Case Summary  |  Osteoarthritis Diagnosed after Karate Accident

I was first diagnosed with its osteoarthritis 10 years ago. My knees had taken quite a beating up until then, because I had been marching in a drill team in high school, was a track star, and a cross country runner. The sport that I got injured in was karate. My sparring partner kicked me in my hip, I fell to my needs, and I could not get up. When the diagnosis came back as osteoarthritis, I was shocked. I thought the condition was hereditary and no one in my family had it.

The Dr. prescribed some painkillers which I used for about three days. I decided that even though the medicine worked, I didn’t want to take it for the rest of my life. I stopped taking the medicine after looking at alternatives.

Being an athlete I knew that ice worked on most injuries, and it did temporarily work on osteoarthritis. I was small at that time so I didn’t need to lose weight. I stopped karate training, and I went to physical therapy for about two months. The therapy included walking, swimming, and some strength training with weights.

After therapy I started jogging slowly and I worked my way up to 6 miles a day. Now 10 years later I walk 4 to 5 miles a day inside my home on carpeting. Every now and then I get some pain in my left knee if I miss a few days of walking. Once I start walking again the pain goes away. The osteoarthritis is not cured, but it’s manageable for now.