Doctors say that physical therapy can be as effective than surgery for a torn meniscus in the knee. JAMA is reporting that a study following more than 300 patients with a torn meniscus that was not severe enough to lock the knee found that joint function improved with physical therapy alone.
“Our results confirm the findings of previous studies and justify an initial conservative approach with physical therapy in patients older than 45 years with a non-obstructive meniscal tear,” said the study’s leader, Dr. Victor van de Graaf, a resident at OLVG Hospital in Amsterdam.
Van de Graaf randomly assigned 321 patients to receive either surgery or physical therapy. The patients had all be referred by their GPs. In this study 71% of the patients reported improvement comparable to what was reported with patients who underwent surgery using physical therapy alone.
As a holistic practitioner, we love the fact that the body can heal naturally. It is encouraging that almost ¾ of the patients in this study were able to heal naturally without surgery,
Until next time,
Dr. Polly
www.theepochtimes.com October 11-17, 2018
