Many people have knee
osteoarthritis in one knee or both. That doesn’t
make it any easier on its
sufferers though. Satterwhite Chiropractic has some new exercise tips and
treatments our Oxford knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients will want
to try for themselves.
KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS (KOA): What It Is and How Common It Is
Knee osteoarthritis is aging-related
and oh so common! 86 million people globally
over the age of 20 were diagnosed with it in 2020. Characteristically,
knee osteoarthritis sufferers have a loss of knee
extensor strength, a greater severity of knee pain,
and a drop in functional performance. (1) Knee
osteoarthritis is the degeneration of cartilage, part of the natural aging
process whether we like it or not. Physical activity has demonstrated a
positive effect on cartilage structure despite
not yet knowing which exercise is best. (2) Satterwhite Chiropractic sees
new treatment ideas being studied all the time.
KOA TREATMENT: Your
Oxford chiropractor has it.
A chiropractic treatment approach has shown
potential. A trial of treatment based on principles of Cox®
flexion distraction decompression for knee osteoarthritis – that is distraction
of the knee – resulted in relief of patient-perceived pain from
7.7 (out of 10) to 1.8 in a mean of 5.3 visits in 3 weeks for 25 patients. (3) Satterwhite Chiropractic
can link this treatment (and even some cartilage-supporting
nutrition!) with your home-exercise for relief.
KOA TREATMENT: YOU, our Oxford knee pain patient
Despite
the benefits of exercise on KOA is well known, KOA
sufferers don’t usually continue the exercise routine. One study made an easy-to-follow video series and automated recording calendar
of when they did each video that resulted in an
82.4% participation rate. Not bad! The patients also shared their
noticed satisfaction, pain reduction, and better
physical function. (4) One month-long intervention of unilateral, non-KOA knee extensor strength training resulted
in significant improvement in the knee extensor strength of the knee with
KOA! This is called “cross education phenomenon.” The better
extensor strength and neuromuscular function of the knee with KOA maintained
itself for 3 months. (1) Satterwhite Chiropractic is pretty confident
a KOA sufferer won’t care which knee is exercised as long as relief
is forthcoming! A proposed YOGA (YOGa and
strengthening exercise for knee osteoArthritis) study was recently proposed
to find out if yoga’s mind-body exercise format - known to enhance flexibility, muscle
strength, balance and fitness - might reduce the symptoms of knee
osteoarthritis and even enhance other outcomes like pain,
function, quality of life, gait speed, cost effectiveness, and others. (5) Another
study looked into how blood flow restriction with low
and high load resistance exercise of the KOA-affected knee changed
various blood tests in female patients with unilateral KOA
and found that markers for skeletal muscle tissues were increased.
(6) All these studies on a multitude of approaches
to manage knee osteoarthritis may hopefully find a
way to ease/prevent/better manage this common ailment.
CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Luigi Albano on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr.
Michael Johnson as he illustrates beneficial
chiropractic knee treatment via The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management for patients with KOA.
Make your Oxford chiropractic
appointment now. Are you ready for some knee pain relief? Come see us!