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Aquatic therapy can help knee problems

Friday 30th December 2011

Aquatic therapy soon after total knee arthoplasty (TKA) can seriously help to improve the treatment of the condition.

Researchers University of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany found that just six days after TKA surgery a patient can benefit from aquatic therapy. Normally a sufferer would have to wait two weeks for the wound to heal before they could start the treatment, but now doctors believe that it can be started earlier than normal.

Thoralf R. Liebs, MD, of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the university said: "After TKA, patients are less satisfied, so the additional intervention has a greater effect. The hydrostatic force of water reduces effusion in the knee joint. Because the knee capsule is closed after TKA, reduced effusion leads to less pain."

Scientists have also found that women over the age of 50 are more likely to suffer from osteoarthritis and the strain of the condition can vary depending on the body mass index of each woman.

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Written by James Puckle