Knee problem

[Niranjan]

Dear Doctor

I had a fall 3 years ago. I fell on my right knee. It swelled up initially but soon went back to normal size. The functionality has not fully returned. An early x ray showed no torn ligaments or cartilage but did show arthritis. It remains painful. What can I do to help myself?

Thank you.

[Matthew Rogers]

Hi Niranjan,

The first thing to emphasis is that there are lots of things that you can do to manage the symptoms of knee arthritis yourself, and your osteopath can help to talk you through your options. The NICE guidelines for the care and management of osteoarthritis published in 2014 recommends manipulation and stretching to improve pain and function which is exactly the sort of approach that you might expect from an osteopath.

The guidelines also emphasise the importance of exercises and physical activity to those living with arthritis (you can find out more about how to get started at: http://www.iosteopathy.org/osteopathy-f ... ng-started) and an osteopath can help you to find a form of physical activity that works for you.

ESCAPE-pain is an innovative and evidence based exercise programme designed by Keele University that has been proven to reduce the pain of osteoarthritis of the knee, improve your ability to do daily activities and help to manage some of the psychological impact of arthritis. If you want to find out more you can visit: http://www.escape-pain.org or download the free App from the App store.

additionally, weight management can be hugely helpful. If someone with arthritis is a little over weight, it can put a lot of pressure on the knees, and reducing your body weight by just a few pounds can significantly reduce your pain.

Lastly, sometimes once you have been living with pain for more than 6 weeks, the nervous system will become a little more sensitive to pain and this is referred to as ‘persistent pain’. If the symptoms are no longer responding to standard pain killers as you would expect, you might want to discuss this with your GP. You can find out more about the management of persistent pain at: http://www.iosteopathy.org/osteopathy-f ... stent-pain

There is also a lot of further advice about how you can manage arthritis yourself or with the help of your osteopath at: http://www.iosteopathy.org/osteopathy-f ... -arthritis