One of the negative side effects of carrying excess weight is joint pain. It stands to reason, that your muscles, joints and ligaments would be heavily burdened by having to cart around more weight than they were designed to handle. For someone who is 50 or 100 lbs. overweight, it’s easy to see how your life could be painful with every step. The team at our weight loss clinic in Springfield is here to help.

The Burden on Your Lower Body

Joint pain and obesity usually go hand in hand, and it is the joints in your lower body that ends up taking the brunt of the pressure. The joints in your hips, knees and ankles are subject to the most force when you walk, increasing your risk of developing osteoarthritis if you don’t do something to alleviate the problem. After a while, it will become difficult to maintain an active lifestyle, and if you are too heavy, you might not be able to live and function independently.

Aside from pain medication, you don’t really have many options when it comes to controlling joint pain from obesity. All prescription pain medications have side effects and while some are more severe than others are, the best solution to control the pain is always weight loss.

Less Weight Equals Less Stress

Since it is the extra weight that is causing the pain, any amount of weight you lose can help to alleviate it. Even in cases with a firm diagnosis of osteoarthritis, weight loss can delay or prevent surgery and get you on the road to greater mobility. Naturally, exercising with joint pain can be difficult, which is why diet modification should be your first step. If you are seriously overweight and have tried various approaches in the past, it may be time to consult a bariatric surgeon to go over your weight loss surgery options.

If exercise is still a possibility for you, light walking is a good choice, as is swimming or any type of exercise in the water. When you are immersed in water, it’s as if gravity doesn’t exist and the strain is taken off your aching joints. You’ll also engage all your major muscle groups, helping you burn calories and fat more effectively.

As the weight comes off, whether through lifestyle changes or surgery, make a point of strengthening the muscles of your legs, hips, buttocks and back, so your lower body joints have a lot of support and will continue to function well into the future.

Feel free to contact our weight loss team at Springfield Weight Loss Center today for more information.