseases of the internal structures of the knee:

• synovitis - inflammation of the inner (synovial) membrane;
• tendonitis - an inflammatory process that affects the tendons;
• bursitis - inflammation of the joint capsule;
• arthritis - a pathology characterized by damage to cartilage tissue.

Pathologies often develop as a result of constantly repeated microtraumas of joint tissues during running.

In inflammatory diseases, in addition to pain, redness and swelling in the knee joint appear, and body temperature rises.

It is imperative to find out why your knees hurt after running in order to take measures to eliminate the discomfort. To determine the exact cause, you may need to visit a doctor, undergo x-ray examination or MRI diagnostics.

You cannot ignore the pain and continue to train, overcoming it. It signals problems in the knee joint and a necessary revision of running tactics. Untreated injuries, inflammatory and degenerative diseases can lead in the future to limited mobility of the knee joint and disability.

Under what conditions can pain occur?

Most often they lead to the development of joint diseases and injuries unfavourable conditions for a run. Knees can hurt from running as a result of exposure and a combination of several factors:

1. Incorrect technique. Beginning runners experience leg pain due to incorrect movements (incorrect foot placement, body position, high knee lift). Insufficient cushioning in the joints leads to injuries and inflammation.
2. Overweight. Extra pounds when running increase the load on the musculoskeletal system and often cause the development of osteoarthritis.
3. Training on uneven or too hard surfaces. Running over rough terrain or on asphalt puts unnecessary stress on the knee joints and increases the risk of injury.
4. Inappropriate sports shoes. Sneakers that are too tight or loose with hard or thin soles are not the best choice for jogging. Poor fixation or compression of the foot causes improper functioning of the joints of the lower limb and causes pain in the knee.
5. Insufficient warm-up. Many runners forget to stretch before training, and this directly threatens pain in the knee joints during and after running due to insufficient preparation of the muscles for the load.
6. Problems with body balance. Running on uneven terrain with poor coordination often causes injuries and sprains of the knee tendons and ligaments.
7. Weakness of the muscles surrounding the knee. With trained leg muscles it is easier to withstand the load when running. Knees begin to hurt when muscle fatigue accumulates.
8. Long, back-breaking activities. For physically unprepared people, even a 10-minute run turns out to be a challenge and leads to severe post-workout pain in the muscles of the legs and knees. A sharp increase in running distance will have the same effect.

It is important to follow certain rules and always use common sense when training.

How to relieve pain when running?

If you feel sudden pain in your knee, you need to immediately stop jogging and gradually start walking. Most likely it is caused by trauma. In case of acute unbearable pain, you need to find a way to get to a traumatologist. In some cases, only a specialist can help solve the problem and relieve pain.

If the pain in your knee is not severe, you need to get home and try to completely limit the movement of the injured limb using an elastic bandage.

A cold compress will help reduce pain, which should be applied every hour to the affected area through a thin cloth for 15-20 minutes. It is advisable to place the leg above body level in a comfortable position. Anesthetic patches with lidocaine impregnation quickly and permanently (up to 12 hours) eliminate discomfort.

If the knee does not stop hurting within 3-4 hours, you need to:

• use painkillers (use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs);
• to relieve swelling, make a bath with soda and salt;
• consult a doctor.

As the condition of the leg improves (on the 3rd day after the injury), cold compresses should be replaced with warm ones or ointments with a warming effect should be used.

Running training should be resumed gradually, after the discomfort in the knee has completely disappeared.

What should you do if you have chronic pain syndrome?

If your knees hurt when jogging due to inflammatory diseases of the intra-articular structures or developing osteoarthritis of the knee joint, only a doctor can decide on the possibility of further training. He will tell you in detail about the causes of pain, prescribe adequate treatment, and give advice on adjusting your running regimen.

Outside periods of exacerbation of diseases knee joints Slow jogging is usually not prohibited and is even beneficial. You just need to carefully follow the recommendations of specialists, without overloading your knee with frequent and long-term exercise.

