Scores of people have knee
osteoarthritis in both or one knee. That doesn’t
make it any easier on its
sufferers though. Executive Chiropractic of Iowa has some new exercise tips and
treatments our West Des Moines 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 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, 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 been shown to positively affect cartilage structure despite
not yet knowing which exercise is best. (2) Executive Chiropractic of Iowa sees
new treatment ideas being studied all the time.
KOA TREATMENT: Your
West Des Moines 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) Executive Chiropractic of Iowa
can partner this treatment (and even some cartilage-supporting
nutrition!) with your home-exercise for relief.
KOA TREATMENT: YOU, our West Des Moines knee pain patient
Even though the benefits of exercise abound for KOA is well known, KOA
sufferers don’t usually continue the exercise practice. One study made an easy-to-follow video series and automated recording calendar
of when they did each video that resulted in 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 improved
extensor strength and neuromuscular function of the knee with KOA lasted for 3 months. (1) Executive Chiropractic of Iowa is pretty confident
a KOA sufferer won’t care which knee is exercised as long as relief
is forthcoming! A proposed YOGA (YOGa and
strengthening exercise for knee osteoArthritis) study was just proposed
to find out if yoga’s mind-body exercise format - known to enhance flexibility, muscle
strength, balance and fitness - might reduce 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 studied how blood flow restriction with low
and high load resistance exercise of the KOA-affected knee altered
various blood tests in female patients with single-knee KOA
and found that markers for skeletal muscle tissues were higher.
(6) All these studies on a multitude of approaches
to manage knee osteoarthritis may hopefully find a
way to ease/prevent/better manage this common condition.
CONTACT Executive Chiropractic of Iowa
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Luigi Albano on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr.
Michael Johnson as he illustrates beneficial
chiropractic knee treatment via The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management for patients with KOA.
Make your West Des Moines chiropractic
appointment now. Do you have
knee osteoarthritis? Come in for
a visit!