Numerous people have knee
osteoarthritis in one knee or both. That doesn’t
make it any easier on its
sufferers though. Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic has some new exercise tips and
treatments our Montreal 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 oh so common! 86 million people globally
over the age of 20 were diagnosed with it in 2020. Characteristically,
knee osteoarthritis sufferers experience 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 been shown to positively affect cartilage structure despite
not yet knowing which exercise is best. (2) Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic sees
new treatment ideas being studied all the time.
KOA TREATMENT: Your
Montreal chiropractor has it.
A chiropractic treatment approach has demonstrated
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) Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic
can partner this treatment (and even some cartilage-supportive
nutrition!) with your home-exercise for relief.
KOA TREATMENT: YOU, our Montreal knee pain patient
Despite
the benefits of exercise on KOA is well established, KOA
sufferers do not very well keep doing
their exercise practice. One study set
up 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 shared their
noticed satisfaction, pain reduction, and better
physical function. (4) One month-long intervention of unilateral, non-KOA knee extensor strength training produced 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) Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic 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 recently described
to see how yoga’s mind-body exercise format - known to improve 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 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 found that markers for skeletal muscle tissues were increased.
(6) All these studies on a variety of approaches
to manage knee osteoarthritis may hopefully unearth a
way to ease/prevent/better manage this common condition.
CONTACT Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic 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 Montreal chiropractic
appointment now. Do you experience
knee osteoarthritis? Come in for
a visit!