Symptoms
Osteoarthritis of the knee, like other forms of osteoarthritis, is a degenerative disease that is accompanied by inflammation and pain – initially under stress and later at rest. The classic signs of inflammation are swelling (tumor), redness (rubor), overheating (calor), pain (dolor) and functional impairment (functio laesa). In advanced stages of osteoarthritis, pain occurs without movement and often does not disappear at all. If arthritic changes then progress even further, inflammatory changes and infiltrations may occur, causing stiffening and thus immobility of the affected knee, which is usually irreversible.
Diagnosis
At what point should an operation with an artificial knee joint replacement take place and how long is a targeted training therapy with knee strengthening exercises still useful? This can be assessed by an experienced orthopedic surgeon or a specialist in sports medicine after a detailed examination of the patient based on the described pain with the help of an X-ray image. The type and frequency of the pain is just as important as the time of occurrence and the intensity.
Of course, the subjective assessment of the patient also has a considerable influence on the decision for or against a therapy attempt with strengthening exercises for knee arthrosis. Patients who fancy a prosthesis as a knee replacement product from the outset and do not exercise and train regularly will not achieve good results with strengthening exercises. They undergo surgery earlier than patients who enjoy (or have discovered for themselves) movement and strengthening exercises and would like to remain without an artificial joint replacement as long as possible.
Therapy
In addition to the surgical treatment of knee arthrosis with an artificial joint replacement (partial or full prosthesis), there is the possibility of a conservative, wait-and-see treatment.Depending on the need, the patient can take painkillers and/or cool or warm the knee (whichever is perceived as more comfortable). In addition, a combination of regular, knee-sparing endurance training (optimal: cycling, swimming) and special strengthening exercises is recommended. Here the focus should be primarily on building up the leg muscles.
Especially at the knee, strong tendons and muscles directly support the joint and better absorb stress. Consequently, the thigh muscles and also those of the calf are special training targets. Even simple tensing and relaxing of the muscle groups already has a proven positive effect.
This effect is even greater when specific strengthening exercises are carried out, for example, with a physiotherapist as part of physiotherapy or as special equipment training in a fitness studio. Useful exercises to strengthen the thigh are, for example, correctly performed knee bends, deep lunges or the so-called “wall seat”. Here, both knees and hips form a right angle, while the upper body remains firmly leaning against a wall.
So you sit without anything to sit on. To strengthen the calf muscles, it is best to keep rocking up and down on a step, with the toes placed on the step itself and the heels floating in the air. Some yoga exercises, such as the standing scale, in which one leg carries the entire weight and must maintain balance while the other leg is stretched backwards, are also ideal for strengthening knee arthritis.
The perfect form and execution of the exercise is crucial for all exercises, especially when a joint has already been damaged. You should never work too fast or too much; under no circumstances should the execution of the exercise become unclean or even faulty. It is best to get personal and highly qualified guidance from an experienced trainer before the start of the training (ideally, this guidance should be given by a physiotherapist or doctor!)
as well as regular success and form controls in the further course. It is better to train with little or no additional weight in the form of dumbbells or similar; in most cases your own body weight is already sufficient. Furthermore, it is not advisable to train a lot or to train to your own load limit in a short time: all exercises should be able to be performed painlessly in any case.
A few, rather short sentences, which are practiced regularly, are ideal. A suitable training pattern would be, for example, 15-20 repetitions of an exercise. The whole thing about three times (3 sets) in a row, about three times a week.
Combined with an endurance sport such as cycling or swimming, the result is ideal protection and support for the knees. After the strengthening exercises, stretching should not be forgotten. All muscles that you have trained and want to build up should be stretched gently after each training session so that they retain their original length and remain functional for a long time. If you follow this advice and listen to your body, which usually announces painful changes at a very early stage, there is nothing to prevent an optimal training therapy with strengthening exercises.
