What is osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is a condition in which the natural cushioning between joints - cartilage, wears away. Cartilage is a coating of tough but smooth and slippery tissue that covers the surface of the bones and helps the bones to move freely against each other. When a part of the cartilage thins and the surface becomes rougher, the bones of the joints rub more closely against one another with less of the shock-absorbing benefits of cartilage.
This rubbing results in pain, swelling, stiffness, decreased ability to move, and, sometimes, the formation of bone spurs, and the affected joint develops osteoarthritis. It is commonly known as wear-and-tear arthritis.
Causes of knee osteoarthritis
Aging changes in the musculoskeletal system increase the propensity to Osteoarthritis. It usually starts from the late 40s onwards. Bodily changes come with aging, such as weakening muscles, and weight gain and the body becomes less able to heal itself effectively.
Knee osteoarthritis encounters many risk factors such as joint injury and abnormalities, obesity, genetics, and anatomical factors that affect joint mechanics. It is also proven that women are more affected by this discomfort.
Sometimes osteoarthritis is an outcome of the damage from a different kind of joint disease, such as Rheumatoid arthritis or Gout.
Symptoms of knee osteoarthritis
Various symptoms of knee Osteoarthritis may include-
Pain that can vary in severity increases when you are active, but gets a little better with rest.
Swelling.
The feeling of warmth in the joint.
Stiffness in the knee, especially in the morning.
Decrease the mobility of the knee, making it difficult to use the stairs, or walk.
Making a crackly sound during knee movement.
Joints that are affected by osteoarthritis
After a certain age and different musculoskeletal system any joint can develop osteoarthritis, but symptoms linked to osteoarthritis most often affect the knees, hips, hands, spine, and big toes.
Knees
The knee has to take extreme stresses, twists and turns as well as bear our body weight throughout the lifetime. That is the reason knees endure osteoarthritis in maximum cases.
Osteoarthritis of the knee happens when cartilage in your knee joint breaks down. When this happens, the bones in your knee joint rub together, causing friction that makes your knees hurt, become stiff, or swell. Osteoarthritis in the knee can’t be cured but there are physiotherapy treatments like osteoarthritis knee therapy that can relieve symptoms and slow your condition’s progress.
Hip
The hip joint is one of the body’s largest weight-bearing joints, only secondary to the knee joint, and is commonly affected by osteoarthritis.
In hip osteoarthritis, the cartilage in the hip joint gradually wears away over time. As the cartilage wears away, it becomes frayed and rough, and the protective joint space between the bones decreases. This can result in bone rubbing on bone.
Back and Neck
The human back is structured with a highly complex system of a series of interlocking elements such as the vertebrae, discs, facet joints, ligaments, and muscles.
Spinal arthritis is inflammation of the facet joints in the spine or sacroiliac joints between the spine and the pelvis. It may be related to wear and tear, autoimmune disorders, infection, and other conditions. Sometimes, the inflammation may also affect the sites where ligaments and tendons attach to the bones of the spine. Regardless of the exact location, arthritis in the back or neck can be painful and often becomes chronic.
Shoulder
Shoulder arthritis is damage to the cartilage inside the shoulder joint. The shoulder has two joints. Shoulder arthritis commonly refers to the bigger ball-and-socket joint named the glenohumeral joint after the bones it connects (glenoid and humerus). The cartilage covers both the ball (the humeral head) and the socket (the glenoid).
When the cartilage in the shoulder begins to break down on the surface and eventually in the deeper layers, it’s called shoulder arthritis. The second joint in the shoulder, the acromioclavicular or AC joint, can also develop arthritis known as AC joint arthritis.
How does physiotherapy help in osteoarthritis?
Physiotherapists provide a non-invasive treatment like osteoarthritis knee therapy that plays a major function in reducing the severity of pain and other symptoms associated with osteoarthritis.
Professional physiotherapists of VL Therapy can include prescribing heat and cold treatments to help decrease swelling and increase blood flow to reduce stiffness in the joints and muscles surrounding the affected region. Heat treatment normally is from the INDIBA machine.
Our experienced physiotherapists can also teach patients how to manage osteoarthritis through strengthening exercises and stretching exercises that can be done at home.
Our physiotherapist will frequently assess patients' improvements, and provide alterations to the exercise program to ensure positive changes in the functioning of the associated muscles and joints, thereby providing further stability and strength to the joint.
Various exercise programs and massage treatments arranged by our physiotherapist will strengthen the weak muscles in the body, reduce stiffness, reduce swelling if performed correctly, and improve overall fitness. This can help to curtail the need for any kind of painful surgery.
VL Therapy, one of the leading physiotherapy centers in Malaysia provides Physiotherapy Neuro rehab, Osteoarthritis knee therapy, Visceral manipulation, Indiba active cell therapy treatment and wellness care, dry Needling, Manual Lymphatic Drainage, Musculoskeletal physiotherapy, Neural manipulation, pre and post-operative therapy, and various performance-enhancing programs from many years successfully. To enjoy a painless life please consult with our highly recommended experienced physiotherapist and visit our official website to understand our services better.