Best Exercises For Arthritis In Knees
First of all: Before embarking on any exercises for arthritis in knees, make sure you consult your doctor.
Your doctor will establish specific boundaries for your exercise.
Why?
The reason for this is that you do not engage in any exercise routine that might worsen the situation.
For example,
your doctor may not recommend cycling or weight-lifting but swimming might work well.
Also, if you have a severe case of arthritis, begin working out with a physical therapist.
These professionals understand your limitations, and they can teach you how to perform the movements correctly to prevent injury.
With all these said, the following are 8 exercises for arthritis in knees and hip.
This is one of the good exercises for arthritis in knees. It is also a great exercise for people who want to build leg muscles.
How to Do Chair Stand for Knee Arthritis
- Sit in a normal height chair.
- Stand up.
- Make sure you do not land or drop heavily.
- Focus on controlling the motion.
- Use your arms to assist you if needed.
- Try to repeat these steps 10-15 times.
Look:
If you feel this routine is quite easy for you, try a lower-height chair and vice-versa.
Here comes my favorite one
How 10 Lbs Makes A Big Difference To Your Knees
Experts estimate that for every 1 pound you weigh, your knees feel the force of 3 pounds of pressure when you take a step.3–4
So losing 10 pounds will result in 30 pounds less pressure per knee, per step.
Now, think about how many steps you take each day. The average person takes about 5 to 6 thousand steps a day5 doing things like walking to the bathroom and shopping at the grocery store.
Together, 5 thousand steps and 10 pounds of bodyweight combine to generate 150 thousand pounds of pressure on the knees per day:
When multiplied by 365 days , that difference grows to 54 million pounds of pressure:
In other words, losing 10 pounds can make a difference of nearly 55 million pounds of pressure on your knees each year.
See Knee Exercises for Arthritis
Variabilities in the calculationsKeep in mind that the numbers used in the calculations above are estimates. Experts estimates of pressure on the knee per pound of bodyweight vary, ranging from 2:1 to 4:1. The ratio may be influenced by factors such as anatomy, gait, and footwear. In addition, the number of steps you take per day can vary widely.
One thing you can be sure of is that obesity is a significant risk factor for knee osteoarthritis and knee replacement surgery, and that losing weight is often the most effective way to avoid both.
Osteoarthritis: An Opportunity To Promote Weight Loss With Patients
Weight loss is core treatment for osteoarthritis, but can be hard to raise with patients. Find out how two clinicians tackle this topic.
Dr Jill Thistlethwaite, NPS MedicineWise medical adviser and a Sydney GP, understands that helping patients to lose weight is hard.
Dr Jill Thistlethwaite, NPS MedicineWise medical adviser
There are no simple solutions. It takes time and effort, and can feel frustrating when any changes in weight are slow to occur, which is not uncommon, she says.
How uncommon was investigated in a recent study of the probability of weight loss in over 176,000 primary care patients in the UK with a Body Mass Index of 30.034.9 kg/m2. During a maximum 9-year follow up, it found the annual probability of a 5% weight reduction was 1 in 10 for women 1 in 12 for men. As expected, the annual odds of reaching a normal weight were even worse: 1 in 124 for women 1 in 210 for men.1
There is a lack of evidence in the literature for lifestyle intervention achieving significant, sustained weight loss in primary care.2,3 But despite potentially discouraging outcomes, GPs like Dr Thistlethwaite persevere, and continue to play an important role helping patients manage their weight.4
Dr Thistlethwaites approach includes not allowing frustration to prevent her from seeing opportunities to get better at facilitating weight loss.
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Osteoarthritis Can Be A Better Motivator
The recommendation to lose weight is not the only thing chronic diseases such as OA, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes have in common.7,8,10,14 Most patients with OA have at least one concurrent condition in fact 51% have CVD, and 14% have type 2 diabetes.7,15 See Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Prevalence of other chronic conditions in people with OA compared to people without OA, 201415
Dr Thistlethwaite says OA can be a better motivator for weight loss than other chronic diseases.
For instance, the problem with type 2 diabetes if the patient doesnt have symptoms is that the benefits of secondary prevention are all in the future. That may make them seem less real and, as a result, more difficult to explain and less motivating for implementing lifestyle change, she says.
But with osteoarthritis, you can connect symptoms to something immediate that patients can understand or benefits they can experience within a short period of time. As a result, you may be more successful achieving weight loss by focussing on their OA symptoms.
Associate Professor Ilana Ackerman from Monash Universitys Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, who is an experienced physiotherapist, says that a diagnosis of OA can offer an opportunity for helping patients with their weight management, which she regards as a teachable moment for health behaviour change.
