Electrical Muscle Stimulation Helps Knee Arthritis

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Home-based electrical stimulation of thigh muscles can improve strength and physical performance in people with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Osteoarthritis results from wear and tear on the joints, rather than from an immune reaction that causes rheumatoid arthritis.

Resistive and aerobic exercise has been shown to reduce pain, severity, and disability in adults with knee osteoarthritis. However, such exercise by usually sedentary adults may cause muscle damage, especially in women. So an alternative method of increasing muscle strength would be useful.

As described in the Journal of Rheumatology, Dr. Laura Talbot from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore studied the use of a home-based neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) system as a way to improve quadriceps strength in older adults with knee osteoarthritis. The study involved 34 patients who were given standard arthritis education either with or without NMES.

Patients assigned to NMES used a portable muscle stimulator 3 days a week for quadriceps training. Over a 12-week period, the intensity of the contractions was increased up to 30-40 percent of maximum.

During the study, the strength of knee extensions increased in the NMES patients and decreased in the other patients. Both groups improved in how fast they could walk and in the time needed to get up from a chair.

Joint pain was still similar in both groups. The research team concludes that NMES "appears to be a promising intervention" for maintaining muscle strength and increasing mobility, without making arthritis symptoms worse.

They say such therapy may be particularly useful when medication, exercise, or surgery are not options.