Exercise to help knee osteoarthritis

Jerry Wade used to love bird watching with his wife, an avid bird watcher. He’s not a twitcher himself, “But I like being active and getting out there with her", he says. "Bird-watching puts you into natural areas and some rough terrain -- it's not an easy physical activity."

But in the autumn of 2005, the 66-year-old, who had retired in 2000 from a career in community development, started noticing "pains and twinges" in his knees. A visit to his doctor in January 2006 brought the diagnosis: osteoarthritis of the knees. Fortunately, Mr Wade had a friend at the nearby university, who told him that researchers there were testing exercise plans for people with the condition. Mr Wade signed on. He embarked on a supervised aerobic-exercise programme three times a week and then added strength training.

Osteoarthritis and Your Joints

• Osteoarthritis of the Knee
• Hand Osteoarthritis
• Foot and Ankle Osteoarthritis
• Shoulder Osteoarthritis
• Osteoarthritis of the Spine
• Hip Osteoarthritis

Years ago, Mr Wade might have been told to sit back, relax and take it easy and cautioned that exercise could put too much strain on his damaged knees. However, starting in the mid-1990s, a body of study findings indicated that exercise is one of the best things you can do to alleviate the pain and functional limitations of knee and hip arthritis.

"People's pain levels go down, and they also report functional improvements in activities like climbing stairs, getting in and out of chairs and walking speed," says Dr Marian Minor, a physiotherapist and expert on arthritis and exercise.

Of course, some caution is needed: You should avoid joint injuries, particularly if you already have arthritis, so a person may be advised to avoid contact sport or strenuous activities with a high potential for impact on the joints, such as skiing. However, walking, cycling and low-impact aerobics have been extensively studied and show good results for people with arthritis.

Mr Wade is living proof. "Within three months of starting the programme, I was having almost no pain", he says. "I could walk up and down stairs with my knees not tightening up.” He could also go out bird watching with his wife again. "I'm totally sold on exercise."

An exercise for knee osteoarthritis

The Exercise: For someone with knee osteoarthritis, exercises that require deep knee bending aren't a good idea. Instead, do a modified squat that doesn't take you down as low. Stand in front of a straight-backed chair and slowly squat as if you're going to sit in it. As you squat, your knees should remain over your ankles -- don't let them move forward past your ankles. Stop if you feel any pain. Depending on your level of fitness, you might start out doing five semi-squats three times a week, then move up to 10.

The Benefit: "We call this a functional exercise", says Minor. "It gives you an improved range of motion, improved strength, and improved muscular endurance, which we think helps protect the joint from injury."