Osteoarthritis - Best Non-Surgical Management - Burleigh Physio
Osteoarthritis – Best Non-Surgical Management
These conditions cause damage to the joints, usually resulting in pain and stiffness. Arthritis can affect many different parts of the joint and nearly every joint in the body.
Arthritis affects people in different ways, but the most common symptoms are:
• Stiffness or reduced movement of a joint
• Swelling in a joint
• Redness and warmth in a joint
• General symptoms, such as tiredness, weight loss or feeling unwell. (1)
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis. It is a condition that affects the whole joint including bone, cartilage, ligaments and muscles. Although often described as ‘wear and tear’, OA is now thought to be the result of a joint working extra hard to repair itself. (2)
Damage to joint cartilage – this is the protective cushion on the ends of your bones which allows a joint to move smoothly
Deterioration of ligaments (the tough bands that hold your joint together) and tendons (cords that attach muscles to bones). (2)
If you are affected by Osteoarthritis this article (3) is easy to read, concise and very informative.
Osteoarthritis Guidelines for Non-Surgical Management
The OA research international (OARSI) is an evidence team made up of thirteen experts from relevant medical disciplines who come from three continents and ten countries (USA, UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, Japan, and Canada). They are experts in
Physical medicine and rehabilitation, and
Together with a patient representative – these people made up the Osteoarthritis Guidelines Development Group (OAGDG) and researched appropriate treatment modalities for all individuals with knee OA. (4)
Appropriate treatments for Osteoarthritis included
Biomechanical interventions (eg appropriate footwear, orthotics if appropriate)
Intra-articular corticosteroids (by injection)
Exercise (land-based and water-based)
Physiotherapists are ideally qualified to help with all of these things (except the cortisone injections into the joint!).
Other treatments found to be appropriate for specific clinical types of OA included
Balneotherapy(bathing in warm mineral baths)
Oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs; COX-2 selective and non-selective)
Topical (via the skin) NSAIDs
Treatments of uncertain appropriateness for specific clinical types of OA included
Avocado and soybean unsaponfiables
Opioids (oral and transdermal)
Treatments voted not appropriate included risedronate and electrotherapy (neuromuscular electrical stimulation).
If you need help with Arthritis – please get in touch with us at Burleigh Heads and Broadbeach Physio Clinics 07 5535 5218
(1) Understanding Arthritis
(2) Osteoarthritis – Arthritis Australia
(3) Osteoarthritis – Fast Facts
(4) OARSI guidelines for the non-surgical management of knee osteoarthritis