Associate Professor Ilana Ackerman: Reducing pain can be a great motivator.
Symptoms Of Knee Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis in the knee often introduces itself to you in four basic ways, says Dr. Orlandi. Those symptoms are:
- Pain, which can vary in intensity from dull to sharp. Itll often spike with more rigorous activity and ease with rest, ice and anti-inflammatory medications.
- Stiffness in the joint, particularly after youve been sitting or lying down for longer periods.
- Loss of flexibility and range of motion.
- Swelling and a warm, burning sensation usually a sign of more advanced arthritis.
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But You Can Try Chair Yoga
According to a recent research carried out at the Florida Atlantic University shows that chair yoga is effective alternative treatment for osteoarthritis.
See a yoga instructor to find out the best kind of yoga for your knee.
Almost everyone can benefit from yoga, even people with tender, swollen joints.
When To Call Your Doctor
If your pain and swelling are gettingworse and you can no longer put weight on your knee, see your doctor. A simpleX-ray can show if there is osteoarthritis and, if needed, an MRI scan can checkfor meniscal tears or loose chips of cartilage.
Arthroscopic surgery can sometimes remove loose cartilage. Partial or total knee replacements are other surgical options, especially for those who can no longer stay as active as theyd like. Sometimes computer assistance is used for some complicated knee replacements.
Surgery is a last resort, though,says Dr. Nickodem. Its something to consider when nonoperative treatmentsarent helping.
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Would My Oa Patient Benefit From Losing Weight
Weight/Height Tables. Determining whether a patient would benefit from weight loss involves making some informed decisions. One method that offers general guidelines is to determine whether a patients weight falls into the healthy weight ranges currently recommended for adults. These ranges, which were revised and updated in 1995, are presented in the Optimal Weight/Height Table below. In general, within each range the lower weights are for women, while the higher weights are for men.
Federal Guidelines on Obesity The first Federal Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults were released in March, 1998 by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute , in cooperation with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases . These guidelines proposed that health care providers use three measures to assess overweight: body mass index waist circumference, and patients risk factors for diseases and conditions associated with obesity.
The Diet Mindset: Progress Not Perfection
More important than any specific food, supplement, or alternative therapy, Cassetty says, is letting go of a specific number on a scale and finding your own happy, healthy, sustainable place. Its not going to look like mine, or someones on TV. It takes some restriction and compromise, and its work. You might decide you dont want to work that hard to keep it up, and thats fine.
And as both Cassetty and Dr. Roberts reminded me, your diet is not going to cure your RA. So take your meds and nourish your body to the best of your ability.
I try to get my clients to focus on being self-loving and self-respectful, Cassetty says. I try to help people find a space they can live in and stay there. Its hard to lose weight in general. You can make plenty of progress by shifting eating habits and with positive movement experiences. You dont have to torture yourself at the gym and burn a million calories. Its about showing your body love.
After researching all of these diets, its pretty clear theres not one path and that a diet should be individualized according to your bodys needs and issues. So Ive decided I should cut back on carbs, add veggies, and probably try going gluten-free. This wont be easy, but Ill keep you posted on the progress of my protruding belly.
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For More Information About Safe And Effective Methods Of Weight Loss
Weight-control Information Network is a national information service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases , National Institutes of Health
Institute of Medicine. Weighing the Options: Criteria for Evaluating Weight-Management Programs. Washington,D.C., National Academy Press 1995.
The Best Diet For Arthritis: Whats The Expert Opinion
I found everyones candid responses reassuring in a way it was helpful to hear that just because a given diet helped someone lose weight, it didnt necessarily mean their arthritis would magically improve. But on the other hand, I felt even more confused.
I asked Dr. Roberts which diet he recommends for his RA patients. He thinks everyone not just RA patients should be on a version of the Mediterranean diet, which means eating primarily plant-based foods , replacing butter with healthy fats such as from olive oil, eating animal protein like chicken, fish, eggs, and dairy a couple of times a week, and limiting red meat and sweets.
Reasonable enough. Then I found another interesting expert to speak with: a nutritionist who has rheumatoid arthritis herself. I had to ask Samantha Cassetty, RD, who was diagnosed with RA a year ago, for her take on this crazy diet landscape. Cassetty is a nutritionist for NBC News and was formerly the nutrition director for Good Housekeeping magazine.
She agrees that there are so many confusing diets out there, its hard to decide which one to do.
As for the AIP diet which is very popular in arthritis circles Cassetty doesnt recommend it. You hear powerful anecdotal evidence that it transforms lives, but the research is not there, she says. Theres not enough clinical evidence that it works, plus its so complicated and hard to follow, it robs the joy out of your life.
