What are Cartilage Disorders?
Cartilage is the tough but flexible tissue that covers the end of your bones at a joint and prevents bones from rubbing against each other. It also gives shape and support to other parts of your body, such as your nose and ears. Healthy cartilage helps you to move by allowing your bones to glide against each other with minimal friction.
Injured, inflammed or damage cartilage can cause symptoms such as pain and limited movements, eventually leading to joint damage and deformity. While acute injuries or trauma can damage articular cartilage—such as a meniscus tear in athletes—it is more commonly affected by gradual degeneration from osteoarthritis or chronic inflammation from conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.
What are the symptoms of Cartilage Disorders?
Some key symptoms of cartilage damage include:
- Joint pain: People suffering from cartilage disorders may experience a deep, aching pain in the joint which worsens during or after physical activity.
- Swelling: Recurrent swelling may happen, especially after physical activity
- Stiffness: Joint stiffness may be experienced after sleeping or sitting for long periods
- Grating sensation: A grinding or rubbing feeling when moving your joint
What causes Cartilage Disorders?
- Trauma & Acute Injury: Sports injuries, accidents or direct blows can cause cartilage to tear or separate from the bone.
- Wear and Tear: As people age, the cartilage that cushions joints can wear away.
- Obesity: Excessive body weight places high, constant stress on load bearing joints in the knees and hips.
- Overuse and Repetitive Motion: Repetitive, high-impact movements found in sports or manual labour can wear down cartilage over time.
- Inflammatory Diseases: Autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis can trigger inflammation that damages cartilage.
How do you prevent Cartilage Disorders?
Preventing cartilage disorder primarily involves reducing unnecessary stress on your joints, maintaining a healthy weight and being physically active.
Some steps you can take to lower your risk of cartilage disorders include:
- Maintain a healthy weight: One of the key factorsa in preventing cartilage damage. Losing weight helps to reduce the load on your knee joints and lessens the wear and tear on your cartilage.
- Strengthen surrounding muscles: Building up the muscles in the legs, thighs, hips and core helps support the joints, taking pressure off the cartilage.
- Avoid injuries: Acute injuries may lead to post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Practice proper techniques, warm up properly and avoid pushing yourself too far to avoid sustaining injuries.
- Avoid prolonged inactivity: Long periods of inactivity can be just as damaging to your cartilage as excessive strain, and leads to weakness and instability.
- Wear appropriate footwear: Wear shoes that are well-cushioned and have proper support to absorb shocks and protect your joints from the feet upward.
- Quit smoking: Smoking has been linked to severe joint damage and pain in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
