How does arthritis affect the knee joint?

Arthritis comes about from a joint that moves excessively, or from a joint that is stuck; inflammation is a byproduct of these issues. Watch physical therapist Peggy Brill explain the factors that could cause arthritis and inflammation in the knee.

Transcript

00:00

To address arthritis, you have to look at what's going on in the whole system. [PIANO MUSIC]

00:11

You get arthritis in your body for two reasons. You either get it from a joint that moves excessively and is rubbing bone on bone, and the synovial membranes

00:20

start to break down because of that friction, and inflammation happens, and then the inflammation shuts the muscles down. It becomes a whole cycle.

00:26

Or you get arthritis because a joint is stuck. And if a joint is stuck, that synovial joint

00:32

is not lubricating the synovium, and the synovial membranes actually dry out. And when that happens, there's no longer

00:39

a friction-free surfaces for the joints to move on. So as physical therapists, what we're always looking at is what's driving this arthritis.

00:47

Is it, you know, the foot is so stiff that you're not really moving around those 26 bones in the foot properly,

00:54

that it's affecting up your knee? Is it that your hip is so unstable and weak that there's a problem there?

01:01

To address arthritis, you have to look at what's going on in the whole system. The inflammation is a byproduct.

01:08

And we want to manage, like we say, we're going to manage the boo-boo. You've got boo-boo, we're going to put boo-boo ice on it.

01:14

We're going to give the ice and get that inflammation down. But we really need to look further and find the root of the problem.

01:20

Mechanically, why is your extremity not working properly? Is it coming from a weak core? Is it coming from an unstable foot that's stuck?

01:28

And then really addressing those issues to get to the bottom of it so that you can start to heal and feel your best.