To Your Health
March, 2019 (Vol. 13, Issue 03) |
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How to Manage Knee Osteoarthritis: Focus on the Hip
By Editorial Staff
Knee osteoarthritis may make you hesitant to participate in exercise, which is a big mistake. In fact, certain exercises may actually help reduce symptoms, according to a recent research review that focused on studies involving nearly 350 patients with knee OA.
Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the review study analyzed eight clinical trials that evaluated the effectiveness of adding hip strengthening exercising to traditional quadriceps exercises in reducing knee OA symptoms.
Hip-focused resistance exercises involving elastic bands or weights proved most effective in improving walking function, which is frequently limited by knee osteoarthritis.
Study authors concluded: "[C]ombined hip and quadriceps exercise is significantly more effective than quadriceps exercise alone for improving walking function" in patients with knee OA.
To learn more about osteoarthritis including risk factors and symptoms, click here. As medications and even surgery are potential treatment options for OA, it's an important finding that conservative measures such as hip and quad exercises can improve walking ability, giving knee OA sufferers the opportunity to become more mobile and independent.
