A recent systematic review of randomized controlled trials on both animals and humans suggests that exercise does not appear to negatively affect knee cartilage if you have, or are predisposed to having knee arthritis.
Finding the Sweet Spot
It’s important to understand that there’s most likely a sweet spot when it comes to reaping the benefits of exercise if you have knee arthritis. Typically, the cartilage on the ends of bones responds favorably to loading the joint during exercise. Loading is a stimulus that increases the production of structural elements of the cartilage. That’s a good thing.
However, the loading must be kept within a range that is not too high (think jumping activities) and not too low (think non-weight bearing exercises or no exercise). It seems that this middle ground does not add to the degenerative aspects of knee joint arthritis and may be beneficial.
What should you do if your knees hurt?
If you’d like to exercise but are concerned about your knee pain consider taking advantage of your free consultation at IFAST Physical Therapy. There can be any number of reasons you may still have knee pain. Just call 317-578-0998 or email [email protected] to set up your appointment.
Many times knee pain has a simple solution and we can get you exercising comfortably in no time.
Source: Bricca A. Br J Sports Med [Epub ahead of print: 4 September 2018], doi:10.1136/bjsports-2018-099705
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