You never really gave any thought to moving around in the world, but knee osteoarthritis (OA) has changed all that and robbed you of that spring you used to have in your step.
The overall OA burden in the United States is a big one — as of now, 33 million Americans have this form of wear-and-tear arthritis, and the knees are the most commonly affected joints. On a bigger scale, knee OA affects a whopping 365 million people around the world.
So, aside from being in very good company when you have knee OA, you have some great advocates in the team of joint health experts at World Medical Group dba Neuropathy & Pain Centers of Texas. We want you to know that there are some great ways to improve your mobility and reduce your knee pain. Some we do in our offices, and some you can do on your own.
Your first order of business is to make sure that you’re working with a good knee OA team. The reality is that OA can’t be cured, and it’s progressive, so treating it comes down to managing symptoms and preventive practices. And early intervention can play an important role.
To start, our team can quickly relieve the pain in your knee through pain management efforts, such as corticosteroid injections, nerve blocks, pain medications, and advanced laser treatments.
These treatments are essential in allowing you to move forward more comfortably to enact longer-term solutions that can help manage your knee OA.
Once we tackle the immediate knee pain, we want you to get physical. By this, we mean move and strengthen your knees.
One of the best ways to combat OA in any joint is to keep the joint moving, which encourages better circulation of healing and regenerative resources that can benefit your knees.
When you have knee OA, it means that the cartilage inside the joint is breaking down, creating more friction between the bones, which is what creates the pain and inflammation. A great way to relieve this developing bone-on-bone pressure is to strengthen the muscles that surround your knee, such as your quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles.
At our practice, we offer physical medicine services that can show you how to best strengthen your knees (and legs) to combat OA.
One of the ways to speed the progression of OA in your knees is by carrying extra weight, which can lead to a premature breakdown in your cartilage. So, if you’re among the 40% of adults in the United States who are obese or the 74% who are overweight, and you have knee OA, we highly recommend losing weight. Not only will your knees thank you, but weight loss can also benefit practically every other area of your health.
Another great practice is to liberally use hot and cold therapies to deal with achy, arthritic knees. For example, if your knee OA tends to flare after activity, have an icepack on hand to manage inflammation and numb pain.
If your knees are stiff, a hot pack or warm bath is a nice way to warm the joints and get your blood flowing.
As you can see, there are plenty of great practices for managing knee OA and preventing it from progressing and further limiting your life.
For a more detailed and personalized plan for your knee OA, please call or message one of our offices in Arlington or Fort Worth, Texas, today to schedule an appointment.
