Knee Care
Do you have, or do you know anyone with knee pain?
Knee pain, or more specifically knee osteoarthritis is a common and debilitating condition affecting an increasing number of individuals in New Zealand. The condition is typically characterised by pain, joint inflammation, joint stiffness, and frequently results in a significant degree of physical disability. According to the New Zealand Ministry of Health osteoarthritis is one of six major causes of disability, with the knee joint accounting for a 1/3 of all of joints affected. The most recent (2005) assessment of Health sector expenditure estimates that arthritis alone costs the country upward of $563.5 million annually.
Shore Physiotherapy has conducted a community-based trial at Les Mills Takapuna testing the effect of their new “Knee Care” programme.
Here’s just a sample of the comments from their participants:
“I can now join my boys on bike rides. I haven’t been able to do this for over 3 years”.
“My medications have dropped from daily and nightly to once in the last 6 weeks”.
“Before the programme stairs were always a challenge and I can now descend stairs with minimal to no discomfort”.
“I now sleep! Without being constantly woken by pain”.
Geoff Potts from Shore Physiotherapy says that these comments are typical, and have been a great endorsement for their programme. “We always knew that a well designed medically based, but individually prescribed programme of exercise for knee osteoarthritis sufferers would be successful. The trouble was we didn’t have ideal facilities, and by providing this programme through Les Mills we can essentially cover every possible exercise scenario. No matter how well conceived you cannot compensate for their vast variety of equipment when compared to traditional clinical rehab settings or home based programmes”.
There are a lot of published reports advocating exercise for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, but it’s the delivery of this concept that is different with Shore Physiotherapy. Geoff explains that therapeutic exercise is often relatively passive and group based, which for some is ideal, but we now provide a specialised programme for individuals. Our staff are specifically trained in knee pathology, advanced exercise prescription, and we provide a caring and supportive environment. There is no doubt that you get closer personalised attention, which ensures results are maximised. We find that by seeing someone at least weekly we can make sensitive changes ensuring constant progress. Most of our participants have tried exercise in the past and many have had previous surgical, or physiotherapy interventions so its not surprising that some are initially sceptical, but once we can demonstrate improvements the positive effects tend to snowball. As part of our research we ask our participants to fill out valid and independent self-assessment forms called KOOS. This ensures that progress is objectively assessed and we don’t bias any feedback or results. To provide a complete service we also offer specialist support services related to knee osteoarthritis including a dietician, orthopaedic surgeons, and radiology.
If you suffer from ongoing knee pain from arthritis or wear and tear the team at Shore Physiotherapy may have the answer for you. They offer you a 12 week personalised programme, which includes:
- At least one initial clinical assessment with a specially trained physiotherapist
- 12 (minimum) one-on-one sessions with a physiotherapist
- Follow-up clinical or gym based session after programme completion
- Full access 12 week gym membership at Les Mills Takapuna
- We also offer you free complementary nutritional advice tailored to knee osteoarthritis from our expert dietician Caryn Zinn
For some participants during their programme we also offer limited complementary hands on physiotherapy treatment used to facilitate muscle recruitment and development. This can include the loaning of electrical muscle stimulators.
