Symptoms of this “wear-and-tear” arthritis can be alleviated by strengthening the muscle around the affected joint or joints. Exercise is known to lessen the symptoms, severity and impairment resulting from this disease. In some cases where sufferers are normally sedentary, exercise may result in muscle damage, particularly in women.

The NMES Study

Laura Talbot of The Johns Hopkins University engineered the study using neuromuscular electrical stimulation as another method of treatment for Osteoarthritis of the knee.

This process is undertaken by spurring small electrical currents through the skin, allowing them to travel to the nerves and muscles to enable involuntary muscle contraction. A total of 34 adults diagnosed radiographically (through x-rays) to have Osteoarthritis of the knee participated in the study.

The 34 participants were randomly chosen to undergo a 12-week Arthritis Self-Management Course on standard arthritis education, with or without NMES. The group subjected to NMES was provided with portable electrical muscle stimulators to be used 3 days a week to train and strengthen their quadriceps. Over a 12-week period, the isometric contractions were amplified by increments of 30 to 40% of the maximum.

The main outcome was isometric quadriceps femoris (QF) torque. Secondary outcomes included:

• daily step counts
• total activity vector magnitude
• 100-foot walk-turn-walk
• timed stair climb
• chair rise
• pain level

The results point towards:

• An increase of 9.1% in 120 degree QF peak torque with the use of the stimulated-knee extensor contrasting with a 7% loss in the education only group.
• Timed chair rise was cut by 11% in the NMES group, while the education only group showed a mere 7% decrease.
• Both groups exhibited a 7% faster walk time
• Pain levels in both groups remained the same despite intervention.

Researchers of this study came to the conclusion that applying the home-based NMES treatment method may hold some promise in enhancing quadriceps strength among adult sufferers of Osteroarthritis of the knee, without worsening arthritic symptoms.

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