Since 2012, August 4th is celebrated as National Bone & Joint Day. Several activities are done across India between August 1 to 7, to create awareness about common orthopaedic illnesses and to strengthen the orthopaedic fraternity.
Tamil Nadu Orthopaedic Association (TNOA) said through a press release that its current President Dr R.C. Meena, has declared Prevention of Deformity in Degenerative diseases as the theme for this year and it will be conducting various programs pertaining to it.
A sedentary life and lack of physical activity along with poor eating habits have resulted in a high prevalence of overweight and obesity-related musculoskeletal disorders amongst children and adolescents. Decreased physical activity, weight gain and poor ergonomics causes chronic back pain amongst the young population.
With increasing age, the bones and joints also undergo certain wear and tear, which makes mobility painful and disabling. Persons at 65 years of age or more are affected by knee osteoarthritis resulting in movement limitation and inability to perform major activities of daily living, severe knee pain, and disability.
There are several ways for the youth and elderly to avoid/overcome the disorders. The Indian Orthopaedic Association has requested its members throughout the country to conduct health education webinars, display posters, distribute pamphlets, highlighting the benefits of exercise, healthy diet, avoiding injury, early deduction of deformities and medical consultation without delay for the general public and students. We can expect a lot of enlightment about bone & joint health from the TNOA in the coming days.