This coming weekend marks Mother’s Day when we celebrate all the special women in our lives who nurture and care for us.
If you haven’t gotten your mother something special yet (a trip to the spa, beautiful flowers, or delicious chocolates)—and even if you have—here is some important information you may want to share with her to keep her safe, strong, and watching over you for years to come.
Women are more likely to suffer from a musculoskeletal or orthopedic injury more than men during their lifetime.
Here are some of the most common orthopedic injuries we see in our female patients at Texas Orthopedics and top tips to prevent them:
- Shoulder Impingement Syndrome, shoulder bursitis, or rotator cuff tears from the stress of carrying heavy purses.
- Empty out purses regularly to keep them lighter.
- Use a fashionable backpack instead to distribute the weight of items.
- Osteoporosis and hip fractures due to weakened bones as women age and experience menopause.
- Eat a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D, and take supplements as directed by your physician.
- Include weight-bearing exercises and resistance training in your regular workouts.
- Ankle sprains, heel spurs, and plantar fasciitis from unsupportive sandals and sky-high stilettos.
- Choose wedge or platform style shoes that offer a bit more stability than a spiky heel.
- Avoid wearing sandals or flimsy flip-flops for any extended amount of time or if engaging in physical activity, running or taking lengthy walks.
- Knee osteoarthritis and ACL tears because of repeated or sudden stress on the joint and surrounding tendons.
- Keep your weight in check to eliminate excess pressure on the knees.
- Perform regular stretching and warm up properly before any sports or exercise to keep the knee joint limber and flexible.
Texas Orthopedics wishes all of the mothers on our amazing staff and those who we are honored to treat and care for as patients, a very Happy Mother’s Day!
To make an appointment for your mother, or yourself, with any one of our hand and wrist doctors, foot and ankle specialists, or other board-certified orthopedic surgeons, please visit us online anytime.
Keep up with Texas Orthopedics news by following us on Facebook, Twitter (@TexasOrthopedic), and Instagram (@texasorthopedics).
(Adapted from U.S. News & World Report)
