Studies suggest that vibration therapy may help ease both knee pain and dysfunction among individuals with osteoarthritis (OA). Vibration therapy provides a great workout, especially when combined with other exercises to strengthen the knee joint.
Vibrations trigger muscle spindles, small sensors that inform your brain how much your muscles stretch or contract. This activation prompts a reflex tightening effect in muscles surrounding the knee joint to keep it strong.
Strengthening
Millions of people around the world suffer from knee osteoarthritis and its debilitating pain, making movement severely limited and severely unpleasant. Vibration therapy has proven itself effective at relieving symptoms associated with knee osteoarthritis and aiding patients’ rehabilitation processes.
Vibration therapy stimulates muscle tissue, enhances ligaments’ functionality and ensures optimal blood circulation – all which increase muscle strength while decreasing joint inflammation and pain. Strengthening ligaments and tendons around a joint also help relieve discomfort while sensory distraction can block pain signals further.
Vibration therapy can be an invaluable asset in alleviating knee pain when combined with other exercises. Generally, this involves simple stretching and strengthening exercises designed specifically to target knees; weight lifting or other exertions which put undue strain on them must be avoided to avoid further joint damage and to lessen any potential discomfort.
Studies demonstrate the power of vibration plates to strengthen muscles, increase bone density and bolster immunity – three effects particularly beneficial to those suffering from osteoarthritis and other bone degenerative conditions. Exercise sessions on vibration plates can be performed either at physical therapy clinics or purchased individually for home use; experts advise participating for 15-20 minutes each day during three or five consecutive days to achieve maximum benefit from vibration therapy therapy.
Researchers discovered that adding vibration therapy to therapeutic exercise improved the functional outcomes of individuals suffering from patellofemoral pain. These improvements included decreased TUG test scores and greater active range of motion. Their results are supported by meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials.
Vibration therapy works by stimulating the muscle spindles. These tiny sensor-like receptors inform your brain how much your muscles have been stretched or contracted, enabling it to control them accordingly and adjust movements accordingly. As a result, vibration therapy strengthens muscles while relieving knee discomfort.
Relieving Pain
People suffering from knee osteoarthritis often experience pain, stiffness and discomfort. Walking can become challenging or impossible at times; crutches or wheelchair may become necessary. Vibration therapy provides relief by increasing flexibility of knees while relieving pain by increasing blood circulation to the area while strengthening surrounding muscles – as well as providing painkillers such as codeine or oxycodone for maximum control.
Vibration therapy can be applied in two different ways: whole body and local. When applied whole-body, patients stand or sit on a vibrating platform and perform exercises while local vibration therapy focuses on specific areas and can be tailored according to an individual’s specific needs. Frequency and amplitude adjustments allow individuals to tailor the vibrations accordingly.
According to a recent study, vibration therapy is an effective solution for treating osteoarthritis of the knees. Researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial with 38 middle-aged Japanese women living with OA of their knees; they administered questionnaires measuring pain, knee stiffness and physical functioning – including WBV therapy – using questionnaires for pain measurement, knee extensor strength measurements, balance ability evaluations and quality of life assessment in this eight week program.
This research was founded on the assumption that vibrations could help strengthen muscle-tendon units, improve range of motion and mobility in knees, reduce pain, and increase physical activity in OA sufferers. Results were promising and demonstrated how vibration training improves knee functioning while relieving pain and increasing physical activity; though excessive physical activity may increase pain. Note, though: too much activity may increase a person’s level of stiffness.
Vibration therapy offers several other advantages, including stimulating bone cells to produce new tissue and increase its density; helping regenerate cartilage and soft tissues; as well as relieving knee pain by decreasing inflammation in joints due to stimulation of production of an anti-inflammation protein by vibrations.
Stimulation
Vibration therapy not only strengthens knee muscles, but it may also stimulate your body’s natural production of osteoblasts – cells responsible for creating new bone tissue – to prevent further degeneration of knees. You can choose either whole-body vibration therapy or local vibration; with whole-body vibration therapy using whole body vibration platforms vibrating at different frequencies and amps; when it comes to local vibration, exercises specific to your condition such as knee arthritis could involve performing knee extensions while standing on this platform.
One study compared the effects of whole-body vibration (WBV) with exercise alone on pain, physical function and knee extensor muscle strength among patients with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis, published in Journal of Physiotherapy. Researchers utilized meta-analysis for this research; searching PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Physiotherapy Evidence Database for randomised controlled trials that involved WBV for knee osteoarthritis; they excluded studies that were not of good quality or didn’t include control groups as assessment criteria.
The results of the study demonstrated that whole body vibration therapy was successful at alleviating knee pain, stiffness and physical function when combined with exercise compared to exercise alone. WBV also helped strengthen knee extensor muscles; its positive effects are thought to stem from desensitization of slow adapting receptors (Meissner corpuscles and Merkel cells) following low frequency vibration exposure.
Vibration therapy can be an invaluable asset in helping regain independence and enhance quality of life in early stages of knee osteoarthritis, particularly if symptoms emerge quickly. Seeking professional assistance as soon as you experience knee pain is crucial in order to avoid further damage and complications; for optimal results speak to your doctor about options including physical therapy, massage therapy or medication; vibration therapy may be combined with such measures as high impact activities or weight lifting to alleviate strain on knees.
Distraction
Millions of people live with arthritis and other joint-pain conditions that impact the knees, and traditional medications often come with side effects that impede their effectiveness. Vibration therapy has shown great promise as an alternative approach for patients living with painful joints; strengthening muscles and ligaments while improving blood circulation, reducing inflammation and relieving the symptoms associated with knee osteoarthritis can all benefit greatly from vibration therapy treatments.
Studies have confirmed the safety and effectiveness of whole-body vibration (WBV) for treating osteoarthritis. One meta-analysis reviewed 14 randomized controlled trials involving 559 participants diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis; outcomes such as pain, stiffness, physical performance, knee extensor strength and quality of life outcomes were assessed for each trial.
Studies have demonstrated that WBV stimulates muscle spindles to activate the central mechanism that causes knee joint movement. Furthermore, it aids with cartilage lubrication which reduces friction and thus intensity of knee pain; additionally it strengthens quadriceps muscle strength as well as physical performance.
Vibration therapy can also help ease knee pain by acting as a distraction, blocking the transmission of pain signals from the knee to the brain. Vibrations from a vibration therapy platform stimulate muscles and ligaments to increase blood circulation and decrease inflammation that contributes to pain; in addition, these vibrations provide sensory distraction that prevents pain signals traveling up nerves to reach our minds.
Researchers continue to research vibration therapy‘s many advantages; however, their search is focused on finding its optimal frequency and amplitude combination for maximum effectiveness. Researchers are employing virtual reality as an innovative treatment approach, using it to motivate patients during early rehabilitation after knee surgery. They aim to increase patient compliance during their recovery process and lead to faster knee healing with greater mobility and less pain. They have developed a computer game which incorporates virtual vibration plate training with physical exercises to facilitate quadriceps reactivation and prevent knee weakness post surgery. They believe the computer game will be more engaging than traditional physiotherapy sessions and may increase patient retention rates and satisfaction rates.
