Brody: Time after a joint injury can fend off arthritis – Sarasota Herald-Tribune
August 22nd, 2017 5:54 amBy Jane Brody
When a physically active person like me injures a joint, especially one as crucial as a knee or ankle, one of the first thoughts is likely to be How fast can I get back to my usual activities?
That kind of thinking, however, could set the stage for a painful chronic problem years later: post-traumatic osteoarthritis.
In the rush to get back in the game whether as part of a team or elite sport or simply a cherished recreational activity like jogging or tennis it is tempting to short-circuit the rehabilitation needed to allow the joint to heal fully. But adequate recovery, including rehab measures aimed at strengthening structures that support the injured joint, is critical to maximize its stability, reduce the risk of re-injury and head off irreparable joint damage.
And you dont have to be a senior citizen to pay the price of failing to build up the tissues that help protect that joint. Studies have shown that when an adolescent or young adult suffers a knee injury, for example, X-ray evidence of arthritis is often apparent within a decade.
As a team of orthopedists and rehabilitation specialists from the University of Iowa explained, Recent research suggests that acute joint damage that occurs at the time of an injury initiates a sequence of events that can lead to progressive articular surface damage. That means deterioration of the surface of the bone itself and the connecting tissues that cushion and stabilize bones of a joint like the knee, which is what arthritis is all about.
Osteoarthritis afflicts some 27 million Americans, and that number will certainly grow with the increase in obesity, the current emphasis on lifelong physical activity and the aging of the population. It is a degenerative joint disease that occurs when the protective cartilage on the ends of bones and often the surface of the bones themselves wear down, causing pain, stiffness, instability and disability that can interfere with work and mobility and diminish quality of life.
The Iowa team noted that arthritis will eventually develop in more than 40 percent of people who seriously injure the ligaments (the stabilizing bands that connect bones to one another); the meniscus (the crescent-shaped cartilage that cushions the knee and certain other joints), or the articular surface of a joint. People with a history of trauma to the knee, for example, are three to six times more likely to develop arthritis in that knee. Even without an acute injury, highly repetitive impact on a joint can damage the articular cartilage.
This may help to explain why I ended up with bone-on-bone arthritis and had to replace both knees at age 63. I had suffered three ligament injuries (while skiing) and after years of running and singles tennis, the meniscus in both knees had shredded. Although I did the recommended physical therapy after each injury, I now know that I was not sufficiently diligent about maintaining the strength and flexibility of the supporting muscles and other tissues that might have better protected my knees for years longer.
A consensus statement in the Journal of Athletic Training said that arthritis should no longer be considered a disease that affects only the elderly.
Increasing evidence demonstrates that young and middle-age adults are suffering from osteoarthritis as well, the statement said. More than half of adults with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis are younger than 65.
In fact, as Joseph M. Hart, an athletic trainer who conducts clinical research at the University of Virginia, and his colleagues wrote in the journal, A 17-year-old athlete who tears her anterior cruciate ligament could develop osteoarthritis before she turns 30, potentially leading to chronic pain and disability. Damage to this ligament, in the center of the knee, is the most common injury among young athletes, especially girls, they wrote.
Jeffrey B. Driban, an athletic trainer at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, said that one person in three who injures the anterior cruciate ligament will have X-ray evidence of osteoarthritis within 10 years whether or not the injury is repaired surgically.
Driban and co-authors pointed out that some sports soccer, elite-level long-distance running, competitive weight lifting and wrestling are associated with a higher risk of knee injuries.
Sports participants who suffer a knee injury can minimize the risk of reinjury and arthritis, Driban said, by not rushing back into activity or trying to play through pain. They must strengthen the muscles that support the joint the quads, hamstrings and hip muscles. Its important to think about the entire lower extremity, not just the knee.
After an injury, an athletic trainer, rehabilitation specialist or physical therapist who specializes in orthopedics can evaluate a persons muscle strength, endurance, balance and movement quality, then guide recovery with a structured rehab program that is maintained for six to nine months, Hart said.
It is also important to continue to pursue an active lifestyle, said Abby C. Thomas of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
You may have to modify the activities you do, but you have to stay active to maintain strength and cardiovascular fitness without putting repetitive stress on a joint thats already injured, she said. If your knee hurts and you cant run, maybe get on a bike or swim, activities that place less stress on the knees.
Dont sit around on the couch because running hurts, Thomas said. Try walking, or something different, but dont give up on physical activity.
Lifelong activity is also important to prevent weight gain, since every extra pound places disproportionate stress on the knees. All the authors emphasized that pursuing a healthy lifestyle is crucial for everyone, not just elite athletes and those who play on school teams.
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Brody: Time after a joint injury can fend off arthritis - Sarasota Herald-Tribune