More often than not, people who suffer from obesity are heard complaining about joint pains much earlier in life as compared to people who maintain their optimum weight. As a doctor, it is easy to ask my patients to reduce their weight, however that is easier said than done. The larger problem at hand is motivating my patients to follow a healthy lifestyle and encourage them to actually lose the excess weight.
In my experience, there is a holistic improvement in the patients health after reducing their weight. I have treated such patients with a lot of patience and understanding as weight issues can be very sensitive, especially with women. So, I thought I’ll share some of my experiences with you.
If you know someone who is obese and is suffering from joint pains or arthritis and want to help them, the most important thing to do is, spare some time and understand why they are gaining weight. Take them to a doctor who would not only give them medicines to reduce the pain but wants to help them in the long run and tries to understand why he/she has gained weight & what increased weight is doing to his/her body systems?
What I do is, I show my patients a real vivid picture of their personality. It’s like showing them a mirror. It might sound a little insensitive to some but that’s what a well wisher will do. And it’s very important to have a doctor who you can trust to be brutally honest with you and show you the right path. Majority of the times, I have been successful in motivating my patients to reduce their excess weight and have seen arthritis symptoms ameliorate & even co-morbidities subside significantly. I motivate people on the following lines, I tell them in all sincerity that,
When you are obese, what you project to the world & tell the world about yourself is this:
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