Knee osteoarthritis can be treated with a combination of joint mobilisation and exercise

A new clinical trial has found that exercise, combined with mobilisation to realign the kneecap, can reduce knee osteoarthritis pain and improve the quality of life for people with arthritis. The study– which took place at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, found that a combination of joint mobilisation andexercise significantly decreasedpain for people with kneeosteoarthritis. The mobilisation is relatively simple. Patients were instructed to lie on their side, with the knee supported and slightly flexed. This allowed the patella, or kneecap, to glide vertically from side to side. This mobilisation was performed over a course of three sessions once every two months. Patients were also instructed to perform certain exercises (what exercises) twice a day in order to encourage the muscle to keep firing. After 24 weeks, the patients scored their pain levels by using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain score to self-assess their pain. The patients that had undergone the mobilisation and exercise scored significantly lower on the WOMAC scale than a control group of patients who hadn’t undergone the treatment, indicating that they were experiencing much less pain. The beauty of mobilisation treatments is that they can be simple for doctors and physiotherapists to learn and administer. Although the research is at early stage, it was encouraging that patient were willing and able to follow the treatment regime, meaning thi...
Source: Arthritis Research UK - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: news