Countless people have knee
osteoarthritis in both or one knee. That doesn’t
make it any easier on its
sufferers though. New Roads Chiropractic Center has some novel exercise tips and
treatments our New Roads knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients will want
to try for themselves.
KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS (KOA): What It Is and How Common It Is
Knee osteoarthritis is related to aging
and oh so common! 86 million people around the world
over 20 years old were diagnosed with it in 2020. Characteristically,
knee osteoarthritis sufferers experience 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) New Roads Chiropractic Center sees
new treatment ideas being studied a lot.
KOA TREATMENT: Your
New Roads chiropractor has it.
A chiropractic treatment approach has demonstrated
promise. A trial of Cox® flexion distraction decompression
principled treatment for knee osteoarthritis – that is 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) New Roads Chiropractic Center
can link this treatment (and even some cartilage-supportive
nutrition!) with your home-exercise for relief.
KOA TREATMENT: YOU, our New Roads knee pain patient
Despite
the benefits of exercise on KOA is well established, KOA
sufferers are not known to continue the exercise routine. One study made an easy-to-follow video series and calendar system that
automatically noted when their did the exercises that demonstrated 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 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) New Roads Chiropractic Center is pretty confident
a KOA sufferer won’t 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 - 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 looked into how blood flow restriction with low
and high load resistance exercise of the KOA-affected knee altered
various blood tests in female patients with unilateral KOA
and found that markers for skeletal muscle tissues were higher.
(6) All these studies on various approaches
to handle knee osteoarthritis may hopefully find a
way to ease/prevent/better manage this common condition.
CONTACT New Roads Chiropractic 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 New Roads chiropractic
appointment now. Do you have
knee osteoarthritis? Come in for
a visit!