How often do you hear this: “Running is bad for your knees!”
People very often stop doing the activity they like, because either a physiotherapist, or a chiropractor, or a doctor, told them: “Stop running, it’s not good for your knees! You will do harm!”
We should begin following evidence and stop fearing rumors and unconfirmed information. Before you follow this piece of advice – think! Why an individual wants to run, swim, walk, climb or anything else he wants! Perhaps the obvious reason is exercise, but let’s dig deeper.
Perhaps it is for their mental health or social reasons. Perhaps because it gives them a break from the other parts of their life, where for a short time they can be separated from them. So, before you put a STOP on yourself, think about the evidence!
Remember that guidelines for osteoarthritis promote aerobic exercise, strength training and advise the patient to follow a generally healthy lifestyle!
The research by Eduard Alentorn-Geli Et Al. 2017 JOSPT, on whether recreational and competitive running is associated with hip/knee osteoarthritis, showed that sedentary lifestyle and long-term exposure to high volume and/or high-intensity running are both associated with osteoarthritis hip and/or knee.
The research by Leech Et Al. 2015 BJSM entitled “Does running protect against knee osteoarthritis? Or promote it? “, concludes that” Today, we argue that there is insufficient evidence to determine the relationship between recreational running and the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis or its progression. The final answer to the question remains elusive.
The research by Ponzio Et Al. 2018, concluded that the rate of arthritis of the active marathon runners was below that of the general US population. Among individuals 50 years old and older with knee osteoarthritis, self-selected running is associated with improved knee pain and not with worsening knee pain or radiographically defined
Therefore, before you stop doing what you love in order to “protect” your joints, think that physical exercise is vital to your mobility and what actually worsens it, is your sofa.
