It’s A Senior Decision: Healthy Weight Week and Orthopedic Rehab
Since this week is National Healthy Weight Week, let’s take a look at seniors and weight loss. We all know how maintaining a healthy weight affects one’s overall health. How does it affect orthopedic rehab?
Getting Inspired by National Healthy Weight Week
This year, National Healthy Weight Week runs for 7 days between January 19 – January 31. Seniors can focus on eating the right amounts of nourishing foods and exercising in an age-appropriate way. Americans of all ages are doing this. They enjoy an active lifestyle and generally merit feeling well more often.
Do you want to know what is a healthy weight for a senior? Of course, it depends on how tall they are and other factors. The way to calculate whether the height and weight are in proportion, is by using a body-mass index. To see an Adult Body Mass Index (BMI) Chart click on the link. (On the same page you can see tips for maintaining a healthy weight and wise food choices.)
Healthy Weight Week is only 7 days long. Keep up the inspiration all year long, with a healthy lifestyle.
What is Orthopedic Rehab?
The beautiful synchronization in the human body, of our muscles and bones, is what makes up the body’s orthopedic system. The finer parts of the joints, include ligaments and tendons, with synovial fluid and cartilage, for smooth movement. If any attribute of these parts does not function perfectly, a senior will find that their joints are malfunctioning.
Orthopedic rehab can become necessary following a number of incidents:
- Surgery, such as joint replacement to improve mobility.
- Illness and complication, such as leg infection with sepsis, where there was a hip replacement previously.
- An acute medical issue such as a stroke event or amputation following illness.
You should never know of these things.
But sometimes due to wear and tear, joints don’t work the way they should and physical or occupational therapy is needed to help a senior function better.
Orthopedic rehab can be on an out-patient basis. For acute conditions, which means more care is needed, rehab would be on a residential basis.
We all love being mobile, it is a key function of independence. That is why when the orthopedic system groans, we go for orthopedic rehab!
The Connection Between Orthopedic Rehab and Weight
Does orthopedic rehab affect weight? Or does weight affect orthopedic rehab?
Research by Dr. Geoffrey Westrich et al shows how senior rehab is affected by weight loss. Following joint surgery, people say that they want to lose weight, but many do not carry out their good intentions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention apparently states that over 1,000,000 knee and hip replacements are performed in the US each year. Some other data providers state a higher figure of 1.6 million replacements a year.
Around 7,000 people were included in an interesting study.
The outcomes showed:
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Groups that Gained Weight Following Surgery
People that had less successful operations.
People that were less active before and after the surgery.
Patients that had more pain and worse function following surgery.
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Groups that Maintained Weight Following Surgery
Patients that were active prior to surgery.
Hip replacement patients – vast majority of those operated on: 84%
Knee replacement patients – vast majority of knee operation patients: 74%
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Groups that Reduced Weight Following Surgery
Females reduced more often than males.
Obese females reduced more often than females with a healthy weight.
Dr. Westrich emphasizes that someone can have a better outcome after joint surgery. How? A person stands a much better chance of the surgery being a greater success if they succeed in losing weight and becoming active.
The Decision to Choose a Healthier Lifestyle
All seniors can make a decision to lead a healthier lifestyle and still enjoy living! Being active is enjoyable. Maybe you will make the choice in honor of Healthy Weight Week.
You can join a muscle building program for seniors, with weight training.
Nutritionally, it is best to get personalized nutritional advice. Advice that is tailored to your needs can be more effective and safer for your health. Speak to your doctor about seeing a nutritionist or dietician.
Go for being active! If you already exercise, well done! Try and add a little something to your routine to bring the weight down. Invite a friend to join you on your walks or gym visit, to added enjoyment. If you don’t exercise, accept your friend’s invitation to join in exercise and weight loss! Someone will ask you at some point, so be ready to say “Yes!”
Let’s let Healthy Weight Week inspire us to reduce weight and become more active. If you are in orthopedic rehab right now, then we wish you “Best of luck!” Take the opportunity to strengthen the orthopedic system, to best you can. The rehab gives you the opportunity!
Every effort counts!
And if you want to see real success? You will have to decide to make an effort beyond the 7 days of Healthy Weight Week. Let’s start today!
Original Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay