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Joints & Muscles


Joints and Muscles–Understanding its Importance and the Health Concerns It Brings

Your joints and muscles are vital in your daily life. Without them you would be unable to do the simple things that usually go unnoticed, but are important in your everyday life. Standing, walking, running, or even sitting would be quite impossible to do without your muscles. From head to toe, joints and muscles provide your body form, protection, and movement. Muscles are also essential in breathing, blood circulation, and the beating of the heart. The simplest acts of communication like smiling and talking likewise utilizes our muscles.

Muscles
Even in digestion, muscles work to help you grow and become stronger by moving the food in the digestive system after chewing them. 650 muscles make up the human body which comprises ½ of the body’s weight. The so-called tendons are cord-like tissues that connect the muscles to the bones. These tendons are the tissues that pull the bones.

The body’s muscles are composed of 3 different kinds, namely skeletal, smooth (involuntary), and cardiac muscles. Skeletal muscles keep the skeleton together, provide the body some shape, and allow it to move. Smooth or involuntary muscles are the ones controlled by the nervous system which helps in digestion and the maintenance of a good blood pressure. Cardiac muscles located in the heart are also powerful forces in the circulation of blood both inside and outside of the heart.

Joints
Joints are found in the areas where bones meet. They enable the body to move and, at the same time, flex the skeleton. The joints on the knees and elbows are like hinges that open and close. On the other hand, the shoulder or hip joints allow the body to move in different directions. Joints are classified according to the kind of movement they are able to do. Some are immovable to protect some central portions of the body like the brain, yet some are partially movable like those which are linked to the spine by cartilage. Hinge, pivot, and ball and socket joints are 3 classes of freely-movable joints that are essential in the body’s movement.

Joints and Muscle Problems
Joints and muscles, like any other part of the human body, can be weakened and damaged by disease or injury. Some of the common problems involving joints and muscles include arthritis, back pain, joint pain, muscular dystrophy, Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD), repetitive stress injuries (RSIs), strains & pains, gout, fibromyalgia, and tendonitis.

The most sinister and common condition among these problems is arthritis. Arthritis is an inflammation of the joints that manifests through swelling, pain, warmth, and difficulty in movement. The ones who are likely to suffer from this condition are not only older people, but children and teens as well. Other health problems that has to do with arthritis include lupus, septic arthritis (bacterial infection), and JRA, otherwise known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

How to Avoid Developing Joints and Muscle Problems
The best answer to arthritis, back pain, joint pain, gout, fibromyalgia, etc. are simply regular exercise and avoiding too much legumes in your diet that are likely to aggravate these joint and muscle conditions.