A prerequisite for running training for chronic diseases of the joint tissues of the knee is the use of an elastic bandage. Can be used kinesio tape– tape for creating flexible fixation of joints.

Prevention

What can you do to prevent your knees from hurting when running? Experts advise following a few simple rules:

1. Develop the correct technique. The feet must always be placed straight, smoothly transferring the weight of the body from heel to toe. The supporting limb should be in a semi-bent position. Running barefoot will help you understand how to position your feet correctly. Without shoes, the foot stands up physiologically correct position. You need to remember it so that you always use it when jogging in sneakers.
2. Increase the load gradually. An untrained person should start with a short jog, alternating it with walking. With each lesson you need to increase the distance covered, sometimes make accelerations. Running more than 3-4 times a week is not recommended - it is necessary to give the body time to recover. The duration of the run should not exceed an hour.
3. Choose comfortable sports shoes. Running shoes should be half a size larger than your feet, the height of the sole is the same along the entire length. If you plan to run on asphalt surfaces, you should purchase shoes with shock-absorbing inserts.
4. Be sure to stretch before and after the race. Performing several exercises will prepare the muscles and joints of the legs for stress and will avoid discomfort in the knees.
5. In addition to running, do strength training. The main emphasis is on exercises that work the lower body. This will strengthen the muscles surrounding the knees and avoid pain due to their fatigue.

Jogging will bring health benefits only if the load is moderate and the basic rules are followed. You always need to focus on the state of the body and be attentive to the signals that the body gives during training. If your knees continue to hurt despite following all the doctor’s recommendations and adjusting your running technique, you should take a break from exercise for a couple of months and choose a different type. physical activity.

Training and overload always cause pain - not severe, not constant, but it is there. There is a working rule: if painful sensations appear in different places each time, you can continue to play sports. If the pain is localized in the same place, you need to consult a doctor: this is how an injury or some kind of disease makes itself known.

Causes of knee pain when running

Structure of the knee joint

The largest and most complex joint in human body- this is the knee. The joint bears a high load. When doing active or by force sports - running, weightlifting - the knee joint experiences overload, which can affect the condition of the cartilage tissue, ligaments, and tendons. If your knee hurts after running, you need to go to the hospital for an examination as soon as possible to determine the cause. You may need to do an MRI of the joint or consult a neurologist. The reasons may lie in the structure of the foot or damage to any part of the bone. The coordinated work of muscles during long-term intense training is disrupted, because of this the bones of the skeleton suffer, especially if a person began to train abruptly and without following the running technique.

On initial stages You can’t do sports without the advice of a trainer, even light jogging. You need to start with a warm-up and constantly monitor your well-being. Warm-up time is 15 minutes: this includes stretching, bending, exercises for the abs, arms, and neck. Next comes the running phase itself, after which you need to cool down: stretch the muscles that were working well. In conclusion, a set of exercises for the main muscles of the body. The desire to exceed the plan and increase the load can result in injury, since the body does not have time to adapt to the ever-increasing standards of movement. Professional athletes never work the same muscles every day.

The biggest mistake is not wanting to warm up before running. Blood vessels are not ready to work. If the heart starts pumping blood, and the small capillaries do not have time to open, you can get a hemorrhage, which will take the athlete out of the training schedule for a long time. The knee will swell and the person will not be able to fully bend or straighten it.

Warming up prepares muscles and joints for the upcoming load, as a result of which the body warms up and the risk of injury is minimized.

The first rule is to correctly distribute the load on the feet and relieve the load on the joints. The center of gravity should be in the middle of the foot. The second rule is to choose a step width so as not to land on a straight leg. Third, do not lean forward or tilt your upper body back; it must be motionless. Rhythmic breathing will not allow you to quickly become exhausted.

You need to run 3 times a week, because the body takes two days to recover after training. Excessive exercise can harm joints and muscles. When overstressed, some of them become pinched and lose their elasticity. This affects the position of the legs during training, which causes pain in the knee joint when running. You can train daily if the loads are short-term, up to 20 minutes, or alternate with walking.

