The Top Oxford Knee Osteoarthritis Treatment: Exercise

Knee pain…the probability that you experience or will experience knee pain or know someone suffering with knee pain is high. Knee pain due to osteoarthritis is a common condition around the world. Satterwhite Chiropractic encourages our Oxford chiropractic knee pain patients to exercise. We know we sound like a broken record when it comes to exercise, but exercise remains ‘king’ when it comes to knee pain care! And other new knee pain research touts a few new treatment methods to try, too.

OSTEOARTHRITIS

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease of degenerated cartilage or wear and tear harm to cartilage giving rise to disability and other health problems impacting over 500 million adults globally. Knee OA and Hip OA are the leading types with knee OA being the most common. The objective of treatment of OA is management and decrease of symptoms, not cure. Drug approaches consist of NSAIDs while non-drug approaches include exercise (walking), aerobic exercise, weight loss, diet, hot/cold therapy, electrotherapy to enhance muscle strength and reduce joint pain. Surgery (arthroscopy and joint replacement therapy) was explained to be a last treatment option. The authors of this paper emphasized that precautions to keep joints healthy and disease-free were advisable and necessary. (1) Those are desirous goals.

DESIRED RESULTS OF TREATMENT FOR KNEE OA

How do you determine if an intervention is of value to your condition? Your hoped for outcome is the most important. For osteoarthritis, one of the foremost diseases that disables us humans, walking for pleasure was documented by data collected for the Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) to be statistically significant for addressing knee osteoarthritis at the genetic level. (2) Today’s researchers are also working to define just what “minimal clinically important change” is, what the minimum improvement a patient like you would perceive or say made going through the treatment was worth it. For patients with osteoarthritis who underwent non-surgical treatments, the amount of knee flexion they could perform after treatment was from 3.8 to 6.4 degrees. Other interesting information researchers found from the 72 studies they examined was that a rise in flexion was linked to lessened pain and improved function. (3) These are positive outcomes!

…AND WHAT ABOUT PLASMA-RICH PLATELET THERAPY?

In the non-surgical realm of treatment for knee osteoarthritis, platelet rich plasma (PRP)  injection has become more available alongside traditional exercise for knee OA pain. A randomized control trial compared three treatment combinations PRP injection alone (three weekly injections), exercise alone (6 weeks program/12 sessions of strengthening and functional exercise), and PRP with exercise. At 24 weeks post treatments, the PRP did not change pain in mild-to-mode knee OA patients compared to exercise alone. Actually, the exercise alone group outcomes were clinically superior for function and health related quality of life. Even though the PRP added cost to the combined treatment, it didn’t show itself to be superior to exercise alone either. The researchers concluded with the statement that exercise alone was recommended to reduce pain and improve function. (4) Certainly, more studies will continue to reveal the efficacy of such treatments as PRP.

CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic

Listen to this PODCAST on Osteoarthritis of the Knee with Dr. Luigi Albano on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he details the effective gentle, adapted protocols of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management in treating the osteoarthritic knee! A beneficial, relieving treatment approach to incorporate with exercise!

Make your Oxford chiropractic appointment soon. From what we read, it looks like exercise is still ‘king’ in dealing with osteoarthritis of the knee. We can help you find the right exercises and even integrate some distraction to help the knee.

 
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"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."