Too much exercise bad for joints
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By Song Sang-Ho
Spring is well on the way, and the weather drives people to want to go outdoors and move around.
I believe that this doesn’t apply only to me but also to the majority of people.
In fact, as I commute to work, I see a lot of people exercising in parks near my house or in school grounds.
However, enthusiasm is not enough as it may lead to negative consequences. If our body, which was dormant throughout the winter, suddenly experiences excessive exercise, it may result in damage to the shoulders, knees and other joints causing muscle pain.
In particular, when a lot of people start exercising in the spring, they engage in many activities that use their shoulder joints excessively.
As a result, the number of patients suffering from shoulder pain increases more and more.
After a long wait during the winter, sports lovers rush back to their hobbies during spring, such as baseball, golf, tennis and badminton among others; and these activities may accidently lead to muscle injuries.
There are many types of shoulder injuries; however, the most common among them are impingement syndrome and rotator cuff tears.
Shoulder impingement syndrome is a disorder which causes pain when the humerus and scapula come into contact, and because it is related to the amount of shoulder joint usage, victims are people who exercise impractically or excessively use their shoulders.
Generally, people suffering from shoulder impingement syndrome experience sharp pain, sometimes accompanied by a sound, when lifting their arms or changing clothes or engaging in similar activities.
However, some patients neglect the pain because they only experience it when lifting their arms, which does not cause so much discomfort, and by doing this it may lead to more severe joint injuries.
In severe cases, the tendon between the bones may become ruptured, leading to a rotator cuff tear.
This is a disorder in which the rotator cuff, which is the muscle that wraps around the entire shoulder joint and assists stable movement, becomes torn, thus losing its function.
With age, the rotator cuff becomes weak, causing the disorder, but recently there have been many cases of it being caused by excessive exercise.
When the rotator cuff is torn, there is pain usually in the lower area of the shoulders and the outer part of the upper arm, and there is a tendency for the pain to worsen during the night rather than the day. In addition, the extent of the pain is known to be so severe that it interrupts sleep.
However, in the initial stages, not a lot of pain is felt, and after some time the swelling subsides, which is the reason why people tend to miss treatment at the right time.
In the beginning stages of impingement syndrome and rotator cuff tears, medication, injections or physical therapy can relieve the symptoms.
However, if none of these treatments alleviate the pain, arthroscopy is conducted.
Arthroscopy surgery involves inserting an arthroscope directly into the shoulder; therefore, it is a treatment with high satisfaction in patients as it enables a more accurate diagnosis and treatment.
In particular, the surgery is completed within an hour and patients only have to be hospitalized for a day or two, lessoning the burden on young patients who visit the hospital.
There wouldn’t be anyone who would not welcome spring.
But, in order to enjoy the season to the fullest, people should first accurately analyze the current status of their joint health, and appropriate exercises and activities should be planned in order to prevent pain or injury.
Above all, no one should underestimate warming up before engaging in any type of activity to minimize joint damage.
I’m planning to take a light walk to enjoy the spring air filled with the scent of flowers.
Just watching the flowers and trees around me is more than enough to rejuvenate myself.
The writer is the president of Wellton Bone and Joint Hospital.