“Offloading” and Why it’s Important to Your Knee Care
Thursday, March 9, 2023
When you hear the word knee brace, think purposeful healing. We know that many people associate wearing a brace on any part of the body as annoying or interfering. But the truth is, it’s one of the most important things you can do for yourself when allowing the body the proper time to heal quicker.
Why it works:
At Restore First Health, we specialize in providing advanced protocol to manage your knee pain caused by osteoarthritis (OA). Our advanced protocol helps with managing your knee pain by introducing a hyaluronic acid (HA) injection into the knee joint, assisted by an image guided x-ray to ensure complete accuracy. This advanced protocol also involves you wearing an “off loader” or “unloader” knee brace following the injection. This customized knee brace is designed to transfer or “unload” pressure off of the more painful and/or arthritic side of your symptomatic knee. Additional benefits and advantages of wearing the knee brace can include:
- Facilitation with better mechanical alignment of the knee
- Pain management with performing aggravating daily activities
- Enhanced stabilization to the knee with daily weight bearing activities
- More cost effective way to manage arthritic knee symptoms compared to other
more invasive procedures
It is important to remain compliant with wearing your customized knee brace following the HA injections to maximize your results with our program, as studies have shown that image guided HA injections coupled with knee bracing can significantly improve outcomes among those with more severe cases of knee OA. You won’t have to wear the brace all the time, and can take it on and off easily at home.
Additionally, those receiving HA injections coupled with knee bracing are also encouraged to participate in physical therapy throughout their injection series. Physical therapy will serve as another key component to your positive outcome as you progress through our knee program. Physical therapy will include a comprehensive treatment program designed to address your specific needs and goals.
The benefits of wearing your knee brace should allow you to successfully transition and better prepare your knee to participate in your physical therapy program as you advance through the knee program.
Bracing is all about allowing the knee to properly heal. Don’t skip this important step in your recovery towards a more active and pain free lifestyle.
Reference:
Morgan TK, Jensen E, Lim J, Riggs R. Image-Guided Hyaluronic Acid Injection and Knee
Bracing Significantly Improve Clinical Outcomes for High-Grade Osteoarthritis. Sports Med
Open 2015; 1:31