Unleash Your Potential and Manage Your Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis, OA, degeneration or the ageing joint. No matter how you label this condition, it is still the leading cause of disability amongst the older population. But, what exactly is osteoarthritis? Osteoarthritis is bony adaptation or structural alteration to a joint, most commonly the knee or hip. This leads to a decreased joint space. These adaptations occur due to increased load being placed through the joint prompting an inflammatory response and a signal for new bone growth. Overall, the body tells the brain to send more signals to the bone cells to grow new bone to help with the stress placed on the joint.
Where does this increased load come from? Increased load results from decreased muscle strength surrounding the joint, carrying excess body weight or a combination of both. Subsequently, individuals who have had previous injuries to the joint or played high impact sports, like basketball, football or long-distance running, have a higher likelihood of developing osteoarthritis in their later years.
How does this affect the human body? The body’s response and adaptation to the increased load can lead to individuals living with osteoarthritis to experience pain, morning stiffness, reduced movement, musical joints, buckling or giving away, swelling, tired muscles, decreased strength and overall change one’s functional capacity.
How can Ararat Physio and Co Help you?
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, one of Ararat Physiotherapy and Co’s physiotherapists can assess, diagnose and manage your pain to help you not just live with osteoarthritis but to also thrive at the same time.
But how do we manage osteoarthritis? There are many different modalities your health professional can employ to help manage the symptoms of osteoarthritis. However, the best way as researched by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in 2022 is through exercise and weight management. Your physiotherapist or exercise physiologist at Ararat Physio can develop a tailor-made exercise program to help you achieve and reach your health goals.
Whilst you may be sitting there reading this thinking, exercise and gyms aren’t your cup of tea, or you find exercise to be more of a chore than therapeutic, what if I told you they could completely change your lifestyle. What if I told you, you could walk the golf course without having to rub ointment into your knees. Or if I told you, you could stand up from your favourite chair without moaning or groaning. Our physiotherapists and exercise physiologist at Ararat Physiotherapy and Co love to make a considerable change in our patients lives. We love to get creative to make exercises that are specific to your goals and that you find enjoyable.
So, if you have resonated with any of the information above, or would like to find out what the niggle in your knee is, book an appointment in with one of our energetic team to help achieve your health and lifestyle goals.
