Physiotherapist caution people with knee issues against skipping

A physiotherapist, Dr Nnamdi Eze, has cautioned people who are at risk of having knee issues not to skip because of its impact on the bone.

Eze, who is the Chairman, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of the Nigerian Society of Physiotherapists (NSP), said this during an interview with the newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.

Supreme News reports that skipping is the act of jumping over a rope that is held and swung either by the person jumping or by two other people as a game or for exercise.

Referring to skipping as high impact exercise, the physiotherapist said “people who are at risk of having knee issues should not skip because of its impact on the knees.

“We refer to some exercises as low impact and others as high impact and skipping is a high impact exercise.

“When you jump up, there is no enough cushion, especially if you are at risk of developing Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease in which the tissues in the joint break down over time.

“Skipping can make it worse because the level of cushion, which is natural, is gradually degraded and if you contimue to skip, the pain may progress.

“So, we advise that you strengthen your muscles appropriately, have stronger muscles to reduce the impact that the bones will have crushing each other.”

Eze, who explained what physiotherapists refer to as bone-on-bone, said “this means that the cartilage and the cushion in the layers of the top of the bone and the one supporting (tibia and the femur) are rubbing on each other, causing pain.”

He added that instead of skipping, people can go swimming because it is a low impact exercise.

The NSP chairman said other forms of exercise could be to sit down and cycle a stationary bicycle.

“It is also a low impact exercise because the more you jump on a skipping rope, especially if you’re not wearing the right footwear or using the right turf, that is the floor, surface or the platform, that might impact your knees.

“So, action and reaction are equal and opposite, the force you exert is the force you get back so if the cushion in your knees is already being degraded, it will cause a lot of pain.”

The physiotherapist, however, said there is no good or bad exercise, rather, it is exercise done properly or inappropriately.

Also that exercises carried out by individuals does not necessarily depend on the age because irrespective of age, some people can’t skip because of their weight as it’s difficult for them to skip.

He advised that instead of skipping, swimming or walk are good options.

Eze noted that “Osteoarthritis, believed to be a disease for the aged, is now showing up in children.

“Degenerative changes believed to begin at 45 years now begin in persons who are less than 21 years.”