Why do bones ache with age and cold?

• Osteoarthritis pathology, the disease suffered by Mario Vaquerizo and another 7 million Spaniards

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They say that after a certain age (50? 60?), If nothing hurts you are dead.

It is a sentence to which, whether we look at it from the perspective of a glass that is half full or that of half empty, we will all have to face and whose harshness will depend, once again, on our genetics, but, above all, on our habits. of life.

"If you don't want problems tomorrow, do prevention today," Dr. Antonio Ríos often says.

He knows it better than anyone because, in addition to being a specialist in

, he treasures some privileged joints that, just after turning 50 (yes, that critical age) continue to allow him to run marathons and complete long-distance triathlons.

Already in their forties, patients who come to Dr. Ríos's office usually suffer from osteoarthritis, that is, "problems in the joints that carry weight or suffer impact, that is, in the hips and knees, which are those who have suffered the most over the years and whose cartilage is more damaged by such everyday activities as simply walking ».

And why does osteoarthritis hurt?

“Although the cartilage does not have nerve endings, pain is suspected to be the 'secondary effect' of injuries to neighboring structures, such as inflammation of the joint capsule to progressive deformation of the leg, microfractures of the bone under the cartilage and synovitis (inflammation of the joint), etc. '

Many times, he adds, "

and could occur in any musculoskeletal disease such as clicking, deformity, rigidity or instability."

Other areas, on the other hand, end up suffering from overuse.

"These ailments occur, above all, in people who have had a very physically active working life (in warehouses, workshops, construction, etc.), because repetitive movements are those that tend to undermine soft tissue (tendons)."

Although in our day to day we do not realize it, «a gesture as common as raising or lowering a heavy load repeatedly, in such a way that our hands have to be placed above our head, can become the origin of a tendonitis in the shoulders.

If we spend many hours doing an activity standing, without moving and with our head in the same position (packaging, for example), it

, cervical muscle contractures and even dizziness with sweating and bad body". Or, if we use scissors or pliers to repeatedly perform turning movements of the hand, "tennis elbow or epicondylitis will be a common pathology."

Turned into a kind of human gargoyles, poor body posture in the chair sustained over the decades will also take its toll on us. “When looking at the computer or reading, we literally remain hunched, which causes a dorsal kyphosis or a slumped position. To compensate, the cervical spine tends to lift the chin so that the cervical muscles contract for many hours.

If, in addition, we have the computer on one side, the turn that we must make repeatedly is harmful. "The lumbar spine can also suffer if we are not sitting correctly with our back well supported on the backrest." Otherwise, if it turns on itself to, for example, remove an object from a drawer, we will cause “

that, in the long run, will damage the disc and the hernia will not take long in making an appearance ».

But there is still more.

By spending so much time sitting, “the hips and knees remain bent 90º, which shortens the muscles of the anterior part of the hip such as the psoas;

the hamstring veins in the knee are bent by that 90º position, making us clear candidates for varicose veins since it will be more difficult for the circulation to return from the legs to the heart ».

So that we can get used to the idea, Dr. Ríos also warns us that "back pain, what is commonly called low back pain, will surely nag us all (especially men, sooner or later)."

Why?

This is your explanation.

«The lumbar spine is made up of five vertebrae.

Between each one of them, there is a disc that is a kind of pad whose function is to cushion loads or impacts.

However,

, diminishes its effectiveness, causing stress on the joint facets of the spine and their premature aging ”.

For this reason, if we persist in our bad habits, such as carrying weight incorrectly, "the lumbar discs will deteriorate chronically and the symptoms of low back pain will appear."

And, if this situation is prolonged in time, even a herniated disc can make its painful appearance.

The next question would be, why does all this rosary of pain crush us even more in winter?

«Due to various factors.

In the first place, the cold causes vasoconstriction to occur to counteract the loss of heat, which causes a lower blood supply to any joint in our body, ”explains this specialist.

Furthermore, with the drop in temperatures, "the viscosity of the fluids in our body is modified."

during movement, "the synovial fluid is one of the great victims of these changes, becoming more dense and difficult to mobilize."

And there is still more, at this time of year, "the muscles also tend to contract, causing tendon shortening that can affect performance and cause cramps or contractures."

So far, the bad news.

The good ones?

We have some room for maneuver to mitigate the inevitable wear and tear of aging: “Prevention is the key.

If we compensate for all the punishment we put the body to each day, then we will have a balance.

;

avoiding being overweight, and above all, carrying out preventive work on strengthening the neck, lumbar and, above all, the 'core', that central nucleus of our body located in the abdomen ».

Ríos stresses the importance of "weaving a lumbar self-fastening, made with the muscles that surround the spine."

In this way, "the discs will be less loaded and, consequently, the possibility of suffering a hernia will be reduced."

Also about “warming up and stretching our muscles before and after our workday.” Doesn't seem so complicated, does it?

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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