Will Obesity Affect Your Hip Joints?

Most people who are obese often report having aches and pains in their hip. There is very good reason for this. Excess weight on a body puts immense pressure on the joints. So, the answer to the earlier question is a resounding yes! Obesity affects your hips for a few reasons. Obesity increases your chances of arthritis and if you already have arthritis it will accelerate the progress. The chances of developing arthritis are directly proportional to your body weight. It may be argued that skinny people have arthritis too. However, the statistics show that overweight people are much more heavily prone to this condition and suffer more. When you are obese, the harder it is for the joints to move effectively. Imagine carrying a sack of potatoes and walking around the whole day. Your knees, back and shoulders are going to be killing you. The same applies to extra weight on your body. Not to mention there is a multiplying effect. For example, if you are overweight by 20 pounds, the forces on your joints increase by up to 3 times when you walk. So, that is 60 pounds of force on your hip joints and knee joints. No fun at all. There are many overweight people who have to seek hip replacement surgery to alleviate their pain and suffering. All these could have been avoided by trying to lose the excess weight through a proper diet and regular exercise. Prevention is always better than cure. Obese people who have hip problems often tend to give up hope and blame it on genetics or just that life dealt them a bad hand. This is negative thinking. There are hundreds of videos on YouTube that show how people who were obese reached their fitness goals through determination and hard work. By transforming your life for the better, you will have less pain and suffering. Exercise may be tiring and troublesome but having a constant pain in your hips and joints is much worse. One is beneficial to your health while the other is just excruciating and makes your life a living hell. The pain in your hips will also spread to your back because the extra weight in your mid-section will pull you forward and cause your back to bend. To compensate, your spine will have to bend at an awkward angle throughout the day. In time, your entire spine will start having problems. You will have pain even if you’re standing, sitting or lying down because the spine needs to be re-aligned and that will take medication and therapy. Obesity also hardens the ligaments of the spine and may cause hip fractures. This is worrying. There are many other problems related to the hips that may occur due to obesity. Those are beyond the scope of this article. However, if you have any hip aches or pains, you may wish to consult your family physician. Finally, there is no situation so adverse that it cannot be salvaged. Whatever your condition may be, a few small changes to your diet will work wonders. Just a slow walk for about 30 to 60 minutes will work wonders if you do it daily. All the small positive changes you make will snowball and the results in the long run will be nothing short of amazing.