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Knee Osteoarthritis
Knee osteoarthritis is wear in the joint surfaces, and it is extremely common from the fifties onwards. The most useful thing to know is that the amount of change on a scan correlates poorly with how much pain someone has — plenty of people with significant changes walk comfortably. Exercise is the first-line treatment everywhere in the guidelines, and it works.
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Does this sound like you?
Most people have several of these, not all of them.
- Aching that builds through the day or after a long walk
- Morning stiffness that eases within half an hour
- Difficulty with stairs, kneeling and getting out of low chairs
- Swelling after activity
- Grinding or creaking on bending
Why it happens
- Age-related change in the joint surfaces
- A previous knee injury, particularly ACL or meniscal
- Years of heavy kneeling or squatting work
- Higher body weight, which increases load through the joint
- Family history
What we would do about it
Roughly in this order — each step waits for the one before it.
- Progressive strengthening, the single most effective treatment available
- Range of movement work to keep what is there
- Load and pacing advice so activity does not swing between too much and none
- Manual therapy for pain relief alongside the exercise
- Walking aids or bracing where helpful
- Pre-operative strengthening where a replacement is on the horizon
See a doctor first if
- Your pain followed a significant injury
- It is getting worse rather than settling
- It comes with numbness, weakness or unexplained weight loss
This page is general information, not a diagnosis. Symptoms overlap between conditions, so the right treatment depends on an assessment.
Strong knees hurt less, whatever the scan says
Joint changes are permanent; pain and function are not. Strengthening reliably improves both, and it is the treatment every guideline puts first. Ask a question first, or call us on 0403 907 587.
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Other knee conditions we treat
Related reading: rehabilitation after a replacement, the same at the hip and arthritis more generally.
General information only, not advice about your own problem — nothing here replaces an assessment. Source: Knee Osteoarthritis on Physiopedia.
