Giving Your Joints an Age Test

Most of us take our joints for granted until they play up, by which time significant degenerative changes may already have occurred. Many people are unaware of minor losses in mobility, or may just attribute stiffness, aches and pains to the season or the weather.

Osteopath Torben Hersborg has developed a Joint Age Test to assess whether your joints are ageing faster than the rest of you. As most joint problems become worse if not tackled early, take the test to see how you fare.

Add up the points in brackets after the questions to which you answer YES:

1. Do you have quirky sounds from some of your joints? (10)

2. Do your joints ache? (10)

3. Are your joints swollen or have they changed shape? (10)

4. Do you have any old joint injuries? (5)

5. Do you do repetitive work/exercise? (5)

6. Do you have a sedentary job and take no exercise? (5)

7. Does arthritis run in your family? (5)

8. Do you ache more than your peers after exercise? (5)

9. Do your hands, fingers and feet get cold and stiff? (5)

10. Are your joints difficult to straighten? (10)

11. Are you over your perfect weight? (5 for every stone overweight)

12. Are the joints in your big toes painful or stiff? (10)

13. Can you flex one knee more than the other? (5)

14. Are your knees painful if you sit on them? (5)

15. If you sit cross-legged, are you unable to bring your knees close to the floor? 1 fist between floor and knee?/2 fists/3 fists? (5 for each fist)

16. Do you feel a need to stretch your back on a daily basis?/twice a day?/several times a day? (1 per stretch)

17. When standing, are you unable to touch your toes with your knees straight? 2in from toes? /4in?/6in?/8in? (1 for every inch from the feet)

18. Is your neck rotation limited when reversing your car? (5)

19. Are you unable to align your chin and shoulder tip? (5)

20. Are you unable to touch your chest with your chin? (5)

21. Can you bring one arm further up behind your back than the other? 1in?/2in?/3in?/more? (2 per inch)

22. Can you flex one wrist more than the other? (10)

23. Are you unable to flex all your fingers completely? (10)

To obtain your joint age score

Add the number of points in brackets after the questions to which you answered YES.

Subtract your age from the total number of points – this may leave you with a positive or negative score. Halve this figure. If it is a positive score, add it to your age. If it is a negative score, take it off your age to give you the actual age of your joints.

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Ways to improve joint health

Warm up and cool down properly with gentle stretches before taking part in sport.

Keep joints warm in cold weather and do daily stretches. Torben suggests the following: Stretch your fingers out completely and then close your hands to make a fist; roll your shoulder blades; turn your head from side to side and swing your arms from side to side; put hands on hips and then move your hips in large circles; sit on the floor and then hold your kneecaps and then move them in circles.

Consume essential fatty acids to lubricate synovial joints and for their anti-inflammatory action. Eat oily fish at least twice a week. Supplements containing olive, flaxseed or omega-3 fish oil supplements are beneficial, as is cod liver oil, which contains additional vitamins A and D important for bone health.

Eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables per day, and consider taking an antioxidant supplement. Vitamin C is both a powerful antioxidant and needed for the production of collagen – a protein found in skin, ligaments, cartilage and other body tissues.

Drink at least two litres of fluid per day to maintain good hydration, and a flow of nutrients to the joints.

Take glucosamine sulphate, which contains building blocks needed to make synovial fluid (the joint’s oil) more cushioning, and to repair torn cartilage, sprained ligaments or strained tendons.

Try Devil’s Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) and New Zealand green-lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus) – both contain glycoproteins that produce significant reductions in pain and stiffness. Some people prefer therapeutic creams or gels.

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Source: www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/wellbeing/diet/4706439/How-to-give-your-joints-an-age-test.html (Accessed on 13 July 2015.