Avoid achy joints with these 4 simple tips!

Do you ever have achy knees, back, hips or shoulders? The source may be from your joints! ­Joints are the places in our bodies where bones meet. They roll, glide, rotate or bend like a simple hinge to let you run, jump and do the chicken dance. Some people think the best thing to do when achiness comes on is to rest, but the road to healthy joints might surprise you.

Joints are the places in our bodies where bones meet. They roll, glide, rotate or bend like a simple hinge to let you run, jump and do the chicken dance. Joints come in different sizes, shapes and varieties, but all of them are susceptible to wear and tear, damage and arthritis.

Almost 20 percent of people in the United States have arthritis [source: Harvard Health Publications]. Whether you're in the afflicted minority or the lucky majority, it's important to take care of your body and protect your joints to maximize their use, mobility and function for as long as you can. But it's not just about being able to coax your joints into action in the years to come -- preventing or limiting the amount of pain or discomfort you feel today is a plus, too.

Over time, even normal, healthy joints deteriorate, but you can minimize the effects by following some basic steps. And if your joints are already in pain, the tips in this article will alleviate your pain and make life a little easier.

- Work right:

­Many of us spend a good deal of time sitting at desks covered in keyboards, monitors and mice (of the computer variety).

To create a good work environment, you don't want your chair too low. The higher it is, the less you'll have to bend to get in and out of it -- your knees and hips will thank you. If you're standing and working at a desk or counter, make sure you're not having to hunch over to write or type.

Take the time to arrange your workstation so you'll be comfortable in a variety of positions: typing on your keyboard, reading the screen with your hand on your mouse or writing on a desk surface. Make sure your elbows and forearms are comfortably supported, and that your thighs rest parallel to the ground (if it's more comfortable, it's also good to have your knees slightly higher than your hips, by using a footrest, for instance). It's important not to have a desk-and-chair combo that restricts your natural movement -- you should be able to rearrange your legs without bumping into the inside walls of the desk cavity. Your rear end should be pushed completely back into the chair.

Do all of this and your joints will be sitting pretty for years to come.

- Posture, Posture, Posture:

­Although our bodies can bend and twist in all kinds of ways, they're designed to maintain a specific posture when not in action mode. Just like a marionette stands perfectly straight when the central head string is taut, so too should we stand as if a string were holding us up from the crowns of our heads, aligning our ears with our anklebones and creating a straight line that passes through our shoulders, hips and knees. By maintaining good posture, your muscles and skeletal system work together to put less strain on your joints.

This takes some effort and thought, as slumping or slouching is the normal stance for most of us. But good posture limits your bones from rubbing against each other unnecessarily at the joints, preventing or putting off the appearance of arthritis. Once you're used to standing ramrod straight, your muscles will feel an overall ease in stress, since they won't be in constant use to maintain an unhealthy zigzag body form.

Your back and neck will especially thank you, and good posture will help your shoulders, hips and knees from feeling tight.

designed to maintain a specific posture when not in action mode. Just like a marionette stands perfectly straight when the central head string is taut, so too should we stand as if a string were holding us up from the crowns of our heads, aligning our ears with our anklebones and creating a straight line that passes through our shoulders, hips and knees. By maintaining good posture, your muscles and skeletal system work together to put less strain on your joints.

This takes some effort and thought, as slumping or slouching is the normal stance for most of us. But good posture limits your bones from rubbing against each other unnecessarily at the joints, preventing or putting off the appearance of arthritis. Once you're used to standing ramrod straight, your muscles will feel an overall ease in stress, since they won't be in constant use to maintain an unhealthy zigzag body form.

Your back and neck will especially thank you, and good posture will help your shoulders, hips and knees from feeling tight.

- Take It Easy, Sort of:

You don't want to put undue strain on your joints, but you don't want to underuse them either. Try to maintain a nice, even balance between motion and rest. Work too hard for too long without a break, and your joints are going to go on strike. They don't like constant use, overuse or abuse, and if you push those joints to their limits, you'll suddenly find it's a lot more difficult to get a strong grip on that bag of groceries.

But if you stay at rest too long, you may encounter the same problems because your joints have stiffened up. Before stiffness creeps in, remember to regularly "shake it out" throughout the day. When you're at rest (or working in a seated or still position), remember to move around now and then and keep those joints limber. Get up at least once every hour and put your body into motion for a few minutes.

- Use it, or Lose it:

Your joints won't have much motivation to strive for full mobility if they're never called upon to do so. Without being fully extended, they'll start trying to get away with as little work as possible.

Stretch out every day. It doesn't have to be an extreme stretching marathon -- just spend a few minutes in your spare time manipulating your fingers, wrists, arms, ankles and anything else you plan on using for the rest of your life. Each stretch can be as short as five or ten seconds. The point is just to remind the joints that they do still in fact move, even if not very often. Try to move your joints through their complete range of motion, as long as it doesn't cause you pain. You can do this by using sturdy household objects to provide support while you gently turn, stretch, twist and limber up.

If exercise is on your schedule, stretch both before and after the activity. Not stretching before physical activity leaves you more susceptible to injury, which could drastically reduce your mobility and make matters much worse. With regular stretching, your joints won't just retain mobility -- they'll grow more limber and show you results you may have thought were no longer possible.