Yoga can help you beat pain due to osteoarthritis

According to an orthopaedic surgeon, yoga can act as an effective natural aid to combat osteoarthritis. Yoga not only lowers the pain and stiffness experienced by osteoarthritis patients but also slows down the disease progression. Mr Moyes, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at The Wellington Hospital in London's St John's Wood, said that by imparting small and simple lifestyle changes in the daily routine, one can effectively protect their knee joints and reduce pain caused due to osteoarthritis. (Read: health benefits of yoga that will boggle your mind)

He said that the most important of these are keeping your body mass index down to normal levels, having a healthy diet, exercising regularly and keeping supple - these will all reduce the risk of injury and limit the chances of developing arthritis. Moyes, who specialises in arthroscopic surgery for knee, shoulder, foot and ankle problems, said that yoga also helps improve flexibility and functioning of joints and therefore reduces the risk of injury, especially if the patient takes part in contact sports. He added that they are seeing more and more 'high level' athletes such as professional footballers engaging in yoga to reduce their injury rates and risks. (Read: 9 super foods to fight arthritis)

What is osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis, also called degenerative arthritis is usually caused by overuse of joints. This can be due to obesity, various sports disciplines or age. It is most common in the knees, hips, feet, and spine joints which bear weight. Cartilage covering the ends of bones serves as the body s shock absorber. With osteoarthritis, the cartilage gradually breaks down resulting in pain when the joint is moved.

Symptoms of arthritis you should be aware of

If you see any of these symptoms you shouldn't put off a visit to the doctor.

• If the pains last for more than a week
• If you experience unexplained joint pain usually accompanied with fever
• You experience difficulty in carrying out daily chores due to joint pain
• Your joint pain isn t cured by pain killers
• There is swelling and stiffness in the joints

(Read: Arthritis -- everything you should know about)

Source: ANI

Image Source: Getty images

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