Dr Ortho Blog

`Can jogging or running cause knee pain?’ or `Is jogging bad or good for knee cartilage?’ or  `My knees hurt a lot after jogging? Am I doing something?’ or Is jogging bad for your back? or `Is running with bad knee cartilage good? ‘or `Will jogging hurt an obese person’s joints?’ etc. There are umpteen number of questions which needs to be addressed in relation to jogging and its indirect association with joints pain.

The first important myth which needs clearance is the non presence of any strong evidence which directly relates joints pain to jogging provided you do not history of the episode of joints pain previously.

Some people are more to develop arthritis than others. Well, running or jogging make these people more prone to develop arthritis. It is purely the natural disposition of genes in these people which is responsible for their suffering from arthritis. This is another point which needs to jotted down in people’s mind who blame jogging for their joints join in comparison to their compatriots who do not show signs and symptoms of arthritis.

Jogging is good and healthy for people but it is the way you have started your jogging regime. It is important to warm up and perform light exercises and moves like squats, step-ups, skipping before starting jogging. It is true that knees face undue pressure when you run or jog. Our knees are made of knee joints .As cells have shelf life like red blood cells live up to 120 days same  with the other tissues and part of body. Joints wither the same way as cells age and die. Withering away of joints is slow. Your life style and habits determine a lot what your joints would feel when you get old.

So, too lazy to go for exercise or walk or jog, ponder a little how important is your joint health. You may put your joints health as risk due to unhealthy habits including laziness. You move smoothly and flexibly because of the mobility and flexibility of your joints.

Why jogging or running causes knee pain most commonly? Well joints of hips, spine and ankle are also prone along with knee joints but knees face the highest impact when you run or jog. The tendon and the muscles in or around the knee undergo microscopic tear damage when excessive stress is put on knees because of the wrong way of jogging or progressing your jogging schedule really fast.

What is runner’s knee? Every athlete undergo minor incoming and outgoing episodes of knee pain but runner’s knee is common in runners (As the name clearly indicates).Runner’s knee is not the specific injury but a group of ailments which affects knee and its joints .Every sportsperson has exercises which involve knees like bending or stretching .But in runners, there is definitely overuse of knees hence the runners knee.

Some tips how to jog as to minimize the impact on your knees. These are as follows-

• Wear right good sports shoes for jogging
• Do not jog on cemented surface
• Do light stretching moves before jogging
• Go slow and progress slowly as in the kilometers you decide to run as novice jogger
• Maintain healthy optimum weight as more the weight more your knees will be stressed out

`Jogging is good for your joints’