Are you tired of living with the discomfort of osteoarthritis of the knee? Relief is possible! Chiropractic care offers a holistic approach to managing knees with osteoarthritis. Discover what this condition is and how a chiropractor can help you find relief from osteoarthritis in the knee.
Do you have knee osteoarthritis or something else? See other knee pain causes here.
What Is Osteoarthritis of the Knee?
It’s a degenerative joint disease that causes pain, stiffness, and swelling. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 32.5 million U.S. adults currently suffer from it.
It occurs when the protective cartilage in the knee gradually wears away.
Your cartilage is like a slippery surface that a bone can glide against. You don’t even feel this glide when this surface is healthy and new. It’s that smooth. But one of the first signs you are developing osteoarthritis in the knee is that you do start to feel this movement, even if you wouldn’t yet call it “pain”.
First, the layer gets rough, so your knees don’t move as well as they once did. Then it thins until you have bone-on-bone friction.
Everyone’s knees are constantly in a state of wear and repair. And as we age, the “wear” can start to outpace the “repair” and those wear patterns become uneven, allowing the bone to work through your protective cartilage layer. This wearing away of knee cartilage is known as “knee osteoarthritis”.
Common Arthritis Knee Symptoms
Do you believe you may have arthritis in knee symptoms? Then, chances are you’re experiencing these 2 or more of these knee osteoarthritis symptoms:
- Pain
- Aching feeling
- Stiffness
- Decreased knee flexibility. It may feel like it’s getting stuck before fully extending.
- Swelling
The pain may come and go. And it’s possible to have it only in one knee. Some people will feel the pain in a specific place on their knee, like the front or one side.
You may notice your knee feels slightly unsteady when you try to go up or down stairs. It usually hurts more going down than when you went up.
This pain may keep you up at night as it throbs for no apparent reason, and you may feel stiff when you get out of bed. Creaking and crunchy sounds are also common symptoms of knee osteoarthritis.
Find out more about common knee pain causes here.
Getting to the Root Cause of Knee Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis pain is not a certainty as we age, and even after you begin experiencing symptoms, relief is possible.
Each time the cartilage renews itself, it changes shape a little based on factors like how you use it, bodily alignment, weight distribution, and nutrition. Over time, this structure alters to maximize your ability to move with the least effort.
That sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it?
But if your body isn’t correctly aligned, the wear becomes uneven. One or the other side of your knee does more work, and the musculoskeletal system it works within is also off-balance. Since wear is not evenly distributed, the bones work through the protection, and you begin to notice more arthritis knee symptoms.
This isn’t just about having good posture—or not. Alignment is a dynamic, whole-body activity that begins with the spine. If this pillar of your bodily structure is off-balance, everything else will try to adapt, and you have knee osteoarthritis.
This spinal misalignment is the root cause of knee osteoarthritis. The only way to find lasting knee pain relief is by getting to the root of the problem.
Want to learn more? You may also like:
The Chiropractor’s Approach to Osteoarthritis in the Knee
When it comes to managing osteoarthritis in knee joints, we take a personalized and comprehensive approach because, as you can see, the location of the osteoarthritis and how it’s impacting you can vary.
Our goal is to help you experience knee pain relief quickly and improve function while we focus on the longer-term solution of stopping that uneven wear so the repair can outpace the wear again. To do that, we must develop a personalized plan to realign your musculoskeletal system and strengthen the muscles and connective tissues around your knee joint.
To get to the root cause of pain and discomfort, schedule an initial consultation, including a comprehensive knee pain evaluation and first Knee on Trac treatment.
What a Knee Pain Treatment Plan Looks Like
Depending on your knee pain causes and other factors, your plan may include:
- Manual Adjustments: Chiropractors use gentle, controlled movements to realign the knee joint, reducing stress on affected areas.
- Joint Mobilization: The chiropractor employs techniques to improve joint mobility and decrease stiffness in the knee.
- Therapeutic Exercises: Weakness in the supportive structures around the joint puts extra strain on the cartilage, amplifying pain and the wear rate. Customized exercise programs in the office and at home can strengthen the knee muscles, providing better support to the joint. This promotes better alignment and creates an environment where the joint can heal.
- Nutritional Guidance: A chiropractor may offer dietary recommendations to support joint health and reduce inflammation.
- Knee on Trac: A knee pain therapy that involves a specialized machine that gently takes your knee through its range of motion or holds your knee in a specific position over a session to restore function
- Acupuncture: A non-invasive ancient Chinese technique that uses tiny single-use needles to reduce pain and inflammation for up to a few days while increasing blood flow to promote healing. This gives you time to perform exercises and treatments to realign and strengthen tissues for longer-term results.
- Shockwave Therapy: A therapy that uses a specialized machine to send acoustic waves that target tissue at various depths to compress and manipulate them. Like acupuncture, this can also reduce inflammation and pain while improving blood flow to promote healing.
- Ultrasound Therapy: A therapy involving a specialized machine that sends sound waves between 800,000 Hz and 2,000,000 Hz into tissues. This causes tissues to vibrate, increasing blood flow and reducing inflammation.
Download our Knee on Trac Brochure.
How Chiropractic Care Helps
It’s non-invasive. Chiropractic care offers a non-surgical and drug-free approach to managing knee osteoarthritis.
You can have pain relief now while we restore function and mobility. Through gentle adjustments and targeted therapies, chiropractic treatments can alleviate knee pain.
Get your mobility back. Chiropractic techniques help restore flexibility and range of motion in knees with osteoarthritis.
Take back your quality of life. By addressing the underlying causes of knee pain, chiropractic care can improve your daily functioning and overall well-being.
To learn more about whether chiropractic therapies may relieve your knee pain, check out other knee pain causes.
To get to the root cause of this pain and find lasting relief, schedule an initial consultation, including a comprehensive knee evaluation, treatment plan, and an initial adjustment and/or knee on Trac treatment.
Prevention and Self-Care Tips for Knee Osteoarthritis
- Work Toward and Maintain a Healthy Weight: Excess weight puts additional stress on the knees, contributing to arthritis symptoms. The closer you can get to and stay at a healthy weight, the better your knees will feel and perform.
- Stay Active: Engage in low-impact exercises like swimming and walking to keep your knees moving without excessive strain. It may seem counterintuitive, but the worst thing you can do when experiencing knee pain is stop moving. Lack of movement will weaken supportive structures even more.
- Use Assistive Devices: Knee braces or orthotics can support and reduce discomfort during daily activities. But it’s important not to think of braces as a long-term solution since your body can become dependent on them, worsening the wear over time.
Living With Osteoarthritis Of The Knee
To say it’s challenging would be an understatement. For most, being able to walk without pain means freedom, independence, and getting the most out of life. But you don’t have to endure the pain alone. With the help of a skilled chiropractor, you can find relief and improve your quality of life. Seek professional chiropractic care, follow self-care tips, and take control of your knees with osteoarthritis today.
Remember, the journey to managing osteoarthritis in the knees starts with a single step toward a chiropractic solution. To get to the root cause of this pain and find lasting relief, schedule an initial consultation, including a comprehensive knee evaluation, treatment plan, and an initial adjustment and/or Knee on Trac treatment.
