GLA:D Program - Exercise and Weight Management

Been told to exercise and manage your weight due to knee pain? 

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Need support to get going? 

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Look no further than our GLA:D program. 

 

How does weight loss affect knee osteoarthritis?

 

Losing weight and exercising is the best thing you can do to manage your hip and knee osteoarthritis symptoms.

 

We know that clients who have difficulty managing their body weight are almost 7 times more likely to develop knee osteoarthritis compared with those with a health body weight.

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The good news...

 

We know weight loss if difficult... but even a small reduction in weight can produce improvements in your pain levels and knee function. To some, this can mean the difference between being able to put on your own socks or standing up comfortably.

 

Studies have shown that a minimum of 10% body weight reduction can reduce pain by 50% in overweight or obese individuals with knee OA. 

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The reason for this is:

1. Weight reduction results in less mechanical stress on your joint

2. Reducing fatty tissue releases cells contributing to inflammation in arthritis

 

The benefits of our program can help you get your weight under control while you manage aches and pains

 

Weight management and exercise has the added benefit of reducing inflammation in arthritic joints. Osteoarthritis is a whole joint disease, meaning it involves all the structures in the arthritic joint (not just the cartilage!). In OA, there is an imbalance in joint regeneration and degeneration (that is, the structures break down faster than they are building back up). Excessive fatty tissue in overweight individuals releases adipokines (inflammatory cells) which promote inflammatory degeneration in affected joints. Therefore, losing weight helps to slow this process and gives the joint time to regenerate.

 

A combination of a healthy diet and targeted exercise is the best route to losing weight and managing your OA.

 

The first step towards taking control of your osteoarthritis is to book an appointment with team GLA:D. We will support you every step of the way.