Does playing shuttlecock with elderly people easily lead to knee joint damage?
Nowadays, it is common to see elderly people playing shuttlecock together on the square in the morning. It is a good way to exercise and pass the time. However, experts say that this seemingly healthy activity also has safety risks. In recent years, there have been more and more cases of knee joint damage in elderly people due to playing shuttlecock.
Playing shuttlecock can easily cause knee joint damage
After retiring, Aunt Li developed a liking for playing shuttlecock. After about a year, she gradually felt pain in her left knee joint. Aunt Li thought that as long as she continued to exercise, she would be fine. However, the pain worsened and turned into swelling. After examination, it was found that the left knee joint, which had been supporting her for a long time, had undergone severe degenerative changes.
Experts explain that when elderly people play shuttlecock, they generally only use one leg to kick, while the other leg serves as support. This puts the body weight on the knee joint of the supporting leg. At the moment of kicking, the downward explosive force and the rotational force driven by the waist can cause wear and tear on the knee joint of the supporting leg, leading to "degenerative changes" over time.
In addition, due to the repetitive kicking motion, it is also easy to cause damage to the lateral collateral ligament of the leg that repeatedly kicks.
Be cautious about joint swelling and muscle pain
Experts say that at the beginning of the condition, aseptic synovitis occurs in the knee joint, with symptoms of joint swelling and muscle pain. Many people mistakenly believe that after resting, they can continue to exercise despite discomfort in a certain part of the body.
In fact, if you continue to play despite discomfort, the degenerative changes in the knee joint will further develop, and there may be bone spurs, meniscus wear, and damage to the cruciate ligament. The typical external symptom is the inability to squat.
Experts suggest that people over 45 years old should try to avoid playing shuttlecock, especially for overweight people, because the weight on the knee joint of the supporting leg will be greater and the injury will be more severe.
If you must play, pay attention to controlling the time and avoid fancy movements, especially the "flying kick" action after the supporting leg jumps, which causes more harm to the knee joint.
