Surgery and the use of prescription medications are common treatments for the condition. However, these forms of treatments are costly and may place a financial strain on the elderly patient who may be on a fixed income. An alternative treatment option is physical therapy. While the role of exercise therapy is acknowledged in the treatment of hip (OA), manual physical therapy manual physical therapy is not currently recognized in guidelines put out by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).
A study published in the journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy looked into the affects of (MPT) and excersize therapy on patients with hip (OA). Seven hip (OA) patients at an average age of 62 participated in the study.
All of the patients were experiencing:
> Loss of hip flexion.
> Loss of internal rotation.
> Weakness in the hip external rotators.
> Weakness in the hip abductors.
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Patients were treated with a course of physical therapy according to their individual needs. At the end of their treatment all seven of the patients had less pain, better hip mobility, and a reduced disability status and no longer met the ACR classification for hip (OA).
Not only is physical therapy an effective treatment for hip (OA), it is also cost effective. The average cost of physical therapy based on this study was $900 per patient compared to an average of $30,000 for hip surgery making physical therapy an excellent conservative treatment alterative for patients with hip (OA). Santa Clarita based PT clinic, Kinetix has therapist that specialize in treating osteoarthritis.
MacDonald PT DPT GCS OCS FAAOMPT, Cameron W. et al, Clinical Outcomes Following Manual Physical Therapy and Excercise for Hip Osterarthritis: A Case Series, Journal of Orthopaedic & Sprots Physical Therapy, Vol.36, No. 8, Aug. 2006.
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