Knee Osteoarthritis

Does adding hip exercises to quadriceps exercises result in superior outcomes in pain, function and quality of life for people with knee osteoarthritis? The short answer is YES.

Anyone with Osteoarthritis in their knees knows how it can limit their life. For one example walking could become difficult and painful.

A study from the British journal of sports medicine has found strengthening the hips muscle can help with knee osteoarthritis.

Walking improved after the addition of hip strengthening to quadriceps strengthening in people with knee Osteoarthritis. The addition of resistance hip exercises to quadriceps resulted in greater improvements in patient-reported pain and function

Key points

• Land-based exercise reduces pain and improves function in people with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) over the short to medium term.
• People with KOA have weakness in hip abduction is (7%–24% weaker than control patients).
• Hip abduction strength is positively related to function in people with KOA.
• Hip strengthening is beneficial compared with non-exercise interventions in people with KOA.

Hislop AC, Collins NJ, Tucker K, Deasy M, Semciw AI. Does adding hip exercises to quadriceps exercises result in superior outcomes in pain, function and quality of life for people with knee osteoarthritis? A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020 Mar 1;54(5):263-71. Link