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Toronto Chiropractic Exercise Ideas for Knee Osteoarthritis Management

Scores of people have knee osteoarthritis in both or one knee. That doesn’t cause sufferers to feel any better about it. Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre has some new exercise tips and treatments our Toronto 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 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) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre sees new treatment ideas being published all the time.

KOA TREATMENT:  Your Toronto chiropractor has it.

A chiropractic treatment approach has demonstrated promise. 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) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre can partner this treatment (and even some cartilage-supportive nutrition!) with your home-exercise for relief.

KOA TREATMENT: YOU, our Toronto 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 set up 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 reported satisfaction, pain reduction, and better 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 better extensor strength and neuromuscular function of the knee with KOA maintained itself for 3 months. (1) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre 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 recently 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 studied how blood flow restriction with low and high load resistance exercise of the KOA-affected knee modified various blood tests in female patients with unilateral KOA and found that markers for skeletal muscle tissues were increased. (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 Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre

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 Toronto chiropractic appointment soon. Do you have knee osteoarthritis? Come in for a visit!

Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre shares recent studies regarding the exercise suggestions for knee osteoarthritis relief, even exercising the healthy knee for relief in the painful knee!
 
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"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."