Joint Problems – Knee, Shoulder and Ankle Issues
Many people go through their entire adult lives without ever stopping to think about how much they depend on their joints. Tying your shoe, shooting a basketball, grilling a hamburger, and curling up on the couch to enjoy a movie with your family are all activities that become limited when you have joint problems. Although we typically associated joint problems with signs of aging, there are many reasons why joint problems can become a part of your life while you’re still relatively young. Here is some information about joint problems that can affect different parts of your body.
One of the most common parts of the body to start experiencing joint problems is the knee. Think about how many steps you’ve taken in your lifetime, and you’ll start to see why the knees are especially prone to joint problems. If you’re interested in unraveling the mystery of your knee joint problems, it’s important to note the exact area of the pain. If you’re experiencing pain from joint problems on the side of your knee, it could be the result of injury to the collateral ligaments, or tears in the meniscus, as well as a sign of arthritis.
Another area of the body that is especially prone to joint problems is the shoulder. All it takes is one attempt to lift something heavy in the wrong way, or a collision on the football field, and you could start experiencing joint problems that make it hard to lift your hands above your head. Most joint problems that cause a dull aching pain in the shoulder are the result of injuries to the rotator cuff, but degenerative conditions could also be a factor. Keep in mind that you’re more likely to experience joint problems in your shoulders if you’ve had injuries to the area previously.
Lastly, no discussion of joint problems would be complete without talking about pain in the ankles. If you have a job that requires stand or move around for long hours each day, it can be very easy to start experiencing joint problems in your ankles. Also, women that wear high heels every day are seventy percent more likely to develop joint problems in their feet and ankles. If you find that your ankles get stiff after sitting down for a while at the end of a long day, you might be dealing with some more serious joint problems like arthritis or plantar fasciitis.
