Exercising without guidance can harm your knees

CHANDIGARH: Exercising without proper guidance can do more harm than good to our body, especially the knee joints that bear much of the pressure. That can lead to cartilage damage, meniscal tears, ligament injury, muscles injury and tendonitis. If left untreated, it can even lead to arthritis joint pain.
A person should always exercise under supervision of experts, not ignore any injury if sustained and disclose any disease that he might be afflicted with to the gym instructor.If he neglects the injury, he might develop problems in walking long distances, climbing stairs, sitting cross-legged," warns Sameer Agarwal, an orthopeadician at PGI.
Corrabating the view, Dr H S Batth, a senior consultant in the department of Orthopaedics at Cosmo Hospital, Mohali, says, Over the past two years, these cases have increased by 30-40%. The symptoms are pain, swelling and redness in the knee joint besides restricted and painful limping.
If some pain or swelling occurs, the first step is to immediately stop exercising. Apply ice on the affected area, take sufficient rest and consult a practitioner if the pain persists.
Repeated injuries over a period of time puts undue pressure on knee joint and can lead to early onset of arthritis.
Even a single major injury of knee like ligament or meniscal tear if left untreated for long, leads to degeneration of the joint.
Orthopeadician and assistant professor in PGI, Dr Rajendar Kanogia, says, "We received 40-45 cases this year against 30-35 cases last year. Most of the afflicted are youths or those above 40 years of age."
Giving out advice, Dr Kanogia continues, the person suffering from knee joint problems should avoid jogging and yoga till he is fully cured. He should avoid squatting position and sitting in chair for long hours. Yoga and exercises should be practised early in the morning and diet should include calcium, vitamin and vegetables.
Football player Sandip Varma (name changed) who recently consulted a doctor after he suffered major injury while jogging in the sand cautions against improper track.