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Exercises To Relieve Pain & Stiffness
Request An Appointment At The Orthopedic Clinic Today
At The Orthopedic Clinic, we want you to live your life in full motion. If you suffer from osteoarthritis pain and its making your life uncomfortable, let us help you. Well tailor a treatment plan thats best for your lifestyle and get you back to doing the things you love. With six convenient locations, we provide quality orthopedic care and interventional pain management services to patients in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Port Orange, Palm Coast, and New Smyrna Beach.
Call us at to schedule an appointment.
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Exercise Alone Does Not Work
Dr. Gersing and colleagues investigated the progression of knee osteoarthritis in 760 people with a body mass index higher than 25 kilograms per square meter. The participants were 62 years old, on average, and they were enlisted in the Osteoarthritis Initiative national research project.
The participants had either risk factors for osteoarthritis or a mild to moderate form of the disease.
Of the 760 participants, 380 lost weight and 380 did not. Those who lost weight were broken down into three subgroups, by weight loss method. One group followed a diet and engaged in exercise, another group did only exercise, and a third group lost weight through diet alone.
Dr. Gersing and team assessed the progression of osteoarthritis using MRI at baseline, 48 months later, and 96 months later . Over the 96-month period, the degeneration of the cartilage was drastically lower in the weight loss group compared with the no-weight loss group.
Importantly, however, these promising results were found only among those who lost weight through a combination of diet and exercise, or just diet.
Interestingly, this was true despite the fact that those in the exercise-only group lost just as much weight as those in the diet only and diet plus exercise group.
Compared with those who did not lose any weight, exercise-alone weight loss had no influence on cartilage degeneration.
Other Causes Of Knee Swelling
Go to a doctor if the swelling appeared out of nowhere. It could be a symptom of a health problem like:
- Knee osteoarthritis, an overuse injury of the knee joint cartilage.
- Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disorder characterized by swelling of the joints.
- Deep vein thrombosis, a medical emergency where a blood clot forms within the deep veins of the leg.
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Talking To Arthritis Patients About Weight Loss
Weight loss eases arthritis pain and improves the quality of life of adults living with arthritis, especially if they are overweight or have obesity.
More than 58 million US adults have arthritis. Among adults with arthritis, 39 million are overweight or have obesity.
Healthcare professionals can counsel their arthritis patients to lose weight if they are overweight or have obesity. Research suggests that patients who receive weight counseling from a healthcare professional are almost 4 times more likely to attempt weight loss than those not receiving counseling. Adults with arthritis can decrease pain and improve function by being at a healthy weight. Weight loss is a non-drug way to manage arthritis and ease joint pain.
Weight Loss Will Help You Feel Better And Help Your Joints
The more weight you lose, the more benefits your knee osteoarthritis will get, the Arthritis Care & Research study found. While everyone in the study who lost pounds saw improvements, people who dropped 20 percent or more of their body weight got an extra 25 percent reduction in some osteoarthritis disease markers compared with people who lost from 10 to 20 percent.
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Diet And Exercise Advice
Once a patient is motivated to lose weight, the first-line management is usually diet and exercise. But which one is better?
The answer is theyre better together. A 2013 RCT of 339 patients with knee OA found that while the amount of weight loss achieved by exercise alone was 2 kg, and for diet alone 9 kg, diet and exercise combined achieved a loss of nearly 11 kg.13
Fortunately, the recommendations for what to eat and drink, and what exercise to do, are closely aligned between OA-specific and general weight loss guidelines. They include the following advice.
Weight Loss Can Prevent Onset Of Osteoarthritis Relieve Symptoms Improve Function And Increase Quality Of Life
Results from the Framingham study have demonstrated that weight loss reduces the risk for OA in women. In this study, a 5.1-kg reduction in weight over a 10-year period decreased the likelihood of women developing symptomatic knee OA by 50& . In a subgroup analysis, weight loss was associated with a significant reduction in OA risk in individuals with high baseline BMI , but not in those with BMI< 25kgm2.
One major reason for this is that weight loss reduces joint loads. For example, a study of overweight and obese older adults with knee OA estimated that every pound of weight lost resulted in a fourfold reduction in the load exerted on the knee per step during daily activities, which appears to be clinically meaningful . Similar findings have been reported in other studies ,.
Doseresponse relationship for the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index physical function and pain scales. Point estimates and 95& confidence interval bars were derived from unadjusted estimates. Reproduced with permission from Riddle DL, Stratford PW. ArthritisCareRes 2013 65: 1522
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