Positive Health Online

Osteoarthritis is a common condition thought to affect up to five million people in the UK.  It occurs in the knees when cartilage breaks down, causing painful and stiff joints.  Surgery is the only option for many people, with over 120,000 knee replacements performed in the UK each year.

For people new to sore stiff knee osteoarthritis it can be difficult to find out what exercises and treatments are available that might help, especially in the first few painful months, when it is difficult to walk or concentrate on anything but pain.  So I asked for favourite strategies from people who already have the condition.

‘Is there a person out there with knee osteoarthritis who is walking comfortably ‘bone on bone?’ If so I would like to meet you in the flesh and find out what works for you?  – will buy you coffee’.

I built my regime of exercises from exchanges with other sufferers and Leon Beuzeval, sports injury rehabilitation physiotherapist, joined seated yoga classes, Eutony exercises that helped me improve my overall body awareness, balance and ease of movement and gait training to help me expand my range of ankle movements. As I progress I put together some daily exercises and list and score them out of 10 so I can see at a glance what works best for me.  You really need all the motivation you can get when you are moving from crutches or sticks to walking again!

Keep a daily Plan of what works, where you are now and where you want to be.

Yippee I can walk again! – 28/5/24 – Have not walked properly since last year

Take your medication – and remember recovery is down to you!

What You Can Do if You are Waiting for a NHS Referral

Waiting lists for NHS referrals can be lengthy; gentle walking and movement from the beginning is essential for regaining knee health and strength again.  The NHS approved site getUBetter provide an evidence-based digital self-management support platform for common musculoskeletal conditions such as back pain, women’s pelvic health and getting ready for operations.  Benefits of using it have been:

• A 20% reduction in physiotherapy referrals;
• A reduction in Musculoskeletal injuries;
• A 50% reduction in Musculoskeletal prescriptions.

Google:  getUBetter

Balance Exercise to Prevent Falls

This is a good exercise to increase our sense of balance and prevent falls. Natural levels of synovial fluid around our joints decline from the age of 45 onwards which can lead to stiffness, so this is a good warm- up exercise to help lubricate and improve the functionality and movement of the joints. 

Watch "3 balance exercises to prevent a fall” at home on YouTube

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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XM1efjevDpE

Are You Ready to Move on to a Wider Range of Exercises?

If you have had a musculoskeletal assessment, then you will have some knowledge about your condition and starter exercises.  It can be useful then to watch some YouTube videos showing people who have successfully regained mobility and reduced the pain of osteoarthritis through exercise. 

The video below features Kristin, who has been told she has "bone on bone" knee osteoarthritis. The physio demonstrates exercises like banded knee extensions, seated knee extensions, and hamstring isometrics that have helped Kristen regain her knee extension range of motion and mobility. 

Google  Top 3 Exercises to help straighten your arthritic knee, YouTube

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https://www.youtube.com/live/ESHFV3Cr3JA?app=desktop

Below is a YouTube introduction to the "Knee Boost Home Workout Program" which is a 4-week exercise program guided by physiotherapists. It aims to improve knee pain, mobility and strength for those with osteoarthritis through specialized exercises done at home. 

https://youtu.be/ILgVZvYM1WI      

Google  Knee Osteoarthritis Exercises to Improve Pain and Mobility

Score your exercises on your daily planner out of 10 so you can note your progress in strength, co-ordination or movement.

DATE  26 June    Practicing bone laden and floor work to build my hamstrings

Am getting better – at last!  -  think I am almost cooked

YouTube videos have physio-guided exercises that can help manage knee osteoarthritis symptoms like pain and stiffness. It is important that you slow down and listen to your body whilst doing each new exercise, so you don’t hurt or push yourself too far.  There are exercises like squats, heel raises, core work and long arc quad/hamstring curls that can improve mobility.

While these videos showcase exercises and programs designed to improve arthritic knee function, they don't explicitly feature testimonials of people being completely pain-free. However, they do highlight real individuals working to regain mobility and manage their osteoarthritic knee pain through consistent exercise routines

New Blood Test Picks Up Early Knee Osteoarthritis 8 Years before X-Rays

Researchers at Duke Health Centre in North Carolina have published a study showing knee osteoarthritis can be predicted in women with a blood test up to eight years before it can be detected by X-ray. The findings published in the journal Science Advances, showed biomarkers in the blood that distinguished women with knee osteoarthritis from those without it.  This blood test could revolutionise the way knee osteoarthritis is diagnosed and managed. 

Identifying the disease earlier could potentially improve patient outcomes and improve treatment strategies so that people can improve their walking gait early on.  And if gait correction can be introduced at an earlier intervention stage, it might also help reduce the number of knee replacement operations needed.  Examples are:

“IMPROVING WALKING” – What you can Do? 

Gait Training using Feldenkrais
Victoria Worsley teaches Outdoor ‘Awareness Through Movement’ lessons done while walking. This gives us a chance to apply some of the Feldenkrais exploration movements of the pelvis and spine, arm swing, carriage of the head, changing contact of the foot with the floor – while walking. And you can take these ideas and apply them across to running too. 

https://www.feldenkraisworks.co.uk/schedule/

Eutony is a Gentle Exercise Also Good for Older Bodies

Therese Melville, Eutony Summer Course 26 to 29 July, 2024 exercises that help improve overall body awareness, balance and ease of movement, balanced muscle tone and gait. The aim is to make movements like sitting, standing, walking and bending become more fluid with less effort – something which is particularly important as we age.

London Eutony Centre     Https://www.eutony.co.uk

12 June 2024 – Gaining insight into how my bones are connected

My knees are stronger than I think – I have sturdy knees!

I hope these exercises are useful to you and there is something that you can take away and use. Sometimes the key to recovery is asking “what can I do now that will give me 5 percent leverage in moving me towards whatever I want to do.”  Once you get there look for the next 5 percent.  One of the best pieces of advice I got was from someone who has suffered with arthritis from his teens is:

Take your medication – and remember recovery is down to you!

Further Information

Frances Coombes is recovering from a spell of inactivity due to knee osteoarthritis.  She is an NLP Coach and Psychotherapist and runs an online EFT tapping group (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and an online writing group called ‘Don’t get it right – Get it written!  -info@francescoombes.com