How physical therapy for knee arthritis can help keep you moving

Walking from the living room to the bathroom. Bending your knees as you sit down. Playing around in the backyard with your grandkids. Any or all of these activities can be much more difficult when you’re living with knee arthritis. 

The most common form of arthritis that affects the knee is osteoarthritis. It occurs when the cartilage in the knee is affected by natural wear and tear over time. Knee osteoarthritis affects 10% of men and 13% of women over 60, so you’re definitely not alone if you’re dealing with it. Physical therapy is one option that can help keep you moving if you have knee osteoarthritis. 

Three movement benefits that physical therapy for knee arthritis can offer

Knee osteoarthritis is a musculoskeletal disorder that physical therapy specialists often treat. These specialists can evaluate your movement and symptoms during an assessment. This assessment can also include questions about your medical history and daily tasks.

Using this information, your physical therapist can develop an individualized therapy plan for you. Your plan will be designed to provide benefits like: 

1. Reducing pain — Knee pain is one of the most common and invasive symptoms of knee osteoarthritis. Physical therapists offer a category of therapy called manual therapy that can help decrease pain. Manual therapy methods involve your physical therapist using their hands to mobilize and manipulate the affected knee and surrounding tissue. One study shows that just four weeks of manual therapy led to a 52% improvement in knee osteoarthritis pain scores. 

2. Improving your ability to walk — Walking is an activity that requires constant knee movement. It can be one of the most difficult activities to perform when you have knee arthritis. Your physical therapist can help you improve your ability to walk; researchers report that four weeks of physical therapy helped improve the average six-minute walking distance in knee arthritis patients by about 10%. 

3. Increasing overall knee function — Walking is far from the only activity that knee osteoarthritis can affect. This issue can make any activity that requires knee movement a painful and difficult task. There are many therapy techniques that can help improve your ability to move your knee. 

Advent Physical Therapy offers therapeutic care for knee arthritis

Not sure where to turn for effective knee osteoarthritis physical therapy? Our Advent Physical Therapy team is ready and willing to help you address your arthritis. We offer complimentary screenings that can reveal how your condition is affecting you. Our physical therapists also excel at creating personalized therapy plans designed to help reduce pain and improve your ability to move. We can even help you get care at home thanks to our virtual therapy and at-home care services, and our physical therapists can get your therapy started even if you don’t have a doctor’s referral. 

Contact our team today for more information about how we can assist you with knee arthritis or to schedule your initial appointment.