Coaches advise setting a goal and going towards it, for example, participating in a marathon. To do this, you need to start gradually and after qualifying runs of several kilometers, give your body a rest. If after long-distance running your knees hurt when bending for several days, you should:

1. Pain relief and consult a doctor.
2. Do an ultrasound of the kneecap.
3. Follow your doctor's recommendations. If you need to take a break from sports, take it, because not a single marathon is worth your health.

Treatment method: medication or folk remedies– the victim chooses, but it is better to combine both and follow the regime.

It is necessary to select shoes depending on pronation - the way the foot is positioned while walking or running. There are three types of pronation:

• neutral, when the arch of the foot ensures load distribution;
• hyperpronation, or flat feet, in which the arch of the foot lies on a plane: with this condition, the load on the knee and hip joints, as well as the spine;
• hypopronation, when the arch does not bend enough and the foot falls on the outer edge: in this case there is no shock absorption and running is fraught with fractures.

To determine your type of pose, you need to wet your foot and stand on the paper. In a sports store, you should ask a consultant to help you choose sneakers.

Beginner runners land on their heels, which is fundamentally wrong, so it is better to start training in shoes with soft soles and move the center of gravity closer to the toes.

It is comfortable to start running in secluded places. Here you can rest and stand if your heart rate increases. The path must be level - asphalt or special coating like in a stadium. Under no circumstances should you start running on a rocky, uneven surface: you may not calculate the load, and as a result, a tired body will not react to the unevenness in time. This will lead to serious injury: sprained or torn ligaments, bruised or fractured tibia, or twisted foot.

Injuries

Iliotibial band syndrome

Iliotibial band syndrome is one of the causes of knee pain with outside. It is more common in athletes: long-distance runners, cyclists, skiers, and football players. May also occur in ordinary people against the background of overexertion and frequent bending of the legs at the knee joint. The injury is treated with anti-inflammatory drugs and special unloading exercises.

Damage to the meniscus has its own characteristics. If the leg is placed incorrectly, part of the ligaments that attach the meniscus to other cartilages may break. The pain is sharp and severe. After some time, the person can no longer lean on the sore leg.

Sprain or rupture of ligaments occurs with excessive loads. The pain is sharp and severe, the knee joint swells, it is impossible to touch it due to severe pain. Mobility is limited. Such injuries require long-term treatment and rehabilitation.

The kneecap is the weakest point for runners. A dislocated patella is accompanied by a sprain of the ligaments, which threatens a recurrence of the situation. With frequent dislocation, the patella may collapse; the mobility of the knee joint will depend on the quality of treatment and compliance with the doctor’s instructions.

Pathologies

Knee diseases

Knee pain is caused by diseases of the joints and bones: arthritis, arthrosis, bursitis, synovitis, tendonitis. A doctor can make a diagnosis using diagnostic devices - ultrasound, MRI. Treatment is prescribed depending on the cause: infection, nutritional disorders, hormonal imbalances.

The pain can be caused by inflammation of the sciatic nerve. Causes of the inflammatory process:

• hypothermia;
• infection;
• problems with the spine;
• heavy physical activity.

For chronic inflammation, it is necessary to follow a training regimen, avoiding hypothermia. Because the pain starts with lumbar region spine, you need to strengthen your back muscles.

With vascular disorders, pain occurs both in the inside of the knee and on the outside, depending on the location of the vessel. The cause may be cholesterol deposits on the inner walls of veins and arteries. Such pain is typical during adolescence, if the child is growing quickly.

How is diagnostics carried out?

First of all, the doctor will ask you to tell us exactly when the pain or discomfort began and what, in the patient’s opinion, this is due to. The nature of the pain should be described in detail: aching or sharp, in what position it hurts more, are there any sounds when bending and straightening the knee - crunching, clicking.

To assess the condition of the ligamentous apparatus, several tests are performed:

• checking the joint for symptoms " drawer", in which the anterior-posterior movement of the tibia is clearly expressed, which means a rupture of the cruciate ligament;
• behavior of the joint during lateral movement.

