Numerous people have knee
osteoarthritis in one knee or both. That doesn’t
make it any easier on its
sufferers though. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn has some novel exercise tips and
treatments our Ashburn 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 20 years old were diagnosed with it in 2020. Typically,
knee osteoarthritis sufferers have 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 decided. (2) Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn sees
new treatment ideas being studied a lot.
KOA TREATMENT: Your
Ashburn chiropractor has it.
A chiropractic treatment approach has shown
promise. A trial of Cox® flexion distraction decompression
principled treatment for knee osteoarthritis – namely 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) Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn
can link this treatment (and even some cartilage-supporting
nutrition!) with your home-exercise for relief.
KOA TREATMENT: YOU, our Ashburn knee pain patient
Despite
the benefits of exercise on KOA is well established, KOA
sufferers do not very well continue the exercise routine. One study made an easy-to-follow video set and calendar system that
automatically noted when their did the exercises that resulted in an
82.4% participation rate. Not bad! The patients also described satisfaction, pain reduction, and improved
physical function. (4) One 4-week 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 maintained
itself for 3 months. (1) Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn knows
a KOA sufferer will not care which knee is exercised as long as there is relief! A proposed YOGA (YOGa and
strengthening exercise for knee osteoArthritis) study was just described
to see how yoga’s mind-body exercise format - recognized as enhancing 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 modified
various blood tests in female patients with single-knee KOA
and discovered that markers for skeletal muscle tissues were higher.
(6) All these studies on various approaches
to handle knee osteoarthritis may hopefully unearth a
way to ease/prevent/better manage this common condition.
CONTACT Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn
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.
Make your Ashburn chiropractic
appointment soon. Are you ready for some knee pain relief? Come see us!