OA and Physio

Hi MamaG,

Thank you for your post to Helplines. I'm sorry to hear that you are in pain with your knees at the moment. I don't know from your post any of the background: how old are you, what's your overall health like, how long have you been living with oa etc.

The role of the physio is to assess your arthritis and give you some advice on getting moving and improving your joint function and mobility. Oa is a condition which is self managed - i.e. it generally responds to us strengthening our muscles and losing weight.

Research shows that joints where oa has developed have shrunken muscles. So by getting fitter and stronger and building back the muscles you should expect to be able to move better, and have less pain. But the difficult bit is that building up muscles will involve pain. The pain people feel on exercise should not be sinister - and how much pain to put up with will vary from person to person.

It's not the physio's fault you are having pain. If they are unsympathetic then maybe you don't get on - and finding another physio may be worth considering. But there is a common concern that the pain shows you may be further damaging your worn knees and that's not generally thought to be correct.

But if you are worried you are welcome to give us a ring so we can hear what's on your mind. However we are not able to give you individual medical advice - but why not ring and let's see if we can be of help.

And do see what the folk on Living with arthritis Forum may suggest too.

Kind regards

Guy

Hi Ann & welcome to the Arthritis Care Forums.

Please do introduce yourself more, perhaps in Say Hello or Living With Arthritis.

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Note: There is no major clinical trial supporting the effectiveness of the method

Mod Bryn