- Arm exercises reduce knee pain
- Mirror therapy aids recovery
- Cross-limb exercise benefits
Is it possible to improve the health of one body organ by exercising another? The concept is gaining traction among scientists seeking novel approaches to manage the side effects of chronic illness, stroke, and even breast cancer surgery, despite its improbable nature.
Innovative Approach to Knee Pain
At this time, scientists from the University of Texas at El Paso in the United States are preparing to put a remarkable new hypothesis to the test: that individuals with osteoarthritis might be able to alleviate knee discomfort simply by performing arm exercises.
The researchers initiated a new clinical trial last week, in which sixty men and women with knee pain caused by normal wear and tear will participate in an experiment to determine which exercise offers the most relief.
The trial, which is scheduled to conclude in 2025, will compare the effectiveness of leg cycling and regular 20-minute bouts of arm exercise (using an “arm cycle” machine found in gyms) in reducing knee pain and enhancing mobility.
The objective is to replicate results from prior small-scale investigations that proposed arm cycling as a more effective form of knee pain relief compared to treadmill walking.
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One of the most effective ways to manage arthritic knee pain is through regular, moderate exercise, which strengthens the muscles surrounding the joint and relieves pressure on the affected area.
However, walking or jogging can place additional stress on the knee, making it challenging for some individuals to move. “There is no apparent mechanism through which arm exercises can effectively target knee pain,” Uzo Ehiogu, a consultant physiotherapist at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham, explains in reference to this methodology.
“What’s probably happening is that after a 20-minute arm workout, patients feel fitter, more confident, and possibly more mobile, which may reduce the sensation of knee pain.”
Nevertheless, exercising one limb can occasionally have a fascinatingly direct effect on the other.
Research on Muscle Cross-Education
A study published in July in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports provided recent evidence in support of this claim.
Thirty volunteers were enlisted by scientists from the National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, Taiwan. One of the volunteers maintained a stationary position with the other arm flexed while the former did so for extended periods of time.
Those who contracted muscles in their mobile limb exhibited a mere 2% reduction in muscle mass in their immobile arm after a span of several weeks.
In contrast, muscle atrophy in the static arm was 28% in the exercise-free group.
Muscle cross-education refers to the phenomenon in which exercise performed on the opposite side of the body benefits the muscles on the same side. It is frequently employed in the field of sports medicine to mitigate the swift depletion of muscle mass following an injury.
Within the first five weeks, an injured arm in a splint loses up to sixty percent of its muscle strength, according to studies. ‘Contralateral’ training, on the other hand, will significantly reduce muscle atrophy, according to Mr. Ehiogu.
The precise operation of muscle cross-education remains ambiguous. A ‘spillover’ effect is one theory, which states that strengthening the healthy limb through vigorous exercise (e.g., performing squats on one leg or lifting weights with the affected arm) also strengthens neural connections between the injured limb and the brain.
Mr. Ehiogu, a spokesperson for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, explains that the key to its success is to increase resistance while exercising the healthy limb more vigorously than usual, such as by lifting a heftier weight.
He advises, “At least 80% to 85% of your maximum capability, you should be operating.” Therefore, if you typically complete ten repetitions at fifty percent of your utmost effort, strive to complete five repetitions at eighty to eighty-five percent of your capacity.
Failure to enhance the resistance precludes the occurrence of the crossover effect.
Mirror Therapy for Recovery
One of the most compelling illustrations of this phenomenon is the application of mirror therapy to stroke patients who are hematopoietic.
The patient’s impaired arm is confined within a box featuring an exterior mirror. Subsequently, the patient performs a sequence of grip-enhancing exercises using their healthy arm, all the while observing the reflection of their arm in the box.
This “tricks” the brain into believing it is functioning normally in the wounded arm by stimulating nerve and muscle fiber connections.
Cochrane (2018) concluded in its evaluation of mirror therapy in stroke care that it enhanced movement in paralyzed limbs to the extent that patients were able to perform daily tasks such as cleaning.
In June, Fudan University in China published a study in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship which discovered that mirror therapy also benefits breast cancer patients with limited shoulder function following surgery or radiotherapy.
Pain and immobility may result from both procedures due to nerve injury, tissue removal, and scarring. Half of the 79 participants in the study performed daily arm exercises on their unaffected arm while observing it in a mirror; the other half did the same without a mirror.
The mirror group demonstrated greater range of motion in the afflicted arm after eight weeks compared to their counterparts. Researchers stated in a report on the findings, “Survivors of breast cancer can benefit from mirror therapy for shoulder rehabilitation.”
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