Cruciate ligaments are not restored. Further strengthening of the tibial muscles will be required to support the knee natural state. If this is not done, the joint will move.

Instrumental examination helps to assess the extent of damage. The best method is MRI. Ultrasound is not very informative and does not show all the changes occurring in the knee joint.

X-rays allow you to evaluate the relationship of the bones, how correctly they are located relative to each other. Pictures are taken in frontal and lateral projections, then compared.

If the joint swells and there is a suspicion of infection, the doctor recommends doing a puncture and examining it in the laboratory for infection. If a tumor is suspected, a tissue biopsy is performed.

Podography is a research method that allows you to determine abnormalities in the spinal column and identify curvatures: lordosis, kyphosis, lateral curvature. For people involved in sports, podography determines the shape of the foot and its influence on the position of the leg.

How to deal with pain

Pain relief methods can be short-term or long-term. After making a diagnosis, the doctor prescribes a treatment regimen and possible loads on the knee joint. To relieve pain, medications are used - painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. At the same time you should reset excess weight, since one extra kilogram increases the load sixfold.

Acute pain attack

In case of an acute attack, the only thing that will help relieve severe pain is an anesthetic: Ibuprofen, Ketanov, Paracetamol. After physical activity, immobilize the joint and apply ice while elevating the leg. A pressure bandage or bandage helps. If there is no swelling, you can apply a warm heating pad.

You need to be careful with heat: if the pain feels worse, warm compresses are not suitable. There is no need to experiment if your doctor has already given recommendations regarding the use of heat.

Chronic pain

Hyaluronic acid improves the quality of synovial fluid

This article is about what to do if you experience knee pain when running. We will talk about methods of prevention and treatment of the knee joint. Let's outline first aid methods for suspected injury.

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Causes

The knee joint is one of the areas that receives the most stress when a person runs or walks. Therefore, nature made it very strong and massive, and protected it well.

However, if certain rules are not followed, the load that the runner experiences on his joints turns out to be excessive. As a result, cartilage, tendons and ligaments are subject to microscopic injuries. Discomfort occurs, and the mobility of the knee joint may even worsen.

Such injuries, invisible to a person, can cause an infectious pathogen to enter the knee tissue. The joint suddenly swells and sometimes turns red. In the future, this can lead to chronic joint pathologies. The situation is aggravated if the runner does not pay attention to the inflammation and still rushes to train.

When running, your knees hurt because the bones are constantly hitting, stretching the connective tissue of the articular joint. At the same time, the joint does not have enough nutrients to recover. And when such situations are repeated in training over and over again, the process of knee deformation begins. He has a lot negative consequences, the most obvious of which is the high risk of traumatic injury.

Who is affected?

Problems with joint pain appear in the following risk groups:

How does it manifest?

Painful syndrome in the knee joint during training may be accompanied by:

• sensation of friction;
• sounds of crunching, clicking;
• swelling after running;
• difficult joint mobility;
• limiting the amplitude of possible movements;
• aching pain on the outside;
• pain in the bone area below the joint;
• cyanosis of the skin, formation of hematomas.

These symptoms indicate that you are not following safe running practices. Or your knee joint is already damaged and the degenerative process has begun. To prevent unpleasant consequences, we advise you to visit a doctor and reduce the intensity of your training.

Security measures

It is quite possible that the pain is only an isolated manifestation. There is a possibility that you are simply overexerted, and everything will go away on its own. But there is a strong risk that with each run the condition will get worse and worse.

To eliminate an unpleasant picture of events, take preventive measures now. When pain occurs, try not to ignore it, but to use therapeutic methods.

It may turn out that running this moment This is not a suitable sport for you. Then you will have to go a certain way to get to the treadmill: do exercise therapy, strengthen joint joints, change your diet.

Prevention

How to protect your knees from pain? First of all, you need to find out if you have chronic diseases of the knee joint. And then think about whether your technique is correct.
If you're wondering how to protect your knees, pay attention to the following points in your workout:

Ambulance

So you've come back from the treadmill and your legs are really sore. Don't worry too much; everyone who enjoys running has encountered such problems sooner or later.

