Osteoarthritis, Rusty Hips and Dicky Knees by Alex Fielding

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common disorders affecting the body. It’s been shown that a whopping 24% of the adult population will have it in their knees and 11% have OA of the hip. In older folk, it is the most common cause of pain and chronic disability.

To summarise it’s not a whole lot of fun.

So what can be done?

In essence, the goal is to try and stave off the need for a joint replacement for as absolutely long as possible.

From our point of view at Your Health Sport and Spine and Dural Health and our team of physios, chiros, exercise physiologist and dieticians our recommendation is always to have an individualised approach considering your wishes and your life with things including:

 Education about osteoarthritis
 Strategies regarding the pacing of activity
 Weight loss, if needs be
 Goal setting for lifestyle modification
 Regular exercise linking into improvements around your activities of daily living
 Strengthening of the muscles around the hip and knee
 Good comfy shoes
 Walking aids as if needed
 Strategies around keeping you active and doing the thing you love to do.

The goal is to make sure you know what’s going on with your hips and knees and empower you to take control of your condition.

In the long term, the thing you do for yourself, more often than not is more important than the thing that can be done in the clinic.

Because your health Osteoarthritis matters