Proper functioning of joints is crucial for adequate movement, flexibility, and activity. Healthy joints have a critical role in allowing an individual to walk, exercise, and perform daily life tasks. Unfortunately, the joints of the human body can lose their healthy functioning and present a debilitating weakness to the person dealing with a joint disorder and can have devastating affects on the life and well being of a patient [1]. Osteoarthritis (OA), specifically, is a joint disorder that results form cartilage breakdown, as the processes that breakdown cartilage overcome the processes that reform it. The resulting surface of joints appears to be yellow, rough, and eburnated. Surrounding tissue becomes thickened with outgrowths, and edema
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Al tests and discusses how physical therapy treatment can be used to reduce the symptoms and pain of knee osteoarthritis. According to Dayle et. Al physical therapy has been shown to strengthen the function of the knee and thus reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis. In their study, patients were placed in two treatment groups, one with individualized, supervised physical therapy versus a home exercise program. Improvement was measured based on the distance walked in 6 minutes [3]. Overall, both groups showed marked improvement in osteoarthritis symptoms, thought the supervised group showed greater improvement. They concluded that physical therapy is an effective non-surgical option for improving osteoarthritis symptoms by strengthening the joints and reducing stiffness that the patient experiences. …show more content…
A possible outcome of weight loss is that it will reduce the pressure placed on the joint from subcutaneous fat and make exercise for patients with OA easier. Exercise is reported to strengthen the joints, so weight loss can have an added benefit [2]. Christensen et. Al studied how weight loss affected the symptoms of overweight patients with osteoarthritis [5]. Specifically, the weight loss was controlled through diet on a short term time period. Overall, their trial indicated that a low-energy diet in the patients with osteoarthritis resulted in an average 10% of body fat loss. This body fat loss improved OA symptoms by an average of 28% [5]. This concluded that body fat loss might be a good alternative to treating the pain and negative symptoms of osteoarthritis well.
Al tests and discusses how physical therapy treatment can be used to reduce the symptoms and pain of knee osteoarthritis. According to Dayle et. Al physical therapy has been shown to strengthen the function of the knee and thus reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis. In their study, patients were placed in two treatment groups, one with individualized, supervised physical therapy versus a home exercise program. Improvement was measured based on the distance walked in 6 minutes [3]. Overall, both groups showed marked improvement in osteoarthritis symptoms, thought the supervised group showed greater improvement. They concluded that physical therapy is an effective non-surgical option for improving osteoarthritis symptoms by strengthening the joints and reducing stiffness that the patient experiences. …show more content…
A possible outcome of weight loss is that it will reduce the pressure placed on the joint from subcutaneous fat and make exercise for patients with OA easier. Exercise is reported to strengthen the joints, so weight loss can have an added benefit [2]. Christensen et. Al studied how weight loss affected the symptoms of overweight patients with osteoarthritis [5]. Specifically, the weight loss was controlled through diet on a short term time period. Overall, their trial indicated that a low-energy diet in the patients with osteoarthritis resulted in an average 10% of body fat loss. This body fat loss improved OA symptoms by an average of 28% [5]. This concluded that body fat loss might be a good alternative to treating the pain and negative symptoms of osteoarthritis well.