Why Exercises and Physical Therapy are Important for Knee Pain?

Physical Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis

Have you ever hurt your knees and wanted to go through surgery? Do you still have an achy knee? Well, there could be many reasons behind the pain. Majority of the people today are suffering from osteoarthritis, which generally appears with the rise in age. However, if you think osteoarthritis can only occur due to the age factor, then you are sadly mistaken.

There are probably many factors why people have osteoarthritis from an early age. Young children are now confronting the deadly osteoarthritis pain, which often happens due to some injury or infection. On the other side of the fence, osteoarthritis is also emerging among the old age group, which is the result of being overweight, having weak muscles, and past injuries.

It is of no surprise that osteoarthritis is dangerous, and will have a bad impact on the health condition and mental stability of a person. But, in this technology-prone era, nothing seems impossible due to the advent of the internet and technical tools. There are certainly numerous ways to treat osteoarthritis perfectly before it gets worse. Are you wondering what osteoarthritis is all about?

Definition of Osteoarthritis

Before you delve deep into the other sections, have a look at what exactly osteoarthritis is. It is one of the most common and pernicious diseases, which is also known as wear and tear arthritis. Mostly, the osteoarthritis diseases appear in the joint areas, cartilages, and bones. Due to the rubbing effects of the bones and joints, the joints areas start to swell and become stiff within no time.

However, the swelling and soreness lead to decrease the ability to move, which later forms bone spurs. According to sources, osteoarthritis is not only a familiar issue among the men. Rather, women, who are above 40 and are addicted to heavy workloads, are also suffering from osteoarthritis pain. There could be many factors associated with pain like age, weight, athletics, hereditary, stress injuries and much more.[1]

But, every time, one needs to understand why osteoarthritis is occurring frequently, and how you can treat them without getting bad health impacts.You might be thinking about how human beings are affected by osteoarthritis. Isn't it? Well, to know that the pains are actually because of osteoarthritis, consult a doctor immediately without utilizing your brain.

Moreover, you might have felt some soreness and harsh pain in the joint while waking up early in the morning. Is it true? In addition to this, constant swelling, crackly sounds, stiffness in the knee areas, uncomfortable feeling while sitting in the chairs, and creaking are some of the symptoms, which would help you to learn about osteoarthritis pain.

People, who are falling into the category of obese, are more prone to face the osteoarthritis. If you are tense regarding the osteoarthritis symptoms, then don't worry. Make an appointment with the doctor, conduct physical tests, and take note of your signs. You will easily get to know the real reason behind your pain. But, make sure you visit a doctor before things move out of your vision.

What are the Physical Therapy Treatments for Osteoarthritis?

The demand for physical therapy for the osteoarthritis knee is now trending in every nook and corner of the world. People, who are suffering from this malignant disease, choose the physical therapy treatment processes to stay happy and peaceful throughout their lifetime. No doubt, having an achy knee is the most painful thing one could ever realize in their life.

Due to the rise in work pressure, the soreness in the knee portion increases and makes the muscles weaker. Individuals find it difficult to walk and could not even move their feet properly. If you want to make your joints strong and healthy like before, then physical therapy is the best option today.

Physical therapy will help you in strengthening the muscles, which are present around the knee, will work effectively on the knee joints, and moreover, the stiffness will also be reduced to a great extent. The positive impacts of physical therapy are known to everyone who is suffering from osteoarthritis.

With the help of a therapy session, you will feel relaxed and the pain from the joint areas will decrease by improving the knee functionalities. Physical therapies are the combination of supervised and manual exercises, which automatically gives benefits to the patients who are tolerating the osteoarthritis pain for days. Therapies are the best way to avoid surgeries and eliminate knee pain.  

Passive Treatments for Knee Osteoarthritis

Heat therapy

Most of the people are aware of the fact that heat therapies are the best way to treat osteoarthritis pain. Moreover, with the use of the heat therapy treatment processes, the blood circulation increases in the body and this result into muscles flexibility and decreases of the stiffness. However, the swelling portion around the knee also reduces, which promotes better moving and twisting of the joints.

In this category, you can use hot water or heating pads, which are completely safe and effective for a person who has osteoarthritis pain. Furthermore, if you don't want to take the heat directly, then you can dip a towel in hot water and put the entire staff in the joints. It will help you relax. Paraffin bath, hot water bottle, belts, hot water packs, and hot baths are also beneficial for you to eliminate the osteoarthritis pain.[2]

Cold therapy

If you are concerned about the swelling, then cold therapy is the best choice to go with. Apart from the blood circulation process, it is also important to decrease the swell portion from the joint areas. Here, you can opt for the ice massage or use some ice packs on the painful areas. After applying the ice cubes on the joints, you will get some peace, and the swelling will reduce gradually.

Hydrotherapy

It is otherwise known as aquatic therapy, which helps in decreasing the symptoms of the osteoarthritis. However, there are various advantages of using hydrotherapy methods. For instance, you can practice simple exercises and moves in the water, which will not aggravate your joints. Try to perform on the warm water, which will further facilitate motion and moreover, will also deal with the joint pain.

Active Treatment Methods for Osteoarthritis

Flexible exercise

Today people realize the facts that exercises are the best way to deal with any type of diseases. Though, the results are not frequent and mostly bring positive impacts in the body after few days or month, but, you can enjoy the benefits for the entire life without any hitch. It is necessary to stay physically fit and mentally strong, which is only possible when you will practice exercises regularly.

For better flexibility and range of motion, physical exercises are the best. Some of the common flexibility exercises are standing calf stretch, step-ups, reclining hamstring stretch, and standing quadriceps stretch. All these stretching exercises are gentle and will not impose bad effects on your body. Rather, you can practice them simply by sitting at home without taking much load and pressure.

Start from a low scale, and gradually, with the pace of time, increase the speed of the exercises. Furthermore, you can also add other stretching exercises into the list, but, always make sure they won't hurt you in any manner. Osteoarthritis is not at a simple disease and doing vigorous exercises may impact in a negative manner, which will further affect the joints badly. Flexibility exercises are all about how comfortable you are.

Strengthening exercises

If you want to strengthen your muscles by reducing the pain from the joint areas, then start doing the strengthening exercises. Within no time, you will get positive results like strong muscles. However, you will feel free while climbing the stairs and lift. Initially, don't lift any weights. First, get familiar with the moves and weights, and later add them to your schedule.

Occupational therapy

If you are having trouble while dealing with the daily activities, then occupational therapies are the best way to get enough relaxation. Therapists will teach you how to decrease the pain completely from the body so that you can again perform smartly in the homes and outside.

Manual therapy

Apart from occupational or physical therapy, manual treatments are also beneficial for a person who is dealing with osteoarthritis pain. Here, the therapists will suggest you some gentle moves and exercises, which will directly bring positive impacts on the joint areas. Moreover, the strength and flexibility of the body will increase by reducing the negative sides. If you do not get relief from the exercises, then therapists may advise you for unicompartmental knee replacement treatment.

Aerobics

In this modern era, people are highly impressed with the aerobics exercises as they are getting immediate relief in the painful areas. Aerobics is of course not a new concept in the society, but, still, few people are not aware of how impactful and powerful aerobics exercises are. Working in the water and running with props are some of the innovative methods in aerobics.

References

1..https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/knee-pain/rehab-strengthen-knees#1

2..https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hw125087

3..https://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/ostearthritis-of-the-knee-degenerative-arthritis-of-the-knee#2

4..https://www.moveforwardpt.com/SymptomsConditionsDetail.aspx?cid=e46bb793-4cfa-48ec-9821-ceba2d4c54ab