Knee pain sucks. Many think surgery is the only option, but soft tissue work and specific knee rehab exercises on a vibration exercise machine may save your knees.
I have written several posts recently regarding knee pain and knee arthritis. Most of these have addressed the research demonstrating that, just because you have arthritis, this may not be what is causing your pain. Our office targets the soft tissues surrounding the knees regardless of how much knee arthritis a patient may or may not have, and have seen many successes with this approach.
But what about exercises for knee pain?
The research is pretty solid on this one. Exercise is very important for knee pain, especially when arthritis is present. The stronger a knee is, the better it is going to feel. I experience this personally–in the summers, when we don’t go hiking here in AZ, my knee that I had a meniscectomy on in 1998 can give me some problems. However, in the winter during hiking season, my knee bothers me much less frequently.
Many knee pain sufferers get caught in a catch-22. Exercise can benefit the knee arthritis, but the knee is too painful to exercise. So they sit, with the knee slowly getting worse over time.
Luckily, there is a solution. Whole body vibration.
Our office has used a vibration exercise machine for about 7 years now and the results, when used appropriately, are quite dramatic. But, up until know, this response in our office has been largely anecdotal without much research to support its use.
But no longer.
This particular study looks at the use of a vibration exercise machine on inflammation and knee pain in a group of elderly patients with arthritis of the knee. The treatment group performed knee squat exercises on a vibration exercise platform 3 times per week for 3 months. The results showed that knee rehab exercises on a vibration platform were much more beneficial then the same exercises without vibration:
- Inflammation was lower in the vibration group (as measured by sTNFR1 and sTNFR2)
- Self-reported pain was lower in the whole body vibration group
- There was an increase in balance in the vibration group
- Speed and distance walked improved again in the vibration group
So, you went through a course of knee rehab exercises and maybe a cortisone injection or two but continue to need pain medications for your knee pain. Now you’re just waiting until you get the go-ahead for knee replacement surgery because you think you’ve done everything.
Now you know you have options. Of course, this assumes you can find a chiropractic office that specializes in soft tissue treatments like Graston Technique AND has a whole body vibration unit. I just might know of one….
(As a side note, in a chiropractic office, Medicare will NOT pay for the use of a whole body vibration unit).
If you have used a whole body vibration exercise machine, what was your experience?