Does walking on roads cause arthritis?

Answer 1

The risk of causing wear and tear injury's to joints is increased by spending a lot of time walking on flat hard surfaces like roads and concrete. There is also more risk of damage resulting from perfectly flat surfaces like carpet and floor boards. Hard surfaces have no give in them so the onus is on the cartilage and muscles around joints to absorb the the shock with every step taken. Walking on hard irregular surfaces will tend to help develop muscles around the joins involved which in turn helps to support that part of the joint that is covered with cartilage. The constant use of perfectly flat surfaces especially those that are hard and unforgiving is more likely to have harmful effects on joints because the muscles surrounding them tend not to be as well developed. This would apply in particular to those that have a predisposition to arthritic disease.