Exercise and counselling improves osteoarthritis

Exercise and counselling helps in relieving both physical and social symptoms of people suffering from knee arthritis. Researchers from the San Diego State University analysed 16 studies and found that both exercise therapy and self-management programs tended to lessen the overall burden of having knee osteoarthritis (OA). Exercise generally improved arthritis patients' physical functioning, whereas self-management programs, which taught people how to deal with the daily ups and downs of living with knee OA tended to boost their psychological well-being. The improvements were generally modest. However, the overall evidence suggests that many knee arthritis sufferers need a combination of therapies. Exercises designed for the knee, which in these studies included walking, stationary cycling and strength training can improve physical health, while self-management programs cover any of a range of topics to help people deal with knee OA, from relaxation, imagery and diet changes to proper use of assistive devices. Patients should turn to the programs that are most likely to improve the areas in which they suffer most from OA. This may mean trying more than one therapy. Studies generally focus on single interventions for knee OA in order to test that therapy's specific effects. But in reality, people are likely to need multiple approaches.