Osteoarthritis
Strength Training With Arthritis: Is It Safe?
Key Takeaways Australian movement guidelines recommend muscle-strengthening activity on two or more days a week for adults living with chronic conditions, including arthritis. Progressive resistance training has not been shown to worsen knee osteoarthritis, and trials consistently report gains in strength and physical function. Mild discomfort during and after a session is acceptable when it…
See MoreWhat Is Osteoarthritis and Why Do My Joints Hurt?
Key Takeaways Osteoarthritis affects the whole joint, not just cartilage, and the familiar ’wear and tear’ description is misleading. Scan findings often do not match how much a joint hurts, which is why imaging is not routinely used to diagnose it in Australia. Movement, strength work and weight support sit at the front of the…
See MoreSigns Your Knee Arthritis Has Progressed Beyond Non-Surgical Treatment
Key Takeaways Persistent pain, reduced mobility, night pain and declining relief from non-surgical treatments may indicate that knee arthritis has progressed and should be reassessed. The decision to consider surgery is based on a combination of symptoms, physical examination, imaging findings and how arthritis is affecting your daily life, not on a single test or…
See MoreHow Arthritis Changes Your Knee Joint Over Time
Key Takeaways Knee arthritis is a gradual, whole-joint condition that affects cartilage, bone, ligaments, muscles and joint function, with progression varying from person to person. Symptoms and imaging do not always match, so treatment decisions are based on how arthritis affects your pain, mobility and daily activities, not x-rays alone. Physiotherapy, strengthening, weight management and…
See MoreWhat is a Baker’s Cyst? How its diagnosed and treated.
Every other day at MTP Health patients present with concerns about being diagnosed with a Baker’s cyst or Popliteal cyst. Understandably, finding out you have a “cyst” in your knee sounds bad. But the good news is they really are harmless. Without a doubt they can be annoying and a little uncomfortable at times but…
See MoreWhat Actually Causes Osteoarthritis [Part 3: Lifestyle & Inflammation]
Lifestyle. It’s the factor that seems to be associated with just about every condition people experience in this day and age. But why is that? And how could it possibly be related to osteoarthritis? These are some common questions that get raised by our patients whenever we touch on this point. And today we are…
See MoreKnee Pain – Causes, Symptoms & Most Effective Treatments [A Comprehensive Guide]
The Causes of Osteoarthritis Note: Since writing this article we have expanded our original definition of ‘Osteoarthritis’ to generalised Knee Pain. This is in light of recent evidence that suggests both of these conditions are strongly related. Whenever we refer to Osteoarthritis, OA, or arthritis, you can take this information as being relevant to ‘Knee…
See MoreWhat Actually Causes Osteoarthritis [Conclusion]
What we have talked about throughout this article series is a comprehensive list of the factors that are likely to contribute to the causes of Osteoarthritis (OA). What we see with these factors is a comprehensive list of things that are completely preventable. When we consider all of these factors, we see that education forms…
See MoreWhat Actually Causes Osteoarthritis [Part 5: Abnormal Joint Loading]
Abnormal joint loading. The name implies that there must be such a thing as ‘normal joint loading’ right? Well, to some extent, this would be correct. However, we want to make it clear, that we are using the term ‘abnormal joint loading’ for a specific purpose. As such, the term has been expanded on, compared…
See MoreWhat Actually Causes Osteoarthritis [Part 7: Psychology]
The mind. It’s the elephant in the room when it comes to Osteoarthritis (OA). Not many clinicians really like to deal with this aspect. It usually only mentioned as an afterthought. But why is this? Well, first of all, there are a lot of different factors at play. From the perception…
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