Proceed as follows:

1. Eliminate all factors that cause stress. Go to bed to rest, calm down.
2. Raise your legs above body level. This will ensure the drainage of excess fluids from the knee and prevent the development of swelling.
3. Apply a cold compress. You can also replace it with gels containing menthol substances. A pleasant chill will distract the nerve endings from uncomfortable sensations and minimize the risk of swelling.

The following additional measures should be taken if you suspect the possibility of injury:

• take painkillers or anti-inflammatory drugs;
• immobilize the joint with an elastic bandage after it has been lying above the body for some time;
• do not strain the injured knee;
• Call emergency services so that doctors can assess the condition and rule out serious damage.

Treatment

The following medications are used in the treatment of joint diseases and injuries:

1. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Relieves inflammation and pain. Prevents the immune system from damaging its own tissues. Negatively affects stomach tissue.
2. Chondroprotectors. Used in courses, they work best in injection form. Protect the joint from harmful substances, directly strengthen it.
3. Corticosteroids. They are used when conventional anti-inflammatory drugs no longer help. They act quite quickly and effectively, helping to forget about pain. However, they are a hormonal drug, which may have unexpected side effects.

To strengthen the knee joint, the surgeon may prescribe injections into the knee:

1. Hyaluronic acid. This substance, famous for plastic surgery, is also used to treat joints. The joint distance increases, and the cartilage more easily withstands the pressure of the bone.
2. The patient’s own plasma, which is enriched with platelets before injection. Platelets stimulate the healing of deformed tissues, and the joint quickly recovers.

The best treatment for joints is offered by therapeutic exercises:

1. We lie on our stomach, placing our arms along the body. Raise your straight leg to a height of about 15 centimeters and hold it in this position for half a minute. You should help yourself with your pelvis as little as possible. Having relaxed, we immediately change legs.
2. Without changing position, bend lower limb according to principle right angle. Without changing its line, we raise it by a distance of 10 centimeters. Hold for a few seconds and change legs.
3. Let's shift to right side. We bend the corresponding leg, and straighten the other and raise it to the maximum. We hold this position for half a minute, repeat, changing sides.
4. We sit down on a chair. Raise your legs one at a time so that they form a parallel line to the floor. We hold on to the maximum, but no more than a minute. We change the leg.

Consequences

Pain in the knee does not go away without leaving a trace. If this happens to you often, the result may be injury or chronic illness.

Here is a list of the consequences of persistent knee pain for a runner:

1. Stretches. The ligament cannot withstand, and its structure is disrupted.
2. Ligament rupture. The ligament ruptures, causing unbearable pain.
3. Dislocation. The cartilaginous surfaces diverge, and the connection visually changes shape.
4. Bursitis. The joint capsules become inflamed.
5. Tendinitis. Inflammatory process in the tendon area.
6. Meniscus tear. The connective tissue between the epiphyses of the bones is torn. It can develop for a long time, and then suddenly and very painfully make itself felt.
7. Arthrosis. Mechanical deformation of the cartilage surface.
8. Arthritis. Inflammatory process of the joint.

Video “Treat knee pain in 10 minutes without pills and injections”

This video explains what to do when you experience knee pain.

IN Lately There's a lot of talk about whether running is bad for your joints. This article begins a series of materials on joint health, which will include recommendations for choosing nutrition and supplements that can help keep your joints in excellent shape, as well as tips on how to run without injuries and what to do to prevent them.

How does the joint work?

A joint is a connection between the articular surfaces of bones, each of which is covered with cartilage. The joint is enclosed in an articular capsule, or capsule. This ensures the tightness of the joint and protects it from damage. Joint cartilage is necessary to absorb the stress that the joint experiences during movement. The inner lining of the joint capsule is called synovial and produces synovial fluid into the joint cavity. Synovial fluid is needed to lubricate the articular surfaces of bones and nourish cartilage. Cartilage in its structure resembles a sponge: when loaded into the joint cavity, synovial fluid is released from it, and as soon as the compression stops, the fluid returns back to the cartilage.

