Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has revealed she has been battling arthritis and associated knee degeneration.
The world of sports activities glorifies energy, power and vigour, however years of being on the sports activities discipline can take a bodily toll on athletes. India’s star shuttler Saina Nehwal, who turned the primary badminton participant from the nation to clinch an Olympic medal in 2012, has revealed she is battling arthritis. She says the stress on her knees has impacted her coaching, and it could grow to be the explanation she retires from the sport quickly.
Saina Nehwal started taking part in badminton on the tender of age of 9. She is presently 34, and has confronted her fair proportion of accidents throughout her wonderful profession, which additionally noticed her changing into a World No.1 participant.
My knee just isn’t superb… I’ve arthritis: Saina Nehwal
The Haryana woman made the revelation about her well being in a podcast with taking pictures legend Gagan Narang. She stated, “The knee just isn’t superb. I’ve arthritis. My cartilage has gone to a foul state. It is rather troublesome to push for 8-9 hours. How will you problem the very best gamers on the earth in such a state? I believe I should settle for it someplace. As a result of 2 hours of coaching just isn’t adequate to play with the best stage of gamers and get the specified outcomes.”
As a matter of reality, Saina Nehwal has not participated in aggressive badminton since taking part in on the Singapore Open in 2023. Whereas she didn’t straight speak about her retirement plans, Saina took a second to mull over the “brief profession” of a sportsperson.
“I’m additionally eager about it (retirement). It will likely be unhappy as a result of it is sort of a job {that a} regular individual does. Clearly, a sportsperson’s profession is at all times a brief one. I began on the age of 9. I might be 35 subsequent yr. So, I’ve additionally had a protracted profession. And I’m very pleased with that. I’ve damaged my physique to a terrific extent. I’m proud of what I’ve performed and given all of it. Will assess how I really feel by the tip of this yr,” she stated in the course of the podcast.
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Saina Nehwal’s unparalleled achievements in badminton additionally led her to be honoured by India’s civilian honour, the Padma Shree. She has beforehand received two medals in Commonwealth Video games in 2010 and 2018, in addition to a bronze medal in Olympics 2012. Saina has competed in 3 Olympics, however given her well being situation, she has acknowledged that you just’ve obtained to surrender when your “physique is telling that you’re not doing effectively and you’ve got accidents”.
Are athletes extra vulnerable to arthritis?
Athletes undergo plenty of put on and tear throughout their coaching and taking part in years. Among the world’s high sportspersons have been by means of career-threatening accidents. Some might struggle them and make a comeback, whereas others selected to place their profession on the backburner.
Notably these athletes concerned in high-impact sports activities are sometimes at an elevated threat of creating arthritis sooner than the overall inhabitants.
Dr Rajat Chauhan, a Sports activities-Train Drugs and Musculoskeletal Drugs Doctor, tells Well being Photographs, “When there’s extra load on a joint, persons are going to be extra vulnerable to the chance of osteoarthritis. However with correct muscle alignment courtesy stretching, energy coaching and conditioning, in addition to rehab, extreme loading might be prevented. If there’s not sufficient relaxation and restoration, there can at all times be larger probabilities of osteoarthritis – whether or not it’s for somebody who’s working, taking part in a sport at a elite stage or perhaps a one who doesn’t transfer sufficient.”
Having stated that, all sportspersons don’t have osteoarthritis, asserts the professional. Plenty of it boils all the way down to their train and damage administration packages. On the subject of athletes, “brief good points of profitable a match might be messing round with long-term losses”, says Dr Chauhan, including that sportspersons ought to spare a considered their high quality of life as soon as their profession ends.
Sports activities accidents are frequent in athletes
Accidents to shoulders, elbows, knees, legs and ankles are quite common amongst athletes throughout disciplines. These are sometimes known as the hidden prices of excessive efficiency on the sports activities discipline.
Exposing joints to repetitive stress, particularly in high-impact sports activities comparable to soccer, basketball, and working, can speed up the wear and tear and tear of cartilage, the tissue that cushions the joints. Over time, this will result in osteoarthritis, the most typical type of arthritis, characterised by the breakdown of cartilage and the following rubbing of bones in opposition to one another.
In line with a examine printed within the British Journal of Sports activities Drugs, one in 4 retired Olympians confronted physician-diagnosed osteoarthritis (OA). Damage was related to an elevated threat of osteoarthritis and ache on the knee, hip and ankle. Additionally, the probability of knee and hip osteoarthritis after damage, was discovered to be larger for Olympians in contrast with the overall inhabitants.
Ligament tears itself are generally chargeable for the onset of osteoarthritis. Analysis from the American Journal of Sports activities Drugs that people with a historical past of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) accidents are at the next threat of creating knee osteoarthritis.
