The results of a study show that walking may help reduce frequent knee pain in 50-year-old and older individuals diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis. The study results also suggest that walking may be effective for slowing the damage that occurs in the knee joint.
The results of a multi-year observational study, the Osteoarthritis Initiative, examined the frequency and amount of time participants walked to exercise. Individuals 50 years of age or older who reported 10 or more training sessions were categorized as “walkers” and individuals who reported fewer were categorized as “non-walkers.”
The individuals in the walking group were 40% less likely to have frequent knee pain compared to non-walkers.
These results are especially helpful for individuals with evidence of radiographic osteoarthritis, but without daily pain in the knees. These results support the possibility that walking may help prevent the everyday occurrence of knee pain. Walking can also slow osteoarthritis-related damage in the knee joint.
Walking has additional health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health and a reduced risk of some cancers, diabetes and obesity, the main reasons for the CDC’s recommendations for physical activity, first released in 2008 and amended in 2018.
Walking is an easily accessible activity with very few side effects, unlike medications, which generally come with a significant price tag and risk of side effects.
Individuals diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis should walk to exercise, especially if they don’t have knee pain every day. If a person already has knee pain every day, there may still be a benefit, especially if they have the bent-legged knee arthritis.
Image source – acsm
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