Numerous people have knee
osteoarthritis in both or one knee. That does not
make it any easier on its
sufferers though. Spinal Care Clinic has some new exercise tips and
treatments our Burlington and Hamilton knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients will want
to attempt.
KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS (KOA): What It Is and How Common It Is
Knee osteoarthritis is aging-related
and everywhere! 86 million people around the world
over the age of 20 were diagnosed with it in 2020. Typically,
knee osteoarthritis sufferers feel a loss of knee
extensor strength, an increase in the severity of knee pain,
and a decline 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 even though just which physical activity
is best has yet to be determined. (2) Spinal Care Clinic sees
new treatment ideas being published a lot.
KOA TREATMENT: Your
Burlington and Hamilton chiropractor has it.
A chiropractic treatment approach has shown
potential. A trial of Cox® flexion distraction decompression
principled treatment for knee osteoarthritis – namely distraction
of the knee – reported 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) Spinal Care Clinic
can partner this treatment (and even some cartilage-supportive
nutrition!) with your home-exercise for relief.
KOA TREATMENT: YOU, our Burlington and Hamilton knee pain patient
Even though the benefits of exercise abound for KOA is well established, KOA
sufferers don’t usually keep doing
their exercise practice. One study made an easy-to-follow video series and calendar system that
automatically noted when their did the exercises that showed an
82.4% participation rate. Not bad! The patients also reported 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 continued for 3 months. (1) Spinal Care Clinic knows
a KOA sufferer will not care which knee is exercised as long as there is relief! A planned YOGA (YOGa and
strengthening exercise for knee osteoArthritis) study was just described
to find out if yoga’s mind-body exercise format - recognized as enhancing flexibility, muscle
strength, balance and fitness - might decrease 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 studied how blood flow restriction with low
and high load resistance exercise of the KOA-affected knee influenced
various blood tests in female patients with unilateral KOA
and discovered that markers for skeletal muscle tissues were increased.
(6) All these studies on a multitude of approaches
to handle knee osteoarthritis may hopefully find a
way to ease/prevent/better manage this common ailment.
CONTACT Spinal Care Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Luigi Albano on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr.
Michael Johnson as he illustrates relieving
chiropractic knee treatment via The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management for patients with KOA.
Make your Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic
appointment soon. Do you suffer with
knee osteoarthritis? Come in for
a visit!