Scores of people have knee
osteoarthritis in both or one knee. That doesn’t
cause sufferers to feel any better about it. Pflugerville Wellness Center has some new exercise tips and
treatments our Pflugerville knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients will want
to attempt.
KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS (KOA): What It Is and How Common It Is
Knee osteoarthritis is related to aging
and everywhere! 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 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 decided. (2) Pflugerville Wellness Center sees
new treatment ideas being published a lot.
KOA TREATMENT: Your
Pflugerville chiropractor has it.
A chiropractic treatment approach has demonstrated
promise. 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) Pflugerville Wellness Center
can link this treatment (and even some cartilage-supporting
nutrition!) with your home-exercise for relief.
KOA TREATMENT: YOU, our Pflugerville knee pain patient
Even though the benefits of exercise abound for KOA is well established, KOA
sufferers are not known to continue the exercise practice. One study made an easy-to-follow video series and automated recording calendar
of when they did each video that demonstrated an
82.4% participation rate. Not bad! The patients also described satisfaction, pain reduction, and better
physical function. (4) One month-long intervention of single
knee, 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 lasted for 3 months. (1) Pflugerville Wellness Center knows
a KOA sufferer won’t care which knee is exercised as long as relief
is forthcoming! A planned YOGA (YOGa and
strengthening exercise for knee osteoArthritis) study was just described
to see how yoga’s mind-body exercise format - known to improve flexibility, muscle
strength, balance and fitness - might decrease the symptoms of knee
osteoarthritis and even improve other outcomes like pain,
function, quality of life, gait speed, cost effectiveness, and others. (5) Another
study considered how blood flow restriction with low
and high load resistance exercise of the KOA-affected knee changed
various blood tests in female patients with single-knee KOA
and discovered that markers for skeletal muscle tissues were increased.
(6) All these studies on various approaches
to manage knee osteoarthritis may hopefully unearth a
way to ease/prevent/better manage this common condition.
CONTACT Pflugerville Wellness Center
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Luigi Albano on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr.
Michael Johnson as he describes relieving
chiropractic knee treatment via The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management for patients with KOA.
Schedule your Pflugerville chiropractic
appointment today. Do you experience
knee osteoarthritis? Come in for
a visit!