Osteoarthritis Treatment Kenilworth
Over 8 million people in the UK struggle with Osteoarthritis pain. It is a condition that becomes more common as you age and is often known as a wear and tear condition.
But what exactly is Osteoarthritis and what can our Kenilworth based clinic to to help you with your Osteoarthritis Treatment?
What is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is caused by damage to the cartilage of a joint. It can occur in any weight bearing joint but often affects people’s knees and hips specifically, getting more painful as we age.
The condition usually forms over years, due to the incorrect loading of a joint. The problem may begin, far away from the joint that actually hurts. If you have flat feet, for example, this can create problems in the knee or hip over time.
The arch of the foot is essential, as its job is to absorb forces and ensure correct mechanics all the way up the lower body. If your foot drops inwards, as is the case if you have flat feet, or fallen arches. This causes your knee to also drop inwards, creating additional forces, usually on the inside of your knee. Over time, these forces damage the cartilage of the knee, which in the end breaks down.
The job of the cartilage is to stop the bones rubbing together, so if this breaks down, the bones can rub, creating damage, pain and the beginnings of Osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis Treatment
Many people experience Osteoarthritis in their knees. The key to a healthy knee is alignment. For many of us, our knee does not track correctly, it is often sitting in a rotated position and results in the forces created while you are walk, going through the wrong part of your knee.
In the case of the Knee, Osteoarthritis treatment often starts by assessing the foot. If the foot is weak and lacking an arch, this is the first treatment we would give. Surprisingly, often the act of strengthening the foot is enough to get rid of the pain in the Knee, but if this doesn’t work, we will strengthen and rebalance the whole leg.
When treating Osteoarthritis, it is important to combine loosening with strengthening. Helping the muscles to switch off and relax is essential when trying to rebalance a joint. It also helps to combat pain in the short term, while the muscles strengthen up. Therefore, part of our Osteoarthritis treatment always involves some sort of massage to release muscles.
A good example of this is the over recruitment of the hamstring muscles, in someone with Knee Osteoarthritis. These over work to stop the person fully straightening their knee when they walk. This is because when we fully straighten the knee, we close the joint space and that creates pain. So we will loosen these muscles to help relieve pain and rebalance the leg. it is also a good way for us to know when things are improving, as these muscles will start to relax as the body is happy to fully straighten the knee again.
For all conditions of the lower body, the key to successful Osteoarthritis treatment, is to look at the whole lower body. The foot affects the knee, the knee affects the hip. So just looking at the single joint will not solve your pain and problems. We take a holistic look at your body to get to the root causes, giving us a much better chance to solve your painful condition.
Severe Osteoarthritis Treatment
Once the cartilage has worn away to such a level that the bone is effectively resting on bone, traditional treatments, in the form of strengthening become more limited.
This is often because exercises simply become too painful to perform and therefore clients can’t complete them. Until now, the only Osteoarthritis treatment option at this point has been a knee or hip replacement, but this comes with its own complications and recovery. However, recently NICE have approved an alternative treatment for people with severe osteoarthritis and we are the first clinic in Warwickshire to have trained up in their use.
This is a product called the Apos® training shoe, and it realigns and strengthens the leg while you walk. It works by altering the forces running through your leg to offload painful areas and restrengthen the leg. It is not an orthotic based treatment, as orthotics are generally only used to support the foot in a new position. This treatment is far more sophisticated, not involving supporting the foot, but rather retraining it to get long term solutions. Find out more about this option by clicking this link.
If you decide that Surgery is the best option for you, the outcomes depend partially on your surgeon and partially on your rehabilitation. Usually clients have no problem from a surgical perspective, but when it comes to rehabilitation following surgery, this can often be limited. At The Reinge Clinic, we offer a comprehensive approach to knee and hip surgery rehabilitation, providing appropriate hands on work, to relieve the post surgical stiffness and well as helping to get the initial movement back in the knee or hip.
Once we have full movement, we are then able to work on targeted strengthening, building you from the initial basic bending and straightening moves, to fully loading and more dynamic strength work. We can even get you back to hiking, running and sports with your new knee. This does take time and it is not unusual to take 6 months to a year to recover from a Knee or hip replacement.
Frequently Asked Questions about Osteoarthritis Treatment in Kenilworth
We have many clients who have moderate or even severe Osteoarthritis who are able to manage their condition with regular rehabilitation, strength and loosening work.
If exercise isn’t for you the Apos training shoe may be an alternative worth thinking about.
The treatment for Osteoarthritis always involves strength work, even of you opt for a surgical procedure.
For clients with mild Osteoarthritis, surgery is rarely needed. Strength and hands on techniques usually solve the pain and help to limit future damage within the knee.
Take a look at the NHS page for Osteoarthritis here.
The main signs are generally pain, swelling, stiffness. A grinding or crunching noise when bending the knee or hip.
Pain is usually there when weight bearing as this is when the bones sit closest together. It often eases when non load bearing.
In the case of Knee Osteoperosis, the legs tend to bow out, giving a distinctive walking gait.
However a full assessment and usually an MRI scan is needed to diagnose Osteoarthritis.
Both disciplines can treat Osteoarthritis. Sports Therapists are more likely to use hands on techniques in their treatments, but from an assessment and rehabilitation perspective there is little between the two professions.
For initial post surgical rehab a Physiotherapist is the best solution as they have experience working in hospitals with immediate post operative procedures. But after around 12 weeks a Sports therapist is able to offer Osteoarthritis treatment to the same level.
At The Reinge Clinic our Physiotherapist is also a trained Sports Therapist. Both our Physiotherapist and our Sports Therapist are APOS Therapy trained, meaning they have additional training and knowledge in treating Osteoarthritis.
If you have no, or low pain with your arthritis, it is best to stay as active as possible. If you have pain, you need to avoid the activities that exacerbate the pain.
Running, for example, can exacerbate Osteoarthritic pain in the knee or hip. However, sometimes by altering the running gait, or with rehabilitation work, we can ensure you can continue with the sport or activity that you love.
Generally load bearing activities with heavy weights exacerbate pain, whereas swimming, for example, can be a great way to exercise without creating pain the the joints.
We will always advise on the best and safest way to keep you active, while trying to resolve your pain.
Learn more about Osteoarthritis
What Our Clients Say About Us?
Helen Littlewood
October 19, 2022
Totally looked after by Ian - really reassured that he can help and support me in my goals Thank you
Hilary Hardwick
November 4, 2022
My first appointment with Ian and very impressed, I may finally get somewhere with my dodgy hip
Fiona Robinson
November 21, 2022
Really nice experience ( apart from elbow in hip…ouch)
Matt Morrisey
December 8, 2022
EXCELLENT , HELPED ME UNDERSTAND ALL MY ISSUES AND HOW TO START TO RE AJUST
Sonia Chamberlain
September 5, 2023
Gina is a brilliant therapist! Very friendly, supportive and provides a holistic approach to MSK problems.
