Knee Osteoarthritis - Information about your Arthritic Knee
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Living with Osteoarthritis of the Knee
What starts out as a bit of occasional discomfort can gradually progress to a life changing condition.
There are many treatment options available and due to the number of variables involved, each person (and indeed each joint) needs to be considered as an individual.
Although the advice of an qualified medical professional is the most important factor in decision making, it pays to educate yourself.
Asking the right questions and having a good understanding of the risks and benefits of each treatment will ensure you make a sound choice.
In the ongoing fight against osteoarthritis, you will be asked to make decisions that will affect you for the rest of your life.
Information is probably your most important asset at this critical time of your life.
What is osteoarthritis?
An explanation you can understand......
A technical definition might sound like ' a degenerative joint disease characterized by the loss of articular cartilage, hypertrophy of bone at the joint margins, and changes in the synovial membrane'.What does this mean to normal people?
Put simply, this is the 'wear and tear' type of arthritis.
Our joints are covered by a smooth layer of cartilage that allows free, painless movement.
This cartilage can be gradually worn away.
Without this protective layer, bone rubs against bone, and pain, swelling and deformity can result.
There are many factors that influence the rate of wear......the risk factors for Osteoarthritis:
(in no particular order)
Nutrition
Previous physical activity
Muscle strength
Previous trauma
Weight
Family history
Age
What caused your arthritis?
All of the above, some of the above.It is likely you will never know for sure.
Apart from those who have suffered major fractures through joints, known as intra-articular fractures, it is usually a subtle combination of all the risk factors that leads you to arthritis.
What can you do about your knee pain?
Apart from the help medicals professionals can offer, there is plenty you can do yourself.Two simple things have been shown to help decrease pain and slow the progression of the disease process:
Lose weight
Strengthen the quadriceps
With the right guidance, both can be achieved by exercise. The best way is to seek the advice of a qualified Physical Therapist.
If you have arthritis in only half of your knee, they can also advise you on the latest offloading knee braces. A study by the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery found the best two braces to be the Donjoy "OAdjuster" and the Bledsoe "Thruster".
Physical Therapists should be your first stop for information but this can prove too expensive for some.
If you are more of a do-it-yourself kind of person, you will need to educate yourself.
Where to find trustworthy information
For years I have been telling people to avoid anyone claiming to offer a 'miracle cure' for osteoarthritis. As much as we may wish it, there is no such thing. There is no herb, gel or tablet that can make your knee 'unworn'.The best advice is to save your money and spend it on gathering up to date information from reputable sources. Find out what has been proven to work.
None of these solutions are quick and some are hard work, but it is wise to spend the time and effort on something you know is going to help your knees.
I recommend different information sources for different people. It depends on what you are looking for and how much you want to know.
One of the easiest ways to educate yourself is visit Amazon.com where there is a wide variety of books on sale for around $10. Hardly a large outlay for information on a condition that is affecting your life and will continue to in the future.
There are a couple of suggestions listed below. When it comes to osteoarthritis, knowledge is power.
Arthritis Books on Amazon
The Fit Arthritic: Fighting Knee and Hip Arthritis with Exercise.
Amazon Price: $9.85 (as of 01/04/2010) 
The Official Patient's Sourcebook on Arthritis of the Knee: A Revised and Updated Directory for the Internet Age
Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 01/04/2010)
Animation on Knee Osteoarthritis
A nice summary of what is going on inside your knee.
Knee braces on eBay
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The Latest Osteoarthritis News
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Fetching RSS feed... please stand byLinks for more information on Osteoarthritis of the Knee
- The Arthritic Knee
- Useful Arthritis site featuring information on many different topics related to knee osteoarthritis.
- The Normal Knee X-ray
- Tips on understanding knee x-rays.
- Knee Braces for Osteoarthritis
- Information page on offloading braces for unicompartmental OA
- The Knee X-ray - Understanding the signs of Arthritis
- Information on the features of knee osteoarthritis and how to spot them on an x-ray. Very useful when viewed in conjunction with the other link listed here on the features of a normal knee x-ray
- Compartments of the Knee
- Explaination of what Doctors mean when they talk of "Compartments" of the knee
- Arthritis Knee Braces
- Helping you choose an appropriate brace for knee osteoarthritis
The New OA Assist
A new brace to off load the affected compartment of the knee. Suitable for unicompartmental knee osteoarthritis
DonJoy OA Assist Arthritis Knee Brace
DonJoys technologically advanced design combines a single upright frame and the 3DF hinge on the NEW OA ASSIST. A patient-ready knee osteoarthritis that is ideally suited for activities of daily living.
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Knee Arthritis Exercises
Knee Arthritis Animation
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Mitch Barry is a Physical Therapist with over 10 years experience helping people deal with osteoarthritis in both Europe and Australia.
He has a spe... (more)
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