A new study published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research wanted to look at the question of whether there is an association between a history of running and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. The study looked at over 2,600 people with an average age of 64 years old, of which about 30% had run at some point in their lives. The researchers evaluated the relationship of running with knee pain, radiographic osteoarthritis (OA), and symptomatic OA.
Their findings were very promising for runners because their study showed that former runners were 18% less likely to report knee pain and current runners were 24% less likely to report knee pain. These results were adjusted for differences in age, body mass index (BMI), and other factors. Radiographic images looking for evidence of knee degeneration and symptomatic osteoarthritis showed similar results: running at some point during your life reduced osteoarthritis and current running showed even better results.
Many runners do have knee pain, but now we know we can't blame running. That leaves the question:
What causes knee pain, knee degeneration, and osteoarthritis?
Posture, joint alignment, and muscle length and tension that work together to create your body's biomechanics. Balanced posture, vertical alignment, full joint range of motion, and well developed muscle strength and endurance will create efficient biomechanics that lead to stronger more resilient bones and joints over time.
 Balanced postural alignment with vertically loaded joints. |  Running showing efficient running form which is the result of having good postural alignment. |
Imbalanced posture, lack of vertical alignment, limited joint range of motion, and underdeveloped muscle strength and endurance will create inefficient biomechanics that lead to joint breakdown, injury, and pain over time.
 A runner in a natural standing posture that shows ankle, knee, hip, spine, and shoulder imbalances. |  Those postural imbalances show up during running as feet, knees, hips, and shoulders that don't move symmetrically or straight ahead. |
If you're a runner and want to make sure you have good postural alignment to stay injury free, contact me today for a free 30-minute posture evaluation.
If you're suffering from knee pain and want to find the underlying posture alignment imbalances responsible for it and learn how you can correct them and become pain free contact me today for a free 30-minute posture evaluation.
If you're suffering from knee pain and want to find the underlying posture alignment imbalances responsible for it and learn how you can correct them and become pain free contact me today for a free 30-minute posture evaluation.
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