Physical therapy to treat symptoms In this excerpt from his workshop at OPTA 2016, Dr. Tony Rocklin reviews therapeutic exercises for hip osteoarthritis that patients can perform at home to improve their mobility. Tony is a leading advocate for conservative treatment for patients with hip osteoarthritis that isn’t “drug-centric”. While the disease is degenerative and can’t be cured, the symptoms associated with it can be treated. These exercises are an important component of best practices for the conservative treatment of hip osteoarthritis. Those best practices minimize the use of medications and opioids and focus on physical therapy and therapeutic exercise to relieve the pain and improve mobility for patients. Unlike the use of drugs, which focus just on relieving pain, physical...
Self-management when surgery isn’t an option In the second part of this podcast, Tony Rocklin DPT discusses self-management of chronic hip pain with moderator Benoy Mathew. The discussion begins around the case of a 46-year-old male with chronic hip pain. His MRI scan showed cam impingement with labral tears. His surgeon told him he’s too young for a hip replacement and too old for an arthroscopy. That’s particularly true since there’s now evidence that the arthroscopy could make things worse, and force him into a hip replacement within 2 or 3 years. The result for the patient is that he needs to manage his symptoms for the next ten or fifteen years – preferably without giving up the activities he enjoys. Tony...
Like most physical therapists, I’m constantly playing the role of educator and advocate. This oftentimes occurs while working with patients diagnosed with early-onset hip osteoarthritis. Individuals may not realize how much modern conservative care can help them during the months and years they may have to wait until they are candidates for THR surgery. Every day in this country thousands of individuals visit their physicians to find answers to their hip pain. Many of these individuals are referred to a surgeon, and an increasing number of them are relatively young and active individuals. During the visit with the surgeon, many patients find out that they have hip osteoarthritis and will likely need a hip replacement. However, oftentimes the patient is...
Leveraging independent LAT to help more patients Clinicians are finding additional ways to leverage independent long axis traction with HipTrac to assist a wider range of patients facing or experiencing tightness and capsular restrictions, pre-and post-surgery, including: Hip Arthroscopy with microfracture, post-op rehabilitation Hip Arthroscopy without microfracture, post-op rehabilitation Pre-habilitation, before surgery for hip arthroscopy or THR Hip OA, FAI, and labral tears Other conditions resulting in pain, tightness, and/or capsular restrictions HipTrac's original genesis centered around patients with hip osteoarthritis, as HipTrac directly targets the capsular restrictions of the affected hip, mobilizing it, and improving mobility while reducing pain. The patient-controlled, independent long axis traction can be used in the clinic or at home to provide traction forces of...
A recent study from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) identified a high-fat diet, and specifically, saturated fats as a prime suspect in the onset of osteoarthritis. QUT scientists found that a diet containing 20% saturated fats changed the composition of cartilage in the weight-bearing joints of the hip and knee. The modified cartilage displayed osteoarthritic changes. In addition, the diet resulted in changes to the bone under the cartilage. The team of researchers from QUT and the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, led by professors Yin Xiao and Lindsay Brown, investigated the potential connection between dietary fat and development of osteoarthritis. They looked specifically at the effects of a diet rich in saturated fatty acids and simple carbohydrates...