What is cartilage made of?

The basis of cartilage is made up of collagen fibers (type 2), which go into different directions, forming a frame. The remaining space is filled with proteoglycan molecules that retain water in the joint. Therefore, cartilage contains approximately 70-80% water. Proteoglycans consist of a protein molecule with which hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate and keratan sulfate are connected. These connections are built by chondrocytes - special joint builder cells.

How is the joint “nourished”?

The joint is nourished by synovial fluid, from where the cartilage, through seepage, takes what it needs for itself. nutrients. And they enter the synovial fluid from the blood vessels passing next to the joint. Fluid circulation is ensured only during movement: when the leg is bent, synovial fluid comes out of the cartilage into the joint cavity; when it is straightened, it goes back into the cartilage. In addition, when moving, the muscles attached to the elements of the joint contract, and due to this, blood is pumped through their vessels, delivering more nutrients to the cartilage.

Why does cartilage thin out?

Inflammation

In the affected joint, the production of “pro-inflammatory” cytokines, cyclooxygenase, increases, which initiates inflammatory reactions and damages chondrocytes. Damaged chondrocytes produce irregular collagen and proteoglycans (short collagen, low molecular weight small proteoglycans) that are different from normal cartilage tissue. Cartilage loses chondroitin and hyaluronic acid. As a result, it gradually collapses.

Physical inactivity

Little walking, a sedentary lifestyle, standing work, as a result of which the blood supply to the joint is disrupted and the cartilage does not receive adequate nutrition. In turn, this affects the work of chondrocytes, and processes of cartilage destruction occur. Cartilage absorbs synovial fluid only when the joint moves and the periarticular muscles contract.

In what cases does inflammation occur?

Obesity

The scientific literature provides numerous data on the relationship between catabolic processes in cartilage and metabolic disorders associated with obesity. Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ and secretes a large number of cytokines, chemokines and peptides that perform important physiological functions in the body. They affect the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, the processes of inflammation, coagulation, immunity, and the functioning of bone and cartilage tissue. Obesity becomes a risk factor for diseases of the musculoskeletal system, as it activates pro-inflammatory cytokines, which affect normal work chondrocytes (creators of cartilage).

Constant microtrauma of the joint

Running is specific in that the athlete is forced to repeat a certain motor element many times during training, which is accompanied by a load on the same muscle groups, joints and tendons, and under conditions of accelerated rhythm and increased load. This in turn can lead to an increased risk of microtrauma. If the load exceeds a reasonable limit, then permanent trauma occurs, and this triggers the inflammatory process. This process occurs in people who are overweight and have weak leg muscles.

IN last years There is a growing body of research showing that decreased strength of the quadriceps femoris muscle, which performs the main stabilizing function of the knee joint, contributes to the development of osteoarthritis of the knee joints. And if excessive loads are combined with obesity, then destruction occurs at double speed!

How to keep your joints healthy

Bring your weight back to normal and improve your diet

Provide the body with necessary vitamins, microelements and high-quality protein. For example, collagen consists of amino acids and is synthesized with the participation of vitamin C and zinc, and the rate of synthesis depends on magnesium. If there is a lack of protein or vitamins, chondrocytes will not be able to effectively build collagen bonds to strengthen bones, muscles, ligaments and joints.

Strengthen muscles, build training loads correctly

This is why participation in marathons and half-marathons without appropriate preparation is contraindicated. The inflammation processes that will be launched during participation in marathons without preparation may not fade away and continue, which undoubtedly leads to degeneration of articular cartilage.

Prevent inflammation

Taking dietary supplements that reduce inflammatory processes in the body and joints (Glucosamine, Curcumin, Omega 3 - eicosapentaenoic acid).

As a conclusion, we can only say one thing: running is good for joints and running is bad for joints. Just like walking can harm joints, or it can help. Joint health depends on your lifestyle, proper nutrition, from your thoughtful attitude to training and to running, in particular.

Run